5.6 E-cultivation of cultural heritage

The online sharing of Tongan cultural heritage is something that was happening before COVID-19; however, it has become more noticeable since the pandemic. Enari and Faleolo explain the significance of the timing of this increased connectivity online.^[1] The intergenerational knowledge sharing of traditional and cultural ways of being alongside innovative and contemporary practices has helped to maintain vā – important sociocultural and relational spaces – between family and community members. For instance, Dr Inez Fainga‘a-Manu Sione used social media to share her inspirational migration narratives and to promote collective stories of success in Australia. The following links have been used with permission from Dr Inez Fainga‘a-Manu Sione (12 July 2024):

The growth of membership and stability of Tongan religious groups in the diaspora and in the Pacific homelands is often a reflection of the strength of familial groups to maintain their family engagement in a chosen church. For example, the ‘Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga District Australia Inc – Online Services’^[2] is a public group on Facebook, with 2,000-plus followers. The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga District Australia Inc. offers an online platform with linked services, helping to keep individuals and families connected through the church. There is a strong connection between this Australia-based group and those in the Pacific homelands, as well as with Aotearoa NZ members of a similar regional group. Often these connections have been maintained for several generations and although weekly attendance at church may not always be physical (it can be online for some) the cultural element of the Tongan church is always a drawcard for family groups who find that values, traditions and language is maintained through such spaces, particularly for those raising Tongan children in diaspora.

During the pandemic, family gatherings online became more common, with funeral services and burials often shared within a collective via livestream private links on Facebook. For example, a Tongan familial collective across Tongatapu, Aotearoa NZ and Australia used a private group on Facebook to call their network (320 members) together during a time of bereavement, when travel and physical restrictions led to more creative ways of dealing with loss and grief. This allowed family members to feel sociocultural closeness despite being separated physically while the funeral took place in Brisbane. The tangible distance between Tongans during these times only served to strengthen their sociocultural vā. Post pandemic, several Tongan families have continued to use this online method of shared mourning, to further promote closeness and kinship across the global collectives in diaspora and Tonga.^[3]

The importance of maintaining vā with other Tongans across the globe, and especially connecting back to the Pacific homelands, allows the many Tongans living abroad to keep focused on the bigger picture: the reason many Tongans emigrate from Tonga in the first place is not to leave but rather to build and maintain connections through the return of ‘help’ whether in the form of money, tea boxes stocked with food, clothing and stationery, or the physical return of a professional or graduate to contribute physically to the fakalakalaka-development of Tonga.^[4] The beauty of an online platform collective is that many Tongans can contribute to it and stay informed whether living in mainland villages, on outer islands or further abroad. For instance, the ‘Tongan Women in Action Collective’^[5] is a public group on Facebook with 657 members. It is a Tonga-based collective for Tongan women, operating on the ground in the local villages while connecting globally online, raising the profile of Tongan women and their voices in economic, social and political spaces of policymaking. The connectivity attained in this collective is built on innate cultural knowledge and understandings. In return, these individuals and members of families, communities and villages can participate in the reciprocal cultural sharing that occurs naturally along this line of communication.^[6]

Many Tongans come to Australia every year temporarily as part of seasonal worker programs, recruited via church and community leaders in Tonga, Australia and Aotearoa NZ. The ‘Tongan Seasonal Workers (AUST)’^[7] Facebook group is evidence of the high number of Tongans engaged in this industry, with 3,400-plus members. The public group provides a platform for Tongan seasonal workers to dialogue and share knowledge and understandings while in Australia or Aotearoa NZ for seasonal work.

Public groups like ‘Tongans in Australia’^[8] help to promote Tongan-ness online. This public group, with 26,300 members, promotes Tongan culture, lea faka-Tonga-language and events. This forum on Facebook has become popular since COVID-19 because of the opportunities to connect with fellow Tongan members across the globe, allowing these networks to communicate collective sense making and understandings of family, church, community and culture. Tongans are sharing ideas online about how to create material culture using templates that are both traditional and contemporary; this online practice further helps to build and maintain intergenerational connections. Elders of the community have been able to share their crafts and traditional knowledge online with the assistance of Tongan youth who have established social media channels and technological skills. The combination of these sets of know-how have proliferated the use of online platforms, especially since 2020 when forced lockdowns provided the impetus for technological and intergenerational upskilling; importantly the ‘stay at home’ clause of social and travel restrictions meant increased togetherness and time to learn about cultural materials and meanings.