Nz Tongan

Here, standing with a Tongan relation, is Sione Talanoa Fuapau, of Haapai, aristocratic Tongan by birth, and New Zealand Maori by choice. He was a distinguished figure at the Tongan Royal wedding, one of the Maori party invited by the Tongan Queen. He wears the “Taovala” (mat tied with coconut fibre) which is a “must” with all Tongans who would show respect to their chiefs.

His father was a Matapule (a kind of master of ceremonies) at the palace of the Queen, and he had the title of Mafi Hiva. When he became old, and retired, honours and gifts were showered upon him, and he died, soon after wards, at his home in Haapai.

Sione Talanoa, in 1917, worked his way on a ship to Auckland; supported himself there with all kinds of jobs; and finally joined the Maoris in the Ring Country. The Maoris liked him, and called him Hoani Tonga (Johnnie Tonga), and he married Mere. descendant of a Maori chief named Wahanui, and they have two daughters. Sione Tangaloa acquired a 100-acres farm, and became so proficient in the Maori language that he gained fame as an orator.

The title of Mafi Hiva awaits him if he elects to return to Haapai; but present indications are that he will remain among his racial cousins in New Zealand. Photo by August Hettig.