Queen Salote

Tonga Prepares

For Last Act

Of Homage To

Queen Salote

From Dorothy Lavin in Nukualofa A custom which originated in Samoa, and is confined to the graves of the highly born, will take place in Nukualofa in June just before the end of the mourn ing period for the late Queen Salote of Tonga.

BASICALLY the ceremony will consist of placing carefully graded volcanic stones, known as kilikili, on the Queen’s grave.

It will be the final ceremony at the Royal Tombs for the late Queen, and will attract people from all over Tonga.

King Taufa’ahau visited the island of Tofua in February to collect the kilikili stones. It was the first time he had left Tongatapu as King.

The Government ship Hifofua on which he travelled had to anchor off Tofua because of rough weather, and the ship’s launch was used to tow longboats loaded with sacks of kilikili stones from the shore. The operation was completed late in the afternoon thanks to the skill of the boat handlers.

It was a remarkable feat because a heavy surf was running and rain squalls affected visibility consider ably.

Before the King’s visit, many people had converged on Tofua from surrounding islands to fill 500 sacks of kilikili stones, weighing six tons,

under the guidance of the Hon.

Vaea, the Governor of Ha’apai.

Back in Tongatapu the task lay ahead of carefully grading the stones into four sizes. This task falls to the women, who sit each day for long hours picking out any coloured ones, such as white, red and green, for only the black may be used.

When the time for the final ceremony comes, undertakers and their helpers, with relatives of the deceased, will gather at the graveside, and after the stones have been thoroughly washed in sea water, they will be placed in bowls to dry.

Mats and tapa cloths will then be laid on the ground and the stones will be spread out to be anointed with Tongan oil, placed in small baskets and passed up to the grave.

The larger stones will be placed at the base of the grave and gradually

graded up to the top, which is com pletely covered with the smallest kilikilis.

The many gifts brought by the relatives will then be carefully shared out, while refreshments, prepared in the umus (earth ovens) will be distributed to everyone, Footnote: Tofua, the island from which the kilikili stones were ob tained, is 100 miles or so from Nukualofa. It is one of several small volcanic islands in Tonga from whose beaches kilikili stones are obtained. Outside Tonga, Tofua is best known as the island on which Bligh and his men landed a few hours after the mutiny in the Bounty in 1789 in an effort to get food and water. One of Bligh’s men, John Norton, the Bounty's quartermaster, was killed when the Tongans attacked with a shower of stones.