Muʻa (Tongatapu)


Mua is a small town in the Hahake district on the island of Tongatapu, and it was for centuries the ancient capital of Tonga. It is divided in the villages Lapaha and Tatakamotonga, is close to Talasiu and famous for the ancient langi.

Geography

Mua is situated along the eastern side of the lagoon of Tongatapu. Except for a zone along the shore which is low-lying mud, the remainder of the village is on high-lying red volcanic soil of high fertility.
Lapaha is also the home of the Tu'itonga Empire.
Lapaha is also the first capital of Tonga before the Tu'i Kanokupolu move it to Nukualofa.

Demography

According to the 1996 census there were 3900 people living Mua, a number expected to rise to 4900 if confirmed by the November 2006 census.
Most people of Lapaha are Roman Catholic, while Tatakamotonga is largely Wesleyan, although both see an increasing number of Mormons. This has a historical reason: the last Tui Tonga was Roman Catholic and lived in Lapaha.
Tatakamotonga has a government primary school in the northwestern part of the village and a high school run by the Wesleyan church in the north-east. Lapaha has a government primary school and a high school run by the Roman Catholic Church at the eastern end of the village.

History

Mua was at one time the center of Lapita culture in Tonga and later the capital of the Tui Tonga Empire. After the disintegration of the empire it remained the capital of the Tui Tonga, up to the nineteenth century, but was rather a spiritual centre and no longer a source of political power.
The Tui Tonga and his retinue stayed in Lapaha, his residence being Olotele and Ahofakasiu, while Takuilau was for his wives. Subchiefs and servants on the other hand lived in Tatakamotonga.
When, around 1470, the Tui Tonga line started to lose power to the Tui Haatakalaua, and another century later to the Tui Kanokupolu, chiefs belonging to these lines were not welcome in Mua, and had to stay on the low-lying coastal areas, separated from the 'real' chiefs by the Hala Fonuamoa. The former became known as the kauhalalalo and the latter as the kauhalauta, which nowadays are still two important moieties in Tonga.

Burial tombs

Whatever political power the Tui Tonga yielded to their rivals, they gained in spiritual power, and as a kind of high priest they were perhaps even more awesome than as kings. When a Tui Tonga died he was buried in one of the huge tomb hills, known as langi, of which there are still at least two dozen in Lapaha. The Tui Haatakalaua were also buried in such tombs, but they are called fale instead.
The langi are big, artificial hills surrounded by huge slabs of coral rock, usually in three or more tiered layers. These slabs were quarried from several places along the coast of Tongatapu or neighbouring minor islands. The waves of the sea made them over the centuries, by compacting coral sand into layers of thick. They were only to be dug out and then transported by boat to the building site. Nevertheless, the accuracy by which the slabs were cut to shape so that they fit along each other with barely any space to spare is remarkable.
One of the best-preserved langi is the Paepae-o-Telea, which is even more remarkable as the slabs along the corner really have an 'L' shape.
The story that the slabs were moved by magic means from Uvea to Tonga is just a myth. Uvea is volcanic and has not got the proper geology. This fact has always been known, as shown, for example by a stanza of the poem named Laveofo from around the 18th century by Tufui.
Ko e Pangaimotu mo Makahaa
tuu mai a e motu ko Fafā
nae fai ai e tā maka
o uta ki Langi Taetaea
mo e otu langi fua o Mua		The islands Pangaimotu and Makahaa
and standing here the island of Fafā
where the cutting of stone was done
and taken to the mound Taetaea
and the whole row of mounds of Mua

The last Tui Tonga, Laufiltonga was buried in langi Tuofefafa. His grave is still marked with a huge cross, as he died as Catholic.
The langi are still used nowadays as burial sites. When the Kalaniuvalu chief died in 1999 he was buried in the Paepae o Telea. When the Tui Pelehake chief, Uluvalu and his wife Kaimana died in 2006, they were buried in langi Nā Moala.
Also worthwhile visiting are the remaining groundworks of an old, deserted fort on the border of Talasiu and Lapaha.

List

According to the matāpule Makalangahiva
  1. Langi Tuo teau
  2. Langi Kātoa
  3. Langi Fanakava ki langi
  4. Langi Tuo fefafa
  5. Langi Tau a tonga
  6. Langi Malu a tonga
  7. Langi Leka
  8. Langi Sinai
  9. Langi Taetaea
  10. Langi Faapite
  11. Langi Tōfā ua
  12. Langi Nukulau uluaki
  13. Langi Nukulau ua
  14. Langi Foou
  15. Langi Hahake
  16. Langi o Luani
  17. Langi Tauhala
  18. Langi Paepae o Telea
  19. Langi Nā Moala
  20. Langi Hēhēa
  21. Langi Esi a e kona
  22. Langi Malomaloaa
  23. Langi Nakuli ki langi
  24. Fale Loāmanu
  25. Fale Fakauō
  26. Fale Tuipapai
  27. Fale Pulemālō
  28. Fale Tauhakeleva

    Fāonelua

The nickname of Lapaha is Paki mo e toi, referring to the many sweet smelling flowers which were to be picked regularly to be made into kahoa, for the lords. Likewise Tatakamotonga is also known as Kolokakala and other variants of this name.
An important tree with beautiful red flowers grew on the coastal marshland. Its name is Fāonelua and it is a unique species of mangrove. Only the Tui Tonga was allowed to wear its flowers as a garland, and as such the name has become a symbol for his reign.