Tongan movement in action: an ethnography of movement in Oceania

© 2003 Dr. Steven William Tupai FrancisThis thesis seeks to demonstrate that Tongan conceptions of movement as everyday social action are pivotal in shaping the contemporary distribution of the Tongan population throughout Tonga, Oceania and the world. As Tongans in previous centuries established new communities in other island groups of Oceania through conquest and marriage, modern Tongan families have now created networks in numerous cities, towns and suburbs of the Pacific Rim and beyond. These links enmesh second and third generation Tongans growing up in overseas places within wider networks that also incorporate those Tongans who remain in Tonga. In examining the literature and following a period of fieldwork conducted in three villages in Tonga, it became evident that previous investigations had missed important dimensions of the story of Tongan movement. Preoccupation with the impacts of permanent out-movement in particular, has denied a place for serious consideration of a range of other forms of Tongan movement. The analysis in this thesis moves away from explanations that posit causal ‘push/pull’ forces propelling or compelling migration out of Oceania. Rather, the thesis explores how movement by residents of three Tongan villages draws on and elaborates typically Tongan fields of connection predicated on ties to kin, to religion and to land