Talatama

Talatama is named as the oldest son of Tuokinaitātui and succeeded him as the 12th Tuokinai Tonga "(king of Tonga)" somewhere in the middle of the 12th century AD.

They lived at Heketā, along the northcoast of Tongatapu, with its rocky shore. Launching and landing canoes was difficult and the surf of the sea was always noisy. The nearby village of Kolonga, nowadays is nicknamed okinaUtulongoaokinaa "(noisy coast)", because that was what Talatama's sister Fatafehi said.

Either to please her or just to find a better harbour for themselves Talatama and his younger brother Talaihaokinaapepe decided to move the royal court to Muokinaa "(meaning: first", because as the new capital, the village would be the first to receive honours). Indeed the coast there was sandy and muddy, safe for the boats, the big royal canoes, named okinaĀkiheuho and Tongafuesia, and it was quiet. The place was named Fangalongonoa "(silent shore)".

Since that time, up to the last Tuokinai Tonga, Laufilitonga, the dynasty has always remained in Muokinaa.

When Talatama died he had no sons. Talaihaokinaapepe seemed to be the most straightforward one to succeed him, but he himself saw it as a bad omen to break the tradition from father to son. Now when Talaihaokinaapepe had been a boy (some say he was still a boy at that time) he had a doll, made of tou wood, called Tamatou. This doll was declared the son of Talatama and installed with all the pomp and splendour of a Tuokinai Tonga, even a queen was assigned to him, and he was named Tuokinai-Tonga-nui-(ko-e)-tama-tou (Great Tonga king (that is) tou person). [This is the only known example where the eastern-Polynesian word "nui" (big) occurs in the Tongan language; the normal word is "lahi".]

Three years later Talaihaokinaapepe declared that the king, Tamatou, had died and would be buried in a vault, [No vault has ever been found at the place pointed out by tradition.] while his wife was supposed to have been pregnant and born a son. This son, Talatama's grandson, would succeed as the 14th Tuokinai Tonga. Needless to say that this was Talaihaokinaapepe himself.

Notes

References

* I.C. Campbell; Classical Tongan kingship; 1989
* E. Bott; Tonga society at the time of Captain Cook's visit; 1982
*O. Māhina; Images from the history and culture of Tonga; 2006
* E.W. Gifford; "Tongan myths and tales"; BPB bulletin 8, 1924