Hikule'o

In the mythology of Tonga, Havea Hikuleokinao is the god of the underworld, Pulotu. [The Sāmoan equivalent is Savea Siokinauleo.] The islands of Kao, Tofua, Hunga Haokinaapai, Hunga Tonga, Late and Fonualei came from stones thrown down from the skies by Hikuleokinao. They are all volcanic islands. The other, (coral) islands were fished up by his brother or cousin Maui.

Hikuleokinao's ancestors were, according to one source, the god Piki (Limu according to others) and the goddess Kele, who came from Pulotu and created the mythical land of Tongamamaokinao for their children to dwell in. They had a son Toiukamea ("hidden iron") and a daughter Māokinaimoaokinaalōngona ("royal game of hearing") who married each other and had children. [This pair seems to be a modern invention, since "ukamea" (iron) is a modern word that postdates European contact; in fact other informants leave out this generation.] Among their children were twins, the boy Taufulifonua and the girl Havea Lolofonua. One day they lay on the beach, naked, as they were still innocent, with their legs in the sea. The tide rose and the water covered them more and more. Then an ookinao (meaning: to penetrate) fish swam along and started to suck from the girl's labia, which caused her a lot of pain. Once the fish had been chased away the boy tried to gently stroke her inflicted parts but that did not give her relief. Then instead of his hand, he tried it with his penis, and suddenly the girl was consoled. So copulation was invented, and Havea Hikuleokinao was the first of many children.

Meanwhile Taufulifonua and Havea Lolofonua's younger brother and sister, also twins, also married each other. They were named Fonuokinauta ("land turtle") and Fonutahi ("sea turtle") and their child was Maui (Maui Motuokinaa, that is; if he was not the child of Taufulifonua and Havea Lolofonua themselves). And the next younger brother and sister, also twins who married each other, were Velesiokinai ("small enticer") and Velelahi ("big enticer"), who brought forth Tangaloa (Tangaloa okinaEiki, that is).

When Taufulifonua had become old and close to death, he divided the universe: Tangaloa got the sky to rule, Maui the earth, and Havea Hikuleokinao became the lord of Pulotu.

Tangaloa's descendants would become later the (divine) Tuokinai Tonga starting with okinaAhookinaeitu. Maui's line became the Tuokinai Talau, while Hikuleokinao's offspring was Lookinaau, and the ancestry of the Tuokinai Haokinaatakalaua.

The historical interpretation of this triumvirate (Hikuleokinao, Maui, Tangaloa) may be a struggle to liberate Tonga from the dominance of the Tuokinai Pulotu empire in Fiji, after which the victors could divide the spoils. Or, in reality perhaps, those three were Sāmoans, which made Tonga part of the Tuokinai Manuokinaa empire.

Notes

References

*E.W. Gifford, "Tongan myths and tales", BPB Bulletin 8, 1924
*I.F. Helu, "Tohi vete", okinaAtenisi, 2006