By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.

The skulls of two Tongan ancestors, collected in the Pacific in the 19^th Century, and repatriated to Tonga by the Australian Museum this week, were given a respectful traditional burial on ‘Eua Island in the presence of King Tupou VI and members of the Royal Family yesterday, January 10.

The funeral conducted by the royal undertakers, the Nima Tapu (sacred hands), at Kolomaile, ‘Eua, was attended by descendants of the ‘Ata people, some of them coming from abroad. The funeral tributes touched upon painful memories of the loss of half of the ‘Ata population to Australian blackbirders in 1863. The surviving population of ‘Ata was relocated to ‘Eua by Tupou I.

The identities of the skulls are unknown, but it was recorded that one was taken from the skeleton of a boy in a cave on a reef on ‘Ata island. It was donated to the Australian Museum with an art collection in 1969. Another skull, from an older man, known to be Tongan, came from a medical science collection, donated to the museum in 1875.

King Tupou VI bestowed upon them the names, Palu 'Ata and Tupou 'Ata. The name Palu, after a type of fish that is mostly found around the waters of  'Ata island.

Tongans in Australia

At the burial, ‘Anaseini Ulakai, from Australia, who was involved in the project to repatriate the human remains to Tonga, explained how the repatriation was the result of an interest taken by the Tongan community in Australia.

The High Comissioner of Tonga to Australia, Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Mata'aho Tuku'aho, visited the Australian Museum in Sydney in February 2022, to look at a collection of over 500 Tongan artifacts from the 19th century.

During her visit, it was made known to her that a Tongan skull had been in the possession of the museum for over 140 years. Further investigations revealed that there was more than one Tongan skull in the museum and so their history was investigated.

Repatriation

On 19 September 2022, the Tongan government began working on repatriating the ancestors, which led to the repatriation from the museum on 11 December 2023.

The repatriation process was made easier by the Australian Museum Director, First Nations, Laura McBride (a Wailwan and Kooma woman), the first indigenous director at the museum. 

"It was important for me to secure this [position] so that as Aboriginal people, we could have agency and control over our own stories and our own cultural objects," she said.

She had announced that she would repatriate her own ancestors after securing her position as a Director of the Museum. In 2021, the new First Nations Division was created, where she was made aware that the museum held not only Aboriginal ancestors but, Pacific ancestors too.

"It was at this time that I knew that we would be making the same commitment to return Pacific ancestors to their homes," she said in ‘Eua yesterday.

Naming

The King bestowed the names to Palu ‘Ata and Tupou ‘Ata about six months ago.

The museum funded the Royal Undertaker, Haukoloa, and ‘Anaseini Ulakai to go to Australia to receive the remains. They returned to Tonga on Tuesday 9 January, on a Quantas flight, with Laura McBride and the Manager of AM Pacific Collections, Melissa Malu (a Fijian and Tongan woman), in a group of about 30 people, including ‘Ata descendants, who were self-funded.

The remains rested overnight at the Royal Palace in Nuku’alofa, before being carried to ‘Eua yesterday by the Tongan navy vessel, VOEA Ngahau Siliva.

Feleme'a Cemetery

The Tongan ancestors were buried by the Nima Tapu at the Feleme'a Cemetery in Kolomaile, 'Eua. The cemetery was packed with the descendants of 'Ata island, coming from Australia, Kolomaile on ‘Eua, and Tongatapu.

The funeral service was conducted by Rev. Pulu Halala, whose family descends from the 'Ata people.

Attending the ceremony were the representatives from the Australian Museum and the Acting Australian High Commissioner to Tonga, Erin Gleeson.

The Australian Museum told Matangi Tonga that there are a number of descendants of 'Ata living in Sydney who had learned about the repatriation through the engagement and community work of Melissa Malu. The Museum stated the provenance of the ancestors, as follows:

Ancestor Tupou ‘Ata [the man]

•  “The skull of Tupou 'Ata was donated to the Museum in 1875 by Dr Alfred Thomas Corrie.
• Dr Corrie was the surgeon on board the HMS Pearl commanded by Commodore Goodenough as part of the 'Australia Station'.
• The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent and included much of Melanesia, Samoa and Tonga on its eastern boundary. 
• The AM does not have details on where or when Tupou 'Ata was taken but we have provenance that this ancestor is from Tonga.
• The AM does not know how or where Dr Corrie came into possession of the skull of Tupou 'Ata.”

Ancestor Palu ‘Ata [the boy]:

• “The skull of Palu 'Ata was found in a cave on a reef of ‘Ata Island where the whole skeleton was present, but the skull was removed.
• The skull was donated to the museum by Sydney-based art dealer, Mr Stephen Kellner on 8 August 1969. 
• Stephen Kellner was based in Waverley specialising in Pasifika objects.
• The original collector is recorded as ‘F.R. Stelling’, who found the remains, but the musum has no details on when the collection took place. 
• F.R. Stelling was likely Franz Riedl Stelling, an artist originally born in England who resided in Waverley, Sydney for many years.
• Sterling appears to have spent some time in the Pacific based on his art. 
• Stelling died in Sydney in 1966, and it may have been then that Kellner acquired items from his estate.”

Laura McBride reaffirmed those names and dates today.

Stolen people

At the funeral service yesterday, the people who were stolen from ‘Ata by blackbirders were remembered.

In June 1863, the isolated island of 'Ata, to the south of Tongatapu, was visited by a whaling boat captained by an Australian, Thomas McGrath, and half of the 350 residents were tricked on board before it sailed away towards the slave markets in Peru. The stolen people were never seen or heard of again.

The rest of the residents were relocated to 'Eua Island by Tupou I.

‘Anaseini Ulakai said that, at that time, King Tupou I decreed that a Register would be made for the outer-islands, inhabited by his people. When he received the Register from 'Ata, the King realized that a large number of people from the island had been stolen. This led to the relocation of the 'Ata people to 'Eua.