Results for Tongan history

We can confidently position first settlement in Ha’apai between 825 and 810 BC, only three generations (75 years) after the first Lapita canoes arrived at Fanga ‘Uta Lagoon on Tongatapu. The dates for individual Lapita sites are informative. They not only answer the question of when, but they reflect upon the process by which the expansion was undertaken. Within Ha‘apai, simultaneous settlement, widely dispersed hamlets on different islands, and small groups of people clearly speak to a planned and organized strategy. In its creation of a settlement network northward from Tongatapu, it brilliantly laid title to these islands. By David Burley.

The inaugural meeting of the Tonga Heritage Society last night chose foundation officers who will move to formally register the group as an incorporated society. The group came together following public concern over the loss of heritage areas to development activity in Tonga.

My personal opinion is that in 1952 Prince Tupouto'a-Tungï (then Premier of Tonga) arranged for the purchase of the property by the Government of Tonga and that Queen Sālote agreed to the purchase because of her growing family – and the likelihood of grandchildren later being educated in Auckland, as she had been – and because of the promised hostels for Tongan students, in whose welfare she took a great interest. - Besi Wood-Ellem.