It only seems fitting to explain the name of my domain today, Fefine ‘o Falehanga [dot.com], given that this week is #TonganLanguageWeek

It began when I had the opportunity in graduate school to write a research paper exploring the relationship between the informal economy and sustainable livelihoods in Tonga, particularly as a Tongan Female ‘artist’.

“Fa’ala fakatau ki he mui’ulu”

The proverb refers to when one is to feel round for head lice but eventually won’t find most of them anywhere else but at the back of the head. This Tongan proverb encapsulates my story as a Tongan researcher at the time.

Growing up in Tonga most of the women in my family sustained their livelihoods through the making and selling of their koloa (wealth items) to their kinship relations living abroad. These koloa are made in the form of ngatu (tapa cloth), fihu (fine mats), traditional fala (mats), ta’ovala fau (waistband made of pandanus leaf), ta’ovala nge’esi niu (waistband made of coconut shell), kato alu (woven ceremonial basket), and hau nge’esi niu (coconut shell earrings).

Its significant contribution to family income was not obvious to me as a young girl in Tonga, until my family and I moved to New Zealand. Being employed in waged work meant that there is a consistency in income earned for the family and I quickly saw the vast difference between the making and selling of koloa to being employed in waged work.

“Fa’ala fakatau ki he mui’ulu” is interpreted by Tongans to mean that when searching for something you will only find it where you knew it was. Likewise was with my journey. Thus, when the opportunity came for me to embark on this particular research, it meant that if I wanted to truly know of the significance of these women’s work I will have to go looking at the place I knew I would find it. In so doing, I traveled back home searching for those answers.

I titled my research paper, “Fafine ‘o Falehanga: An Exploration of Female Artists in Tonga”.  Fafine is plural denoting many persons, thus translating to women. Falehanga is the place where women produce traditional goods and handicrafts. This is equivalent of a faleoko where men store yams and other garden food whilst working in tokanga (land allotment in the bush). Often the falehanga is a place where the women gather together to lalanga (weave) their koloa, while they talk or sing. The spacious room becomes a place where they have a shared understanding of their purpose and a spirit of commitment. It is a place that gives a sense of belonging to a group, with an obligation to a task, are cultivated and maintained among Tongan mothers.

Falehanga consists of two words, fale meaning house and hanga is a type of measurement the women used to measure how far long they have weaved a mat. The measurement was only used by them whilst weaving using their fingers, which meant that 1 hanga is the equivalent of 1 ft.

The term ‘artists’ itself is a broad term to describe the type of indigenous art the kau fefine made, because they don’t take the form of drawing on canvases or fine arts but rather they are employed in making traditional koloa and handicrafts.

Thus the name for this domain came about. This blog is my spacious room, my falehanga to store all of my thoughts and writings equivalent to a Tongan koloa. It is a place of purpose and commitment, a platform to cultivate and maintain my most prized koloa – my experiences and my journey as a fefine Tonga.