TALANOA, TAFAKATATA, TAFAKALANU: TONGAN STORIES FROM THE PACIFIC: REVIEWED BY CATH KOA DUNSFORD.

KULA-‘ULI PUBLISHING, AOTEAROA-NEW ZEALAND, 2009.
‘Imeili- Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Kalia Lahi Fakatoukatea ko e Lomipeau
Lomipeau the Giant Double‐
Hulled Canoe
Talafo’ou ‘e / Retold by
Hikule’o Fe’aomoeako Melaia Māhina &
Mele Ha’amoa Māhina ‘Alatini

Liliulea Tonga ‘e / Tongan translation by
Hūfanga Dr ‘Okusitino Māhina &
Dr Tēvita O. Ka’ili

Tākupesi ‘e / Illustrations by
Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine &
Kolokesa Uafā Māhina‐Tuai

Ko e Tupu’anga ‘o e ‘Akau
ko e Kavá mo e Tó
The Origin of the Kava and Sugarcane Plants
Talafo’ou ‘e / Retold by
Hikule’o Fe’aomoeako Melaia Māhina &
Mele Ha’amoa Māhina ‘Alatini

Liliulea Tonga ‘e / Tongan translation by
Hūfanga Dr ‘Okusitino Māhina &
Dr Tēvita O. Ka’ili

Tākupesi ‘e / Illustrations by
Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine &
Kolokesa Uafā Māhina‐Tuai

Fonu ‘Iloa ko Sangoné
Sangone the Legendary Turtle
Talafo’ou ‘e / Retold by
Mele Ha’amoa Māhina ‘Alatini &
Hikule’o Fe’aomoeako Melaia Māhina

Liliulea Tonga ‘e / Tongan translation by
Hūfanga Dr ‘Okusitino Māhina &
Dr Tēvita O. Ka’ili

Tākupesi ‘e / Illustrations by
Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine &
Kolokesa Uafā Māhina‐Tuai

The Pacific Arts Council of Creative New Zealand recently hosted a stunning festival, Artspeak Pasifika 2010, which brought together established and world renowned Pacific artists, film-makers, writers, fashion designers and artists in all genres. The keynote speech was wonderfully political korero by Samoan author Albert Wendt, whose work is known globally. The festival was designed to promote networking and korero between established Pacific artists, mid career and emerging artists in all genres, so we could debate the issues of our various craft forms and help emerging artists with wisdom from our own experiences. I was honoured to be invited to participate on the opening International Panel along with the CNZ International Director, Carla von Zon and established artists Michael Tuffery and Neil Ieremia [Black Grace Dance]. It was a buzz to interact and discuss issues with film-makers such as Toa Fraser [Fiji] whose film Number Two was a great hit globally and also Sima Urale [Savai’i, Samoa] whose film Apron Strings has won a series of international awards. These are just a few of the amazing artists present and the two day festival was hailed by all as a great success.

One of the emerging Pacfic Island publishers, featured on the Writing and Publishing Panel, was Kula-‘Uli Publishing run by Kolokesa Uafa Mahina-Tuai. I was so impressed with their collection of Tongan books retelling traditional stories in both the Tongan language and also English on the adjacent page, with stunning, contemporary illustrations based on tafunga lalava [ the art of lineal spatial intersection], that I offered to review these books for the Asia Pacific Journal. I met the   project manager Kolokesa at the conference but sadly our korero was interrupted by a fire drill that sent us all sprawling out ino the streets of Auckland from the Town Hall in Queen Street, where the conference was held. We later reconnected by email.

Kolokesa sent me the three books titled above and I have read them several times, each reading bringing new depths and layers to the storytelling. It is always difficult to retell ancestral stories which usually have complex detail and insights in a language that is accessible for a modern audience and able to be understood by younger readers.

The authors, translators and illustrators have all combined to succeed in this delicate art, bringing us ancient stories within a contemporary language which is accessible to all, teaching us Tongan words in both the Tongan and English versions and supplying us with a glossary at the end of each book also.

In addition, the illustrations bring a radical, contemporary and cutting edge quality to the books which is reflective of both tufunga lalava designs and also the traditional colours of black, reddish brown and cream which are found on tapa today, yet which depart with very contemporary designs that are often symbolic of the narrative storytelling on each page.

To see why Kula-‘uli Publishing has produced books in this way we need to look more closely at their stated aims and objectives in producing such a vibrant and contemporary Pacific Book Series based on traditional ancestral knowledge. The publishers describe the series thus:

“Based on refined myths and legends, the series is informed in new ways by classical Tongan abstract modes of story‐telling (talanoa), image‐making (tāfakatātā) and image‐colouring (tāfakalanu), connected with artistic and literary devices intersecting meanings (heliaki), intersecting images (kupesi) and intersecting red‐black colours (kula`uli).”

If you are wondering why they chose to work with such tradition stories, they reply: “As works of art, Tongan myths and legends are part of the wealth of Tonga’s intangible cultural heritage.
Like proverbs, they can be classified into two other artforms:comedy and tragedy. Myths and legends use the intersecting artistic and literary device heliaki, meaning symbolically saying one thing but really meaning another.”

One aspect that fascinated me was their use of imagery and colours is explained by the following:

“The existing Pacific children’s literature is largely literal, representational and
multiple in terms of texts, images and colours. However, the novel use of classical Tongan abstract
styles of story‐telling, image‐making and image‐colouring is critical and, by extension, creative and innovative.”

Kula-‘Uli explain further:
“The creativity and novelty underpinning the books are mediated through intersection,
connected with meanings, images and colours. ..The production of kupesi, abstract forms of concrete things, is the chief concern of tufunga lalava, the art of linealspatial intersection. As complex, elaborate and beautiful geometric designs, kupesi are produced by interlacing red kafa‐sinnet and black kafa‐sinnet. The use of red (kula) and black (`uli) colours is predominant in Pacific material and fine arts, such as kafa‐sinnet‐lashing, tattooing, pottery‐making, mat‐weaving and barkcloth‐ making. There are in-depth physical, psychological and human attributes of red and black colours, linking nature, mind and society, as in red and black holes, enlightenment and ignorance and gendered division of labour.”

The illustrations are captivating and inspired by careful thinking about the issues and how to reflect them in a contemporary setting that also honours the ancestral traditions.

Each of the stories tells us much about the way our Pacific ancestors lived and the cross-cultural relationships between the islands, especially between Tonga and other Pacific Islands like Samoa and Fiji, since the Kingdom of Tonga took such a dominant role in island life.  Some, including modern Tongans living in New Zealand, for example, may have issue with the extent of this kingdom as a colonial force in the face of modern democracy. However, understanding the past history is paramount to understanding Tongan life and culture and all these stories offer us subtle and strong insights into this past complexity.

The vital importance of essential foods that have symbolic significance is seen in “The Origin of the Kava and Sugarcane Plants”. This is a very moving and tragic tale set in ancient Tonga. It shows the vital interaction between the various classes of society and especially with the kingdom. Fevanga and Fefafa have to make a sacrifice for the visiting King and they have no choice in the end but to sacrifice their own daughter, Kava,  who is burned in an umu or oven. Where her ashes lay on the ground, beautiful kava and sugar cane plants sprout. These are eventually returned to the King and as a result the kava ceremony is created and the importance of sugar cane to the well being of the Tongan people [as well as to later trade] is reinforced as well as its use as a sweetener to the sometimes bitter kava.

This is quite literally a “bitter-sweet” tale in its terrible sacrifice but one that has a long lasting impact on the people of Tonga in the significance of the kava ceremony, which is important throughout many islands in the Pacfic. That Momo leaned against the Giant Taro meant that this plant, as taboo or tapu, could not be the sacrifice thus resulting in the establishment of the kava plant, in honour of the sacrificed daughter Kava. This is a very powerful part of the tale and is beautifully told.

Sangone the Legendary Turtle tells the tale of the turtle Sangone and her daughter Hinahengi who came to the King of Tonga from their native Fiji. Later war breaks out between the islands of Samoa and Tonga, the Tongan winds destroying the Samoan crops, Lekapai’s journey to Tonga to try to find some form of peace and finally Fasi’apule’s waka journey to Samoa to try to discover and return of turtle shell of the killed Sangone. Eventually, an exchange of gifts between the islands seals the deal and peace is allowed to reign again.

This is an exquisitely told tale which is very moving and very relevant to both ancient and modern island life and for all of us globally. It tells us that even in the worst times of conflict and war, that peaceful solutions can be negotiated if there is a willingness between the parties. Sangone is indeed a “legendary turtle” and this story reminds me of the familiar takes of Laukiamanuikahiki and Kauila, both turtle women from the islands of Hawai’i, who are lead characters in my own indigenous Pacific Cowrie novel series: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au

Turtle woman is a familar story throughout the Pacific and she has immense powers to change the way we think about many subjects. She is a force to be reckoned with and a symbol of potential peace when we have the wisdom to follow her kaupapa.

Lomipeau the Giant Double Hulled Canoe celebrates the symbol of all of our Pacific voyaging and navigational skills which took Pacific tangata whenua over our huge ocean of Moana Nui a Kiwa. It highlights the brilliance of this ancient art form of designing and building waka and navigating them over vast oceans to their destinations, and in this context, the vastness of the Tongan Kingdom.

There is humour in this story in the recognisable art of Pacific storytelling where the skill of exaggeration or hyperbole is seen in the comparisons between the canoe or waka and the land. Imagine a waka large enough to fit two volcanic islands between its twin hulls and you get a sense of this hyperbole. But it works to great effect in the story and takes us into that magic place of imagination where we can see the vastness of the vision in the imagery. “Lompeau was so huge that on its way to Tonga, the high volcanic islands of Kao and Tofua in the Ha’apai group could easily fit between the two hulls” [p10] A huge waka looming over the tapa sea with smaller tapa birds flying overhead strengthen this vibrant picture.

The illustrations, as always throughout this children’s book series, are superb and reflect the deeper meanings, subtleties and impact of the narrative in a visual sense. This stays with us long after the reading.

The original Tongan storytellers, the translators, illustrators and publishers of this wonderful book series are an inspiration to other Pacific cultures to tell their own stories in such creative ways. These stories are relevant to us all and convey vital messages and symbols and narratives and wisdom from our islands to other cultures. They truly sing the art of oral storytelling on the page, the vision I have also aspired towards in my own indigenous Pacific novel series. 

Kula-‘Uli Publishing have indeed succeeded in the Hawai’ian art of talkstory or mo’olelo: to cause the spirit to fly between people. I wish this Tongan Publishing House the very best success with all its future ventures and hope that this inspires other Pacific people to find their own voices in similar ways by conveying oral talkstory to the page with such dedication and skill.

[c] Cath Koa Dunsford, 2010.

Cathie Koa Dunsford [Te Rarawa/Ngapuhi/Hawai’ian/Croatian] is author of 23 books in print and translation in USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Turkey, including the popular Cowrie novel series featuring strong tangata whenua and eco activists from the Pacific region: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au She has taught Literature, Creative Writing and Publishing at Auckland University since 1975. Dr. Dunsford is director of Dunsford Publishing Consultants, which has brought 197 new and award winning Pacific and African authors into print internationally: http://www.dunsfordpublishing.com Cath is recipient of two major literary grants from Creative New Zealand Arts Council and was International Woman of the Year in Publishing in 1997. She is on the Board of the Asia Pacific Writer’s Network and recently taught workshops at Artspeak Pasifika, 2010, funded by CNZ, NZ Arts Council. Cath Koa has performed her work at the Frankfurt, Leipzig and Istanbul Bookfairs. A documentary of her work has been directed for Maori Television by Makerita Urale. She tours the world performing from the books with traditional Maori waiata and taonga puoro. Contact: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)