Tuʻi Tonga Fefine

Tu'i Tonga Fefine ("Female Tu'i Tonga") was a title granted to the eldest heiress of the Tu'i Tonga, or spiritual leader of Tonga, in ancient times. She held a higher social status than the Tu'i Tonga himself.[1] The title is no longer in use.[1]

According to tradition, the first Tu'i Tonga Fefine was Sinaitakala-‘ilangileka, a daughter of ʻUluaki-mata I.

Marriage between the Tu'i Tonga Fefine and a Tongan man was deemed inappropriate. The title-holder was expected to remain a virgin unless or until she married a 'stranger' of high rank.[2] The first Tu'i Tonga Fefine married a high-ranking Fijian, to form the 'Ha'a Falefisi' ("House of Fiji") line.[1] Tu'i Tonga Fefine in succeeding generations were also expected to marry a title holder of the 'Ha'a Falefisi'.[1] This strategy of marrying the title-holder to non-Tongans helped to safeguard the Tu'i Tonga's position, as the Tu'i Tonga Fefine's children would otherwise have outranked him.[3]

The Tu'i Tonga Fefine retained her rank throughout her life.[4] However, she remained the highest spiritual entity in Tonga only until she gave birth to a daughter. This child outranked her mother and became the highest spiritual entity in Tonga, with the title of Tamaha ("Sacred Child").

References
  1. Völkel, Svenja (2010). Social Structure, Space and Possession in Tongan Culture and Language. Culture and Language Use. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 54–5. ISBN 978-90-272-0283-3.
  2. Gunson, Niel (1987). "Sacred women chiefs and female 'headmen' in Polynesian history". The Journal of Pacific History. 22 (3): 139–172 (141). doi:10.1080/00223348708572563. ISSN 0022-3344.
  3. Spurway, John (2015). Ma`afu, prince of Tonga, chief of Fiji: The life and times of Fiji’s first Tui Lau. ANU Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-925021-18-9.
  4. E. E. V. Collocott (1924). "AN EXPERIMENT IN TONGAN HISTORY". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 33:3(131): 166–184 – via JSTOR.


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