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").

Sources
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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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