her thesis on the first half of the reign of Queen Sälote Tupou III and is an im portant them e in Tongan political ideology.
Although the first episode of the Tongan creation m yth cycle can be broken up into smaller units, it is usually told as a complete entity with particular details being highlighted or ignored at any one n a rra tiv e session. For example, the detailed account of the first sexual encounter of T aufulifonua and Havealolofonua is not often recounted in
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its entirety . Gifford incorporates it in his collection of m yths and many Tongans will recite it, if asked, although they will not usually include the detailed section when asked a b o u t the ta la t u p u la in general. T he creation cycle continues with its recitation of the genealogy of the gods with the relationships of the children of Taufulifonua and his three wives, Havealolofonua, Velelahi and Velesfi.
T he m yths concerning Hikule‘o, the child of Havealolofonua, are not as numerous as those which portray the deeds of her younger brothers, Tangaloa and Maui, who are credited with th e formation of the Tongan islands. T he m a n a of Hikule‘o was said to be so g rea t t h a t they would destroy the world of hum an beings if she was to enter it31. She is, therefore, compelled to remain in Pu lotu , the spirit island home and strong metaphor for the creation of the world. To ensure t h a t she does not enter the human world, T a n g a lo a in the sky and Maui in the underworld (Lolofonua) each hold the end of a cord which anchors Hikule'o in Pulotu. She is sometimes represented as the goddess with the tail; an allusion to her name which, in addition to its more frequent translation as ‘echo’, also carries the connotation of ‘t a i l1 or ‘end of a rope1 which, as mentioned above, has also been incorporated into her m ythic character. Aside from these references and allusions, Hikule‘o does not a p p ear as an im p o rta n t character in the ta la tu p u la.
Reference to the principal deity is found in tales (f a n a n g a) which are set in Pulotu and, therefore, include Hikule‘o as a corroborating detail of location rather than as an integral p a rt of the myth*^.
T ang alo a, the son of T aufulifonua and Velelahi, had "several sons, Tangaloa T a m a p o ‘uli‘alam afoa, T angaloa ‘Atulongolongo, T angaloa Tufunga (‘Tangaloa the c a r p e n te r 1) and Tan galo a ‘E i tu m a tu p u ‘a ° 3. As tim e went on Tangaloa ‘Atulongolongo
30. Gifford 1924:15
31. Hikule'o is reputed to be the origin of many of the darker aspects of the universe, including war, fam in e and death (see Lawry, Diary:278; Reiter 1907:235) but is not considered a wholly m a lev o len t being. Rather she is perceived as the most potent of deities who is, like the most p ote n t of T on gan chiefs, imbued with the m ost potent o f forces which are sim ultaneously positive and n egative (Interview, 12 S eptem ber 1985).
32. See, for exam p le, M a‘afu in Fison 1904:139-140; Ko e Fa f a n g u 1906 (4):48-53, 65-68, 73-76, 86-88, 98-100
33. S om e accounts (see, for exam ple, C ollocott 1924:276; Reiter 1907:438) list a fifth son, T a n galoa ‘Eiki. It seems, however, that T a n g a lo a ‘Eiki was, in fact, an elaborated name of the father of the kau Tan galoa; son of T au fulifon ua and Velelahi (Interview, 12 September 1985).
decided to leave his home in th e sky for a visit to th e e a rth . T aking th e form of a bird, he descended to th e e a rth , b u t he could find no land, only w ater, a lth o u g h he did see a shallow reef near th e surface of th e w ater. Upon retu rn in g to the sky, he approached his fath er, T an galo a, and rep o rted w hat he had found. W hereupon, T angaloa told ‘A tulongolongo to speak to T a n g a lo a T ufunga (‘th e c a rp e n te r’) ab o u t throw ing his d u st and chips from his workshop in to the sea34. T an galo a T ufunga happily agreed to the req u est, and a fte r some tim e, th e island of ‘A ta appeared. T ufung a continued to pour ou t his d u st an d , eventually, th e island of ‘E ua was form ed. L ater, T an galo a T ufunga threw down m ore d u st and chips and the islands of T ofua and Kao were formed.
M aui, th e son of T aufulifonua and Velesi‘i, also had several sons. They were Maui Loa (‘Long M au i’), M aui P uku (‘Short M aui’) and M aui ‘A talan g a (‘M aui the Shadow R aiser’ or ‘M aui th e C reato r of ‘A ta ’). W hile T an g alo a was directing his sons to m ake islands from the sky, M aui, also known as M aui M o tu ‘a (‘Old M aui’) sen t his sons to th e island of M anuka to obtain from T onga Fusifonua (‘T on g a the Fisher of L ands’) a fishhook which w ould snare islands from the b otto m of the sea35. T o ng a Fusifonua’s only request of th e kau M aui, as he handed over his m ost precious fishhook, was th a t they nam e the first island th a t they pulled from th e sea after him. T he kau Maui set a b o u t fishing and soon pulled up the islands of T o n g a tap u , H a‘apai, V av a‘u, Sam oa and th e T okelaus.
As the island of ‘A ta w as, as yet, w ith ou t v egetatio n, T a n g alo a gave his son T a n g a lo a ‘A tulongolongo a seed to p lant. ‘A tulongolongo assum ed th e form of a bird and descended to ‘A ta and p lan ted th e seed. Soon a creeper covered th e whole island. T a n g a lo a directed ‘A tulongolongo to go down and break the stem of th e creeper w ith his beak, which he did. After some tim e, ‘A tulongolongo returned to find the creeper decayed and w ith a large m aggot ( ‘uan g a) on it. He pecked the m aggot into two pieces, as T a n g alo a had told him. From the head was formed a m an called Kohai (‘W ho’) and from th e tail w as formed a m an called Koau (‘I a m ’). Before ‘A tulongolongo left the island he felt a b it of the m aggot left on his beak. He shook it off and it, too, became a m an called M om o (‘F ra g m e n t’). A t ab o u t this tim e th e kau Maui were returning from th eir land fishing expedition and saw th a t the three men had no wives w ith them , so they w ent to P u lo tu and brought back wives for them .
T h e essential them e of sibling relationship asserts itself again in th is episode of the t a la t u p u ‘a. H ikule‘o, who occupies the m ost senior s ta tu s , embodies all three principles
34. T h om as, (T o n g a la p u :5 2 ) claims that Hikule‘o performed the duties which created the land.