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Tonga customs and research ideas (view source)
Revision as of 14:24, 5 November 2008
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(New page: ==== Customs ==== The importance of correct family lines is jealously guarded, and has everything to do with land acquisition and passing on the titles of nobility. These concepts pre-dat...) |
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==== Customs ==== | ==== Customs ==== | ||
The importance of correct family lines is jealously guarded, and has everything to do with land acquisition and passing on the titles of nobility. These concepts pre-date the Christian era. | The importance of correct family lines is jealously guarded, and has everything to do with land acquisition and passing on the titles of nobility. These concepts pre-date the Christian era. | ||
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In the case of weddings or funerals, there is a very exact order of things to follow. Who is in charge and makes the decisions is decided by the extended family, rather than the immediate family. Every person is inferior or superior to other family members. A female usually outranks a male, sometimes going back a couple of generations. Each person must know his or her place in the family genealogy to determine who is sitting in the proper place in the kava circle, which has great importance in the social and political life of each person. | In the case of weddings or funerals, there is a very exact order of things to follow. Who is in charge and makes the decisions is decided by the extended family, rather than the immediate family. Every person is inferior or superior to other family members. A female usually outranks a male, sometimes going back a couple of generations. Each person must know his or her place in the family genealogy to determine who is sitting in the proper place in the kava circle, which has great importance in the social and political life of each person. | ||
To keep track of family ties, many ''Tongans'' make a ''Hohoko map'', which shows the descendants of their ancestral lines. The ancestral family is called the ''Ha`a, ''and most of us know which ha`a we are from. This is helpful in doing our family history. | To keep track of family ties, many ''Tongans'' make a ''Hohoko map'', which shows the descendants of their ancestral lines. The ancestral family is called the ''Ha`a, ''and most of us know which ha`a we are from. This is helpful in doing our family history. | ||
'''Places<br>'''People move from one village to another, so we should find out where our ancestors lived during their lives. Then we can study the history of the villages where they lived. | '''Places<br>'''People move from one village to another, so we should find out where our ancestors lived during their lives. Then we can study the history of the villages where they lived. | ||
If we do a village family history project, non-members as well as members should be contacted and included in the project, especially the ''Nobles. ''Not many of the ''Nobles ''are members of the Church now, but their parents and grandparents fed the missionaries, and they may be interested in finding out more about this. | If we do a village family history project, non-members as well as members should be contacted and included in the project, especially the ''Nobles. ''Not many of the ''Nobles ''are members of the Church now, but their parents and grandparents fed the missionaries, and they may be interested in finding out more about this. | ||
'''Names'''<br>The further we go back in time, the more likely we are to find that a person has changed his or her name. If someone did something, proving themself in a certain way, they can change their name accordingly. Study the context of the person’s life, including parents, and other family members when dealing with name changes. On some Church records, the person’s <br>several names may be given. | '''Names'''<br>The further we go back in time, the more likely we are to find that a person has changed his or her name. If someone did something, proving themself in a certain way, they can change their name accordingly. Study the context of the person’s life, including parents, and other family members when dealing with name changes. On some Church records, the person’s <br>several names may be given. | ||
'''Dates<br>'''On outlying islands, people would often wait to get births, marriages, and deaths recorded at the headquarters of the place where they lived. Sometimes, people did not know the exact date of their birth, for instance. One man had an estimated birth date on his record that had been given by his mother a few years after his birth, besides the one he had been told was his real birth date. When he had to decide which one to keep, he chose the one on the record because it was the same as a favourite relative, even though it was not accurate. We should be aware that it may be possible and at other times it may not be possible to be completely accurate with dates. | '''Dates<br>'''On outlying islands, people would often wait to get births, marriages, and deaths recorded at the headquarters of the place where they lived. Sometimes, people did not know the exact date of their birth, for instance. One man had an estimated birth date on his record that had been given by his mother a few years after his birth, besides the one he had been told was his real birth date. When he had to decide which one to keep, he chose the one on the record because it was the same as a favourite relative, even though it was not accurate. We should be aware that it may be possible and at other times it may not be possible to be completely accurate with dates. | ||