Tonga customs and research ideas: Difference between revisions

'''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.  

'''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.&nbsp;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.

==== Case Study with Research Ideas&nbsp; ====

'''1. Interview our family members and write their information.'''<br>My father&nbsp;has worked and prayed a lot to get the information of his family, and so has my mom. We have talked for hours with my father and mother, and I helped them record in writing the things they have memorized and the records they have obtained. Also, I talked with my Aunt Edna P. Wolfgramm Burningham, to get information on the German lines.  

'''4. Write what we have learned and share the information with others.<br>'''We also compiled the stories of our family and published them in a book, Tisina Wolfgramm Gerber, ''[http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH27&CISOPTR=31717 Iohani Wolfgramm, Man of Faith and Courage]'' (S.l.: s.n., 2001?) [FHL book 921.9612 G313i]. Testimonies, family stories and memories, as well as family history of our ancestors have been compiled in this book.&nbsp;&nbsp; You also could eventually compile your family stories into a book, if you have the time and the means to do it,  

Túi Latai Mataele (''who came from the royal lines) book of records he copied from the Tongan Royal Palace'' ''Veikune book of records of Queen Matáaho’s father.''

''77 Genealogy Charts of Royal Families, Nobles, and Chiefs from `Ahueitu and Tangaloa and his son `Aho Eitu, the first Tui Tonga 950 A.D. toTakulaua Tui, Ha`a Takalaua 1450, including the Ha!a Túi Kanokupolu line. ''These charts are in larger print, with some additional names than are found on the 99 Genealogy Charts of Royal Families, Nobles, and Chiefs in this same collection.<br>

*Kakolosi K. Tui’one, ''Tongan Pedigree Charts Including Royal Lineages'' (West Valley City, Utah: K. Tui'one, 2002) [[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=1118215&disp=%5BTongan+pedigree+charts%2C+including+r%20%20&columns=*,0,0 CD-ROM no. 1125 supp.; PEDIGREE no. 2182 pt. 1-71] During his life, ''Kakolosi Tui’one ''worked hard to collect the records of the ''Royal family of Tonga''. He was given permission in 1949 to copy the records of the royal family.&nbsp;These records are on “maps” or ''hohoko ''charts. They are on a Compact Disc that must be read by a ''Computer Assisted Design (AutoCAD14) ''program. (It is not possible to see what is on the CD by loading it onto a regular word processing program).

:The maps are 32 by 41 inches and cannot be printed out by a regular computer printer because they are in AutoCad format. There are 70 maps in the set. We can call ''Kakolosi’s children at 801-446-5362 ''and they will print out the ones we request. If we want to buy the CD with all of the files on it, we can also request it from the Tui’one Family. The family donated a copy to the Family History Library, which has the call number '''CD-ROM no. 1125 - INTL Lib Att Win.'''

:A printed copy of these maps is located in the bottom drawer of one of the large pedigree chart and map cases in the ''Family History Library in Salt Lake City.'' The call number is '''PEDIGREE no. 2182, pt. 1 - 71 INTL Pedigree File.''' We can ask a Library Attendant for help in getting them.

'''Tongan Oral Genealogy Interviews from the 1970s'''

''Kalolaina and Tevita Mapa ''were commissioned by the LDS Church to gather oral genealogies throughout''Tonga ''during the 1970s. There are over ''800 Tongan oral genealogical interviews'', which they gathered on reel-to-reel tapes. The tapes were transcribed, and the transcripts were microfilmed. In 2006, the tapes were transferred to CDa in order to preserve them.&nbsp; The interviews are still identified by the tape number, and they  

Not all of the interviews are listed here, so ''another index ''is being prepared. The title will be ''“Index to the Tongan Oral Genealoggy Interviews.”'' ''Tongan'' people will be descended from at least one royal line, because we are all related to each other in one way or another, so the above references can be helpful in carrying family lines back into further generations.  

'''Further Resources'''<br>On the Internet, we can go to ''Familysearch.org ''and choose the ''Library tab ''and then ''Family History Library Catalog''. Type in ''Tonga ''to get records that are made on an Island Group-wide basis and print the items&nbsp;you are interested in.