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Ethnology of Tokelau Islands

Biological Family

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Biological Family

The individual is a member of two divisions of society throughout life. The first and more definite grouping is the kindred, a vertical division of society, based either on recognized lineal descent from a common ancestor or adoption. Descent is reckoned primarily through the patrilineal line, though the matrilineal line determines many social relations and activities. The second grouping is the generations, a horizontal division based on age, cutting across kindred. Five generations may live during the lifetime of the individual, but only three function actively in the life of society—the children, the adolescents and young married people who make the body of the community, and the older people who direct the welfare of society.

Each individual living a full span of life passes through these three periods and in each his position in the family and community changes. In childhood, he has few responsibilities. Through adolescence, he is a junior member of his family group and of society, a worker providing food, doing most of the menial labor, and caring for his elders. During this period marriage usually takes place and the individual establishes his own family. In the last period, the individual no longer does the manual labor but becomes head of his household and shares in the direction of the kindred and community affairs. The passage from one period to the next is marked by rites or initiatory preparations which allow the individual to pass safely into the following phase of life.

Birth

The physiological processes of conception and the part of fatherhood in the production of children were fully appreciated here as elsewhere in Polynesia. The offspring was known to be descended from both the father's and the mother's lines.

The time of birth was calculated from the cessation of menstruation, which was recognized as the symptom of pregnancy. In former times delivery was expected after nine moons had passed. The projection of the umbilicus from the distended abdomen of the woman was considered also as a sign of the month of the delivery. At the end of her pregnancy the woman was massaged every day and taken on walks which were thought to bring on an easy delivery. No food tapus were placed upon her. The only restriction was that she must always be accompanied by other people when she entered the plantations and gardens beyond the village or traveled to other islets. At night a man always accompanied her to protect her from the attacks of spirits.

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Birth took place in the home of the mother's parents. At the commencement of labor pains, the husband sent for the midwife (sisiki), and the husband and two or three women of the wife's family aided at the delivery. The woman was screened by mats at one end of the house. Relatives gathered in the outer chamber but were not allowed to witness the operations.

A young boy or girl was sent to watch the tide, for it was thought very propitious for the ease of the mother that her delivery take place at flood tide. As the full tide turned and ebbed it was believed a magical influence of like producing like would aid the woman in labor. The tide was watched particularly if the labor pains were protracted and delivery delayed. Messengers were constantly sent for reports on the sea, and as full tide was reached the woman was fed the very soft pith from the top of a coconut tree, which acted as a stimulant. As soon as the child was born and had begun to cry, the women relatives set up a shout of “Tulou! Tulou!” to hide the cries of the baby from any evil spirit hovering to steal the soul of the child.

Either of two positions was taken by the woman during the accouchement. She lay on her back with her husband sitting behind her head or reclined in his lap while he held her under her arms. This second position, however, was not commonly practiced. Lying on the floor the woman put her arms behind her and clasped her husband around his neck to brace herself during the delivery. The midwife sat opposite the husband and received the child on a soft mat. If the delivery was delayed, the midwife massaged the woman's abdomen, and expertly inserted her hand to turn the child.

A bed of soft puka leaves was placed under the woman's thighs before delivery, and after the birth a pad of these leaves was placed against her vagina and held firmly in place by a plaited bandage (noafaele laupuka) attached to a belt. It was also customary to wrap a band (noa faele) of soft matting made of pandanus (laukie) 4 or 5 inches wide around the woman's abdomen as a support and to help her regain her natural figure. This band is unfortunately no longer worn by the Tokelau women.

As soon as the child lay fully on the mat, the midwife inspected it. She sucked the mucous from its mouth and nose, and if it was pale and lifeless she blew into its mouth. If any blood was pulsating from the mother, she pressed it into the child by working on the umbilical cord (pito) with two fingers, for the blood was considered the life of the child and would cause it to cry. Then the cord was immediately tied with a thread of hibiscus bark (fau) and cut with a pearl shell knife (tifa). If it continued to bleed unnaturally the end was stopped with a fine white powder scraped from a fresh coconut stipule (kaka).

The child was bathed with warm water and wrapped in soft puka leaves. On the first day it was fed the juice of very young coconuts and the milk or cream squeezed from grated coconuts. For the first-born this feeding page 37 was continued for five days before the child was given the breast. During these five days the mother was fed only coconut juice and a little food.

After birth the severed cord and placenta were buried beneath a stone, and a coconut was planted over them. The tree growing from the nut became the property of the child. A mutual sympathy existed between child and tree. As the tree grew, so the child grew—straight and strong, or bowed and weak. When the two reached maturity the tree bore fruit for its owner.

When the child was one day old, magical influence was practiced to bring him success in the most important part of his life's work. A male child was given pieces of raw bonito to suck so that he might become a skilled fishing captain. A baby girl was given the tips of a squid's tentacles to play with and suck, so that she might become a clever fisherwoman on the reefs.

The mother of a first-born child remained in the house for five days and then went to the beach to bathe herself, after which she was massaged and rubbed with coconut oil. Then she dressed in her finest mats, a necklace, and head wreath of flowers, and paraded through the village and into the meeting house (falefono). She was accompanied by a young woman of the family and followed by several male relatives, who were armed with spears. The rest of the village gathered in the meeting house or along the way and joined in singing while admiring her beauty, considered in its prime at this time. After the display she returned to her house where she suckled her baby for the first time. According to Burrows (5) this public appearance of the mother after the birth of the first child took place ten days after delivery. If a woman moved to another island of the group and had a child there, the same ceremony was performed whether it was her first child or not.

As soon as a birth had taken place, relatives who were waiting in the home began preparations for a birth feast (katamunga). Mats, which had been plaited after the announcement of conception, were brought as gifts (sanga o te alopo'u). The small epe epe mats were plaited of fala pandanus; the kiekie mats were plaited of kie pandanus.

Little importance was attached to the naming of children. The name was chosen by the parents either before or after the birth.

No true religious rites were performed for the benefit of new-born babies or the protection of the mothers. If the parents of a child were especially delighted and wished to demonstrate their appreciation to the gods, they made a special offering for the child to the supreme deity, Tui Tokelau, at the annual ceremony following the birth of the child.

It was believed that twins were the result of overwork during pregnancy. Twins had but one “soul” or spirit between them, and if one should die the other would probably follow. (Improper feeding is the chief cause of infant mortality and, as twins receive identical treatment, both are likely to die if improperly treated.) It was recognized that twins are likely to appear in page 38 the same families in successive generations. Boy and girl twins are called masanga alei; twins of the same sex, masanga.

Childhood

A child stayed with his mother, or with a wet-nurse living outside the home, until he was weaned—a period which often lasted two years. Adoption was common, and a child frequently left home when he was one or two years old. No strong feeling of solidarity existed within the family proper and children were freely exchanged. Collateral relatives of the parents who were childless often brought up a child. When a child was old enough to assist in the work of the household and had several young brothers and sisters, he was sent to help his grandparents, if they were not living in the home of his parents, or to an aunt or uncle who needed extra help. Children frequently left home of their own accord. In the simple village life, where the children roamed in and out of every house, the separation from parents was not absolute. A child always knew who his true parents were and understood his relationship to his foster parents.

An eldest girl grew up in the house of her mother and remained there. The eldest son usually was taken before he was weaned and was nursed by his adoptive mother, the father's eldest sister, or another aunt in her house, who took especial care of him as the heir in her kindred by direct lineal descent in the male line. She was his matua sa (sacred mother) and he was her tama sa (sacred child). His cousins, the true children of his adoptive mother or aunt, who were living in the household, became his brothers and sisters. The close relationship of these cousins is shown in the extension to them of the same kinship terms used for actual brothers and sisters.

While the children were young they were unclothed and intermingled without regard to sex or relationship, but as soon as brothers and sisters approached puberty they observed strict rules of avoidance, carried on throughout life between all relatives of the same generation who were termed brother or sister by one of the opposite sex. This usually included all cousins to the fourth degree. All communication between a brother and sister was passed through the intermediary of their mother. A boy must not utter any indecent or obscene language before his sister or conduct himself incorrectly; he must not sit on a mat with her or enter a house where she was. A sister left the presence of a brother unless he was much younger. This avoidance was more rigorous between true brothers and sisters and first cousins than between more distant relatives, but the freedom that existed between unrelated girls and boys was never permitted.

As soon as a child could run about he played outdoors in the village or on the beach under the guardianship of an older brother or sister. His play page 39 was much of his education, for in it he imitated the practices of older people, and learned much of reef fishing, plaiting, and the preparing and cooking of food. As soon as he was old enough he was put to work by his elders.

Puberty

At the first signs of puberty young boys put on a plaited leaf breechcloth (malo); young girls wore the thick pandanus leaf skirt (titi). The boys left their homes where their sisters and female cousins slept and lived in the men's houses (fale pa).

In former times the village contained several men's houses. All the unmarried male members of a family belonged to one house, which was used as a clubhouse as well as for sleeping quarters. Here men spent their leisure time talking or performing the lighter crafts, such as making fishhooks or twisting fiber into cord and rope.

While living in the men's houses the education of the boys was completed. They went as crew in the canoes on fishing excursions or across the lagoon to the plantations of coconut and pandanus on the windward islets to gather food. They prepared ovens and built fires and did much of the cooking and serving for the men in the house. They learned to make all the implements used in fishing, and the sons or nephews of a carpenter (tofunga) often learned from him to build houses or canoes. After work the boys sat about and listened to the tales of the older men.

Circumcision

All male members of society were circumcised, sometimes at puberty, but usually five or six years later. When the village council decided that there were enough uncircumcised boys for a group operation, the operator (to-funga), Te Nifo (the Tooth, because he operated with a shark's tooth), was ordered to confine them in a single house for the operation. The operation, which was, strictly speaking, superincision, was performed by pulling the foreskin forward and raising it on to a small, flat stick. A longitudinal slit was then made with a shark's tooth. Nothing was applied to aid the healing or to cover the incision.

The boys were forced to remain in the house until they were well healed. It was tapu to leave even for food. The sons of their father's sisters (ilamutu) accompanied the operator each day to bring food which consisted solely of coconuts in the niumata stage. Fish was tapu.

When the healing was completed the families of the boys gave a feast of announcement (te kainga o te katala faele). At this time the boys repaid their cousins with gifts for the supply of food which they had brought.

A woman considered an uncircumcised man unfit to marry.

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Courtship and marriage

The tapu placed on men and women of blood relationship was the only restriction on unmarried people in sexual matters. Both boys and girls entered upon a series of love affairs and experiences, which received the tacit consent of their parents as long as they did not become scandalous.

Marriage took place when the children were 16 or 18 years old and was usually the result of parental planning. The family council, which decided the matter of a boy's marriage, was composed chiefly of members of the paternal side of the family from whom the boy would receive the greater part of his inheritance.

In making formal suit, the boy called upon the parents of the girl and presented them with a gift of food (kainiu) which they accepted. After the formal and evasive remarks which always preface the conversation of Polynesians soliciting for one another, the boy made the most indirect and brief allusion to the object of his visit and departed. The girl's family made inquiries about the boy's character and ability to fish and work. The immediate kin of the girl met to discuss the proposed alliance and then informed the boy of their decision. He carried the news to his own family.

Frequently a match was initiated by the boy's father in order to unite two prominent families or to secure a girl of wealth and prestige. The girl's father usually desired an industrious youth, able to work the land and heir to large holdings in his own line. The preliminary arrangements were made by the fathers of the couple.

When the boy decided the question of marriage himself he usually sent an intermediary, some boy friend, who carried to the young girl a flower or a head wreath made by the suitor and announced to her who had sent it. The girl showed her interest by accepting the gift, and if she was willing to marry the young man she wore it in public where he would be sure to see her. If there had been much intimacy between the two, the boy might make his proposal directly at some secret meeting on the beach or in the plantations beyond the village.

If love matches were disapproved by the parents as being socially unsuitable, the couple took a canoe and paddled across the lagoon, living perhaps in some little hut used by food gatherers. In a few days they returned and the families reluctantly submitted to the inevitable and allowed the two to set up their own household in the village or to reside with the girl's parents as a married couple of the community.

The relatives on both sides helped in preparing for the marriage. The boy's eldest paternal aunt (matua sa), as female head of the father's line, decided how many mats were to be made as gifts to the couple, and divided the work among the women of her kindred. She also took charge of the preparation of the food for the wedding. Her daughters, the boy's female page 41 cousins (ilamutu) also prepared mats for him. The boy's maternal relatives prepared mats as gifts for the wedding, but the marriage was less important to them.

The girl's mother and her eldest maternal aunt, who controlled the female side of the mother's kindred, took charge of the girl's affairs. The mother's eldest brother had more authority at this time and more interest than the father, gathering the food for the wedding feast and directing the work of the kindred. The wedding feast consisted of a few large fish, perhaps a turtle, a pile of coconuts, and dishes of cooked coconut meat and pandanus fruit, for the island produced no garden fruits or fowls.

A group of the villagers marched among the houses singing and shouting the formal announcement to all the community: “Kaitaoso, Kaitaoso, Kaikati, te mafua, ngutu” (Jump like a fish, jump like a fish, eat by biting the small fish bait in your mouth). This was sung to the bridegroom who secured his bride (literally, the bait) in the wedding. The wedding ceremony consisted only of the presentation of gifts and feasting. All relatives of the couple came to the wedding feast (kainganiunga) bearing the gift mats which they placed before the bride and groom. The bride received the mats of the groom's family, divided them, and presented them to the members of her family who had brought mats. The groom took the mats of the bride's family and distributed them among his relatives. All who aided in preparing for the wedding or contributed to the family display of wealth by the presentation of mats were repaid from gifts brought by relatives of the son-in-law or daughter-in-law. The couple received little of the wealth which passed through their hands. When the distribution was completed, the couple sat together for most of the day, eating with the guests who had come to pay their respects. No symbolic joining of the two, other than their remaining together on a mat throughout the day, signified their marriage. The groom remained at his wife's house and was allowed to sleep with her on the first night. The consummation was called moemuli. Virginity was not held at great premium, and no tests or formal proof were made to the family of the groom.

Because of fear of incest all cousins within four degrees of kinship on either side of the family were barred from marriage. However, many marriages between third and fourth cousins are found in the genealogy of the first settler of Atafu, and it is probable that on atolls where the populations were never large the extreme limits of the tapu have been disregarded through necessity.

Polygyny (taunonofo) was practiced, but cases of it are few in the records of early observers on the islands. Pio, one of the first men from Fakaofu to settle on Atafu, had two wives and two separate establishments. The children of his two wives are reckoned separately in the genealogies of page 42 his line. The difficulty of supplying food for two households was the chief restraint in the practice of taking more than one wife.

Men had recognized mistresses whom they visited in the women's houses and who were called wives (avanga) of the man but were free to marry other men in the village. Women who easily granted their favors to men of the village were called fafine taka, and a man who was known to cohabit regularly with one woman was termed moe fale pa. (This latter term suggests that the woman went to the men's house (fale pa) to sleep (moe) with her lover.) This license doubtlessly existed mainly among the unmarried group, for adultery was regarded as one of the most serious crimes against society. If a woman was found to be unfaithful to her husband, she suffered siki te fua (lifting the jealousy or avenging the husband). The family of the husband destroyed the woman's house, canoe, and property which was owned by her close blood relations, who dared not resist. The public shame and guilt were shared by all members of the family as well as by the iniquitous woman. This act freed the husband from any ties to his wife or obligations to her family. A mutual agreement of separation was common between husbands and wives who found life together unpleasant or incompatible. This constituted divorce if the separation continued over a long period of time.

No modern substitute has been found for the punishment of adultery and the separation of incompatibles. Without the fear of the old law, abolished by government and church, much promiscuity exists.

Adult Life

After marriage, the husband lived in the house of his wife's family and worked and fished with her kindred, but his social group remained primarily that of his father. He took part in the activities of his own kindred and received a share of the fruits of his father's land when they were needed. His father or the head of his kindred still exercised authority over him in all interests of their kindred.

The girl remained a daughter of her family's house and continued her daily work of caring for the small brothers and sisters, and assisting her mother and the older women of the house in all their work. With the news of her pregnancy, her position became more honored. The news was heralded with great rejoicing by both families and a feast of the first pregnancy was immediately planned. The cherished hope of both families for an heir was now promised and the marriage was considered a success.

When the young couple had children, they still remained in the home of the wife's parents if she was the eldest daughter of the family; but if she was a younger daughter, they frequently set up their own home on the land of the kindred of either side. There is still much variation in this final page 43 settlement, depending upon the number of children in the family of either the wife or the husband, and upon the wealth in land of the respective kindreds. If the husband was the eldest son in his family, he set up his household on his father's land. Before building a house, the consent of the assembled kindred was necessary to occupy the land and take building materials from the plantation.

When a man had established a household of his own and had become skilled in man's crafts, he assumed an authoritative position within his kindred and retired from active participation in the work for the household, now done by his sons and sons-in-law. He became a member of the village council, a position corresponding to that of the matai of Samoa, who is elected head of his kindred ('ainga) and inherits the family title. If a man was a skilled bonito fisherman, he was given a second position of importance, that of fishing captain (tautai) in the family canoe.

A man never gave up his fishing until he had become too infirm to paddle his canoe. If he lived to be 65 or 70 years old he joined the chief council group of the village who, with the high chief, governed the community. He and his wife moved to a small house and were cared for by two or three of their elder grandchildren who brought them food from the family oven.

Death and Burial

After death, the body of a man was prepared for burial by his father's sister, the body of a woman by her mother's sister. With the aid of other women she washed and oiled the body and dressed it in a new garment of coconut or hibiscus leaf, decorating it with flowers and a wreath on the head. It was finally wrapped in new mats before burial which took place on the day of death. With it were put the mats and pearl shell ornaments (lei) which friends and family had presented.

The death of a member of the family was an important event to all relatives, who immediately came to express their grief over the body. As soon as the freshly dressed corpse was laid on mats in the center of the house, the family gathered about it and commenced wailing (tangi) and calling the name of the deceased. Each new arrival wailed vociferously for several minutes but, quickly exhausting himself, his cries subsided to the occasional moaning of the others who had already spent themselves and sat rocking their bodies back and forth, gazing at the corpse before them. In modern times this is the only sign of grief except on the part of the wife, who visits the grave of her husband to wail and call upon him to come back. In the past, close relatives shaved off their hair, burned their skin with small burning points of wood, and displayed their grief with much suffering. Relatives performed dances and songs of the dead outside the house of mourning. page 44 The dances (taualofa, tangi) were performed with arm motions while the performers were seated (14).

The immediate family was confined within their own house under a tapu for a period of 10 days (falemanu) to placate the gods and particularly the spirit of the deceased. Wall screens were dropped and the family sat quietly inside, forbidden to disturb anything or to leave the house for any social observance, even though it were a call to the deathbed of another relative. Anyone who broke the tapu would be killed by a god. A screen of mats was arranged from the house to the sea in order that the inmates might pass to the sea unobserved to perform their toilet. During this time no cooking could be done by the family. All food was brought by neighbors or distant relatives, who left promptly. No other visitors were permitted.

Burials are made today with the bodies extended, but Lister (14, p. 55) says of former customs:

The body was placed in the grave, lying on the back, and with the knees bent to the utmost extent, so that the leg was parallel with the thigh. The thigh was extended in line with the body. Two leaflets were laid transversely across the chest. No food or weapons were placed in the grave with it.

The natives say that formerly graves were made without marks of identification, but Lister (14) states:

The grave was about 3 feet deep; a mound of coral shingle was raised over it, with a vertical slab of stone at the head and other slabs laid on the top and sides of the mound.

The grave was made close to the house or in the floor of the house and when the body was lowered into it the eldest sister of the deceased sat at the head of the grave. Since Christianity has been introduced into the islands, separate cemeteries have been made outside the confines of the village, in which the graves are 6 or 7 feet long (pl. 10, A).

Lister (14, p. 55) writes:

For five nights after the burial the relatives came to the grave, and, removing the stone which lay over the region of the head, poured coconut oil into the heap … with a cry of mourning. This anointing the grave with oil is still performed in Tonga.

After two or three days the body was disinterred and brought into the house. The family again washed and oiled it, wrapped fresh mats about it, and buried it again. The new grave was made a fathom deep.

The Household

The family consisting of father, mother, and children is considered a biological unit. It is the source of the living group or household, but not a social entity, participating in social life as a self-contained group. In its page 45 origin the household corresponds with the family, but new members, not necessarily related by blood, are frequently added.

The determining factor in the arrangement and function of the household is economic. The household is a cooperative domestic unit, in which the members share the land, its produce, and the work. They live together in one house or in nearby sleeping huts and use a common cook shed and fishing canoe. Household affairs are directed by the senior mother and her husband.