‘Tonga Is My Homeland, But Fiji Is My Home’: Journeys and Experiences of Tongan Women in Fiji (1959–79)

This article is based on a historical study of the minority Tongan community in Fiji, with a particular focus on the journeys and experiences of five Tongan women between 1959 and 1979. The oral history methodologies of talanoa and talaloto are used. Chiefly views and existing histories of Tongans in Fiji, and Tonga generally, overlook the experiences and significant contributions of commoner women towards their communities. Considered guardians of Tongan culture, Tongan women retained their language and customs in Fiji. Used to their high social ranking in Tonga, these women struggled to come to terms with the change in their social ranking in Fiji.