What's In A Name: A History of the Village of Vaimalō in Vava'u ^Featured

Vaimalō, is a village in the western district of Vavaʻu in Tonga. Vaimalō was named by one of the most revered and beloved chiefs in Vava'u's history the great Finau Fisi. The village became the sole estate of his only child and son Naufahu Mapilitoa. In 1781 right off the coast of Longomapu, it was Finau Fisi in his double hulled war canoe the Talito'a who met the Spaniard explorer Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle the first European to discover Vava'u. With his supplies depleted and sailing the last three days without water it was by luck Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle and his crew found the inlet passage to the middle of the main island.

In his journal Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle wrote of the great size of the 10 double hulled war canoes that encircled his ship as they anchored off the coast of Longomapu. The first thing the captain asked for when Finau Fisi met him was water, upon understanding his request Finau Fisi not only gave the explorer and his crew water but replenished their food supplies, took care and stayed with them the 2 weeks they spent in Vava'u. Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle being grateful for the initial water given to him by Finau Fisi kept thanking him in Spanish; "Gracias aqua, gracias aqua" (thank you water, thank you water), hence the Tongan translation and the name of the village "Vai - Water", "Malō - Thank you". Before the passage of the Vavaʻu Land Acts (V.L.A) of 1849 and 1914 that effectively placed Vaimalō under government control, the whole of Vaimalō belonged only to Naufahu Mapilitoa and his family. Vaimalō's current general population is made up mainly of Naufahu Mapilitoaʻs immediate descendants, relatives, and friends from Niue, Fiji, Samoa, and Solomon Islands.

Naufahu Māpilitoa was the only child and son of Luseane ʻI-fanga-Hihifo and the great chief Fīnau Fisi. Fīnau Fisi was the younger brother and chief adviser to the most feared and powerful man in all of Tonga in the late 18th and early 19th century, the infamous Vava'u King or Tu’i Vava’u Finau ʻUlukalala II also known as Fangupō and Finau ʻUlukalala-‘i-Feletoa. Naufahu Māpilitoa was a mighty warrior of Vava'u and was renowned for his independent disposition particularly his uncompromising and unrepentant opposition to the rule of his uncle and Vava’u King Finau ʻUlukalala II whom he hated due to the King’s cruel treatment of the common people. In 1807, Tu’i Vava’u Finau ʻUlukalala II was in the early stage of rebuilding and stabilizing Vava’u politically and socially after the bloody civil war between his forces and those of opposing Vava’u chiefs which ended when he unwillingly accepted a compromise with demands that favored the opposition.

In that bloody civil war, Naufahu Mapilitoa opposed, broke away and fought bravely against his father and the King ’s forces to great effect in Feletoa and Mataika. At the fort Fatungakoa in Feletoa, it was Naufahu and the warrior Pupunu who threw the double spears that killed the King’s giant chief warrior Siulua. In the mound of Fekitetele in Mataika it was Naufahu and the warrior Fanafonua who slew his own father’s twin Fijian chief warriors Koloiuluipuaka and Koloiloaloa fighting with his famous war clubs Pasivulangi and Pasitaukei.

After the war Naufahu Māpilitoa returned to the land he made his home Vaimalō. He started a family but even that didn’t stop him from voicing and making his hatred of his uncle the King known. This made him very popular with the common people but viewed by his father Fīnau Fisi and his uncle the King as not only unforgivably and deeply disrespectful but hindering lasting peace. This made Naufahu a very dangerous enemy in the eyes of the ruling monarch as he was looked up to as a leader by other chiefs and warriors who felt the same way.

For these reasons and with the blessing of his brother and chief adviser Fīnau Fisi, in 1808, the King concocted and carried out the legendary and tragic sinking canoes incident off the coast of Makave. A very diabolical act that not only made Finau ʻUlukalala II universally infamous as a cruel and treacherous King, but also and arguably the most brilliant and cunning strategist in the history of Tonga. With Finau Fisi inconspicuously absent, the highest ranked and most influential of opposing chiefs and warriors including Naufahu were invited to a great feast and royal kava ceremony hosted by the King in Makave. Sometimes during the royal kava ceremony the King’s warriors in overwhelming numbers suddenly attacked and subdued the seated opposing chiefs and warriors.

Most were killed immediately where they sat, some were executed in different areas of the village and the most highly ranked and mightiest of chiefly warriors of which there were six were held down with their hands bound. The six were Naufahu, Talia’uli, Ngāngā, Pupunu, Fanafonua and Mahe’uli’uli. They were soon joined by another fearsome warrior the chief Kakahu who refused the King’s invitation but was captured at his home which made it seven warriors of the highest order. Of these seven only Fanafonua managed to break free and escape, the remaining six were bound hands and feet, put into old dilapidated leaking canoes that sank right off the harbor of Makave.

Even this mass execution didn't bring the lasting peace the King seek for Vava'u but rather a wider division that lasted for another 12 years. In 1820, the King's youngest son and reigning Vava'u King, the Tu'i Vava'u Finau ʻUlukalala IV or Tu'apasi and Finau ʻUlukalala-'i-Pouono finally achieved peace and brought the whole island together with many of his late father's old enemies as his advisers and members of his national council.

Naufahu Māpilitoa married Tulukava Siliika of Talau and they had one child, a son they named 'Avala-ʻae-tau. Upon Naufahuʻs death in 1808, Vaimalō became the family estate of 'Avala-ʻae-tau, his immediate family and a few relatives. ʻAvala-ʻae-tau married 5 times which was normal in ancient times throughout Tonga especially within the nobility class, his 5 wives bore him 11 children;

His first wife 'Alilia Funakitoutai bore him 4 children;
1.    Tevita Taʻofi-kae-tau Tapueluelu
2.    Lesieli Afu Haʻapai
3.    Lavinia Sialehaehae
4.    Salesi Mataele-ʻo-Haʻamea
His second wife Paluleleva bore him 3 children;
1.    Lutuipalelei
2.    Paluleleva-he-'i-moana
3.    Tupouniua
His third wife 'Anaukihe'ufimoho'ota bore him 2 children;
1.    Sepiuta Mounu'umata
2.    Penisimani Katavake
His fourth wife Nukutau'opulotu bore him 1 child;
1.    Talime'alahi
His fifth wife Veisinia Moalalahi bore him 1 child;
1.    Pikula Tahifisi'itoto

When His Majesty George Tupou I became Tu'i Vava'u, "Vava'u King", in 1833 after the death of Fīnau ʻUlukālala IV (Tuapasi), he ushered in a new political and social era in Vava'u that became the historic road-map and foundation for change in all of Tonga forever.

1.    He abolished serfdom in Vava'u in 1835
2.    He published the Vava'u Code the first written laws of Tonga in 1838
3.    He dedicated and pledged Tonga to a Christian God and officially made Tonga a Christian kingdom in 1839
4.    He established the Vava'u Land Act (V.L.A) of 1849 which empowered government to acquire land owned by chiefs and distribute them to commoners

When the V.L.A went into effect in 1849, His Majesty George Tupou I meticulously and cleverly persuaded countless Nobles or “ʻEiki” of Vavaʻu to accept the new V.L.A, especially those who stood to lose entire estates and land in accordance to the re-distribution ordinances of the new Vava'u Code. In exchange for the Nobles' acceptance and allegiance, His Majesty appointed the most influential of them to new governmental positions and bestowed upon some new aristocratic titles.

Such was His Majesty's appointment of a young Tevita Taʻofi-kae-tau Tapueluelu to become his Governor of Vava'u. This appointment is viewed by many as a very clever measure that appeased and formed an iron-fist alliance with a very influential, unpredictable and sometimes unruly Tapueluelu. The prestigious position and title with its implied significance did just that, Tapueluelu permanently moved out of Vaimalō and made Neiafu his new home, now the newly established and bustling capital city of Vava'u. Tapuelueluʻs new position and title came with a hereditary estate that Tapueluelu named Sailoame. Tapueluelu was not the only child of Avala-ʻae-tau that permanently moved out of Vaimalō, in 1878, Lesieli Afu Haʻapai married Siaosi ʻUlu-ki-vaiola who was the 6th Tuita, and made ʻUtungake, Vavaʻu her new home.

When the two eldest children of 'Avala-ʻae-tau moved out of Vaimalō, the two remaining; Lavinia Sialehaehae and Salesi Matele-ʻo-Haʻamea decided to divide Vaimalō into two separate Estates. Lavinia Sialehaehae made the whole oceanfront part of Vaimalō her home and named it Muileleu or Mourelle after the Spanish explorer Francisco Antonio Mourelle the first European to discover Vava'u. Salesi Mataele-ʻo-Haʻamea took over the inland part of Vaimalō and named his home Mohe-mo-langa.

Lavinia Sialehaehae was barren and didn't have any children, so upon her death, Salesi Mataele-ʻo-Haʻamea became the sole “hereditary occupant” of Vaimalō. Soon thereafter, he gave his inland home of Mohe-mo-langa to Manase Manu'okafoa a relative and moved into Laviniaʻs oceanfront home of Muileleu. Salesi married another Lavinia, this time a daughter of Kolotesi from Faleloa, Haʻapai. They had one child, a son they named Salesi Kato-ki-moʻunga Tuʻipulotu whose grandchildren are the current occupants of Muileleu, Mohe-mo-langa, and most of Vaimalō today.

Vaimalōʻs nickname is Funga Mapitoa. Mapitoa is a massive rock that protrude out of the ocean and is only five meters or so away from the tail end of Vaimalōʻs landmass right in front of Muileleu. This rock was so named “Mapitoa”, short for “Mapilitoa” by His Majesty George Tupou I, as a tribute to Vaimalōʻs original renowned resident Naufahu Mapilitoa.