Building on an earlier episode about Critical Tongan Studies, Ata and I revisit this idea and discuss the various waves that make up a rich intellectual tradition based in the regions associated with Tonga. Acknowledging the social and national construction at a particular point in time we seek to localise and unpack the context where different philosophical traditions emerged by imagining both a pre- and post- Kingdom of Tonga context. We don’t cover everything, but we spend some time on the foundational shifts in thinking and questioning based in the era when Queen Sālote Tupou III reigned. This includes commissioning research of early Tongan scholars and scholars of Tonga who would be crucial in capturing a memory of Indigenous cultural practices and arts as well as further developing a critical intellectual tradition that asked important yet challenging questions. This includes scholars like Epeli Hau’ofa, Elizabeth Bott, I. Futa Helu and more, up through to the contemporary Early Tongan Scholars and Global Tongan Scholars’ networks of today.

References Mentioned:

Women of Power Part 2

Tongan Society: Discussions with Her Majesty Queen Sālote Tupou

Tales of the Tikongs

Songs and Poems of Queen Sālote

Queen Sālote of Tonga