The Culture of Tonga

Tongan archipelago has been inhabited for more than 3,000 years

Europeans arrived in the late 1600's

Indigenous Tongan culture changed significantly with the arrival of more Europeans (traders and missionaries) in the 1800's

• Today, Tongans have spread to many parts of the world, usually to find work: United States, Australia and New Zealand = Tongan diaspora
• diaspora = a spreading out of a people from their original homeland
  
• Many Tongans operate in two different contexts: 1) the traditional Tongan way = anga fakatonga and 2) the western/modern Tongan way = anga fakapalangi


• Tongans learn both sets of rules and when it is appropriate to switch between them