'HAU 'O MOMO, LO'AU Fena pe ka ko Nua'

WELCOME TO THE 'LEPA' OF MA'ANANGA

LoauRS WAS FOUNDED IN SYDNEY ON THE 16/1/99.

In ancient Tonga, Ma'ananga was said to be the residence of the Lo'au lineage situated at Ha'amea district. Ha’amea included most, if not all, areas between Vaini and Te’ekiu villages in central Tongatapu. Fualu at Pea village was the spot where Ma’ananga was located.
However, the first appearance of the title Lo'au (Tuputoka) was associated with the 10th Tu'i Tonga, Momo, around the 10th century AD. He was regarded as a foreigner, but he had a daughter, Nua, whose mother was a chiefly woman from Ha'amea. Nua became the ma'itaki, favourite wife, of Momo. Momo, on the advice of Tuputoka, formed the royal kava ceremony, giving it both socio-political significance. The son of Momo and Nua was Tu'i Tatui, and he began a series of major reforms under the guidance of probably Lo’au Tongafisifonua. He was responsible for the expansion of Tongan imperialism to neighbouring islands such as Futuna, Fiji and Samoa and the construction of the Ha'amonga 'a Maui Motu'a trilithon and Royal tombs (Langi).
Ma'ananga symbolised the wisdom of the Lo'au lineage with respects to instructions connected with human-physical activities such as kava ceremony, stone constructions, navigation, land tenure system and annual calender. Traditionally, the word ma'ananga pointed to the uniqueness of Lo’au’s ability to predict upcoming events in the distant future, hence the ancient proverb Toka-‘i-Ma’ananga (Wisdom of Ma’ananga). Traditions related that the Lo’au lineage conducted a school of navigation in a huge lepa (lake) at Fualu. In light of this skill in social reforms, Lo’au title was regarded as tufunga fonua (carpenter of people). It is with the same intellectual depth that LRS, a platform for critical discussions and dissemination of objective knowledge, hopes to achieve...