Tongan land management: Putting the brakes on the global economy

Journal of Pacific History

Volumn 36, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 93-104

  Crawford, Christopher G ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33847400079     PISSN: 00223344     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00223340120049460     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. This article expands upon the work of Kerry James, Ron Crocombe, R.G. Ward and E. Kingdom A. Maude and F. Sevele, and J. Connell and D. Lea by using their descriptions of past and contemporary Tongan and Oceanic land management systems to reveal the contemporary values embedded in Tongan land management For global systems theory, of 'core' and 'periphery' economies, see Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World System (New York 1974).
2. R. Gerald Ward and Elizabeth Kingdon, 'Introduction.', in R. Gerald Ward and Elizabeth Kingdon (eds), Land, Custom and Practice in the South Pacific (Hong Kong 1995), 1.
3. Ron G. Crocombe, 'Overview - The Pattern of Change in Pacific Land Tenures', in Ron G. Crocombe, Land Tenure in the Pacific (Suva 1987).
4. Lisia T. Muller, 'URBANIZATION - A Paper on the Effect of Population Growth and Urbanization on the Demand and Consumption of Water and Energy (Namely Electricity) for the Period 1976 - 1986, Nuku'alofa, Kingdom of Tonga', Suva, South Pacific Commission (hereinafter SPC), 1996, 2. Siua Halavatau (MAF) and Villiami Tiseli (MAF), interview conducted at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Tongatapu, July 1996.
5. Taniela Tukia, interview conducted at Ministry of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, July, 1996. Rosemary Taufatofua, 'Housing and Households In Tonga: A Situation Analysis', unpuplished paper written for the National Population Policy Seminar, Central Planning Department, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, July 1996, 9.
6. Rosemary Taufatofua, interview conducted at Central Planning Department, Nuku'alola, July 1996.
7. Alaric Maude and Feleti Sevele, 'Tonga - Equality Overtaking Privilege', in Ron G.Crocombe (ed.), and Tenure in the Pacific (Suva 1987), 115.I.C. Campbell, Island Kingdom: Tonga Ancient & Modern (Christchurch, New Zealand 1992), 27-8.
8. Maude and Sevele, 'Tonga - Equality Overtaking Privilege', 115.
9. Kerry James, 'Right and Privilege in Tongan Land Tenure', in Ward and Kingdon (eds), Land, Custom and Practice in the South Pacific, 157-97.
10. Campbell, Island Kingdom, 31.
11. N. Rutherford, 'Shirley Baker and the Kingdom of Tonga', PhD thesis, Australian National University (Canberra 1966).
12. Some may argue that further evidence of this can be found in the fact that rights were only given to males, which would insure that for any female to prosper she must be part of a group. Men were seen as representing a larger social fabric which was to be supported.
13. Ropate Qalo, 'Tonga', in Peter Larmour and Ropate Qalo (eds), Decentralisation in the South Pacific (Suva 1985), 239.
14. It should be noted that there is no legal responsibility to provide these gifts after land has been registered, yet either through ignorance of law or adherence to the. rigors of the pre-contact social heirarchy, gifts are still given.
15. This societal obligation to group rights is also the basis of the extraordinary generosity of Tongans.
16. The categories would be similar in royal and noble estates except that 'public' land would be replaced with 'royal' or 'noble' land.
17. Tax 'api land is land set aside in the countryside for farming, although there are a few tax 'apis, in the urban periphery.
18. Taniela Tukia, interview conducted at Ministry of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, July 1996.
19. There is an informal system of land transfer that will be described later.
20. Siua Halavatau and Villiami Tiseli, interview conducted at Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Tongatapu, July 1996.
21. David Perry, pers. comm., Spring 1996.
22. R. Gerard Ward and Elizabeth Kingdon, 'Land Use and Tenure: Some Comparisons', in Ward and Kingdon, Land, Custom and Practice in the South Pacific, 12-13.
23. Drew Havea, interview conducted at the United States Peace Corps Office, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, 1996.
24. Ward and Kingdon, 'Land Use and Tenure', 8.
25. Kenneth Bain, The New Friendly Islanders (London/Sydney/Auckland 1993).
26. The king and cabinet together.
27. Although now with British aid waning, a New Zealander has been appointed.
28. Prime Minister's Office, 1995.
29. Recently a government project has enlisted the services of Alan Barker and Associates to work on this problem. This is evidence that government is taking steps towards a capital economy. By implementing such a system, power to make decisions will be taken from government ministers and given to government employees. A decrease in noble power in the government could also lead to a decrease in power in land management Planning decisions will be made by government officials trained to do so, not nobles wishing to perpetuate an egalitarian, subsistence economy. The effects on land management could be pronounced. As nobles lose their institutionalised place in Tongan government ministries, planning becomes more democratic and government, not the nobles, is seen as the providers of all societal functions. This accompanied by appropriate institutional strengthening of government departments may create a feeling among the general public that government can provide for its needs in the face of capital accumulation. Pressure may mount to change the land management system to allow 'freehold' accompanied by proper planning. This would make the transition from a subsistence to a capital mode of production complete. As can be imagined, these changes while partially successful are meeting with some resistance from those higher up. One of the complaints of this project is that it is changing Tongan culture. It most certainly is. The questions remain, is it the correct time for change? and at what rate will change occur?
30. Ward and Kingdon, 'Introduction', 3.
31. Rosemary Taufatofua, 'Housing and Households in Tonga', 7.