KEY POINTS:
When King Tupou V is crowned in Nuku'alofa this week, a European-style coronation will be enacted within a rich and vibrant Polynesian context.
Velvet robes trimmed in ermine, a crown and a sceptre will take their place alongside the fine mats, exquisitely woven from pandanus.
The royal guard
and royal band will provide the pomp while the preparation and serving of the kava will reaffirm the hierarchy of power within the kingdom, stretching back centuries.
The singing, the feasting, the dancing, the sport, the church services will all reaffirm the strength of Tongan culture and the unique position of the King within it.
The presence of members of foreign royal families and representatives of foreign governments will underline the international recognition that has been accorded the Tongan monarchy since the 1870s.
Captain James Cook spent many months in the Tongan islands during the course of his Pacific voyages in the 18th century. He participated in huge feasts, exchanges of food and material items, kava ceremonies and the reciprocal exchange of names.
He wrote in detail of his experiences. What Cook observed was a highly complex society. The physical environment of the Tongan islands had enabled the expansion of population since earliest settlement.
Rich soils and gentle terrain resulted in increasing population density. With this came intensification of food production, specialisation of labour and increasing complexity of social and political organisation.
Cook observed a highly stratified society. He noted that the strong traditions of leadership were enforced by ceremony and ritual and underpinned by strong lineage lines and religious links. At the time of Cook's arrival, three great chiefly titles existed in Tonga.
Rivalry and conflict were common between chiefly factions but there was an accepted balance of power. The introduction of Western weaponry by the beginning of the 19th century made the civil war that had started in Tonga a much more lethal affair than it would otherwise have been.
The arrival of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in 1826 added another factor to the equation. Through the first half of the 19th century, amid considerable turbulence and change, one of the three chiefs, Taufa'ahau, succeeded in uniting the whole archipelago.
At the time of his Christian baptism, Taufa'ahau took the name George (Siaosi) after the English monarch and with the prompting of his missionary advisers he adopted the European title of king. With the family name Tupou, he became known as King Tupou I.
As European powers entered the Pacific, traditional systems of leadership came under increasing pressure. In many of the islands the leading chief was identified and referred to as "king". It was a convenient but not very meaningful title.
In Tonga, however, the idea of kingship began to assume new proportions. With encouragement from particular European advisers, the idea of packaging an already elaborate system of leadership into the European model of monarchy was seen as a means of preventing colonisation.
As one historian put it, "the only way to remain Tongan was to appear Western". For the indigenous people this new monarchy retained so much they already knew and accepted. For the European powers it replicated their own leadership system and therefore deserved to be respected.
The people of Tonga were fortunate in their first King. He had proved himself a great warrior and now he also proved to be an astute ruler.
To begin with, the emphasis was on consolidating his position as ruler of the whole archipelago. He did this with weaponry but also with a new written code of laws. The Wesleyan missionaries, and in particular Shirley Baker, supported him in steadily introducing the key elements of a constitutional monarchy.
By the 1860s, the King's position was secure within Tonga but there was increasing concern about the external threat from foreign powers as they vied for influence and strategic control.
To help gain recognition as a sovereign power, the repackaging of Tongan leadership now began.
On the beachfront in Nuku'alofa a large two-storeyed royal palace was constructed of kauri imported from New Zealand. Later a twin-towered royal chapel was built adjacent to the palace.
With the guidance of Shirley Baker, royal regalia was devised. The seal and standard, the coat-of-arms and motto, the red and white flag and the national anthem, all combined traditional Tongan and Christian imagery.
A gold crown designed and made in Australia was said to be the largest and heaviest of its kind.
A new constitution in 1875 completed the transformation and Western powers began to recognise Tonga as an independent, sovereign state. King Tupou I had realised his dream and when he died in 1893 he was succeeded by his great-grandson, the young King Tupou II, who was determined to continue his legacy.
However, a conference between Germany, the United States and Britain in 1899 set out new spheres of influence in the Pacific. While Germany and the United States divided Samoa, Britain was given Tonga as its exclusive sphere.
In May, 1900 a British protectorate was declared on the beach at Nuku'alofa. Some sobbed when they heard the word "protectorate" but the arrangement did recognise Tonga's sovereignty while offering protection from other foreign powers for 70 years until the granting of full independence in 1970.
The robust Polynesian society Cook had observed in the 18th century underwent considerable change in the 19th and yet the essence of "fakatonga", the Tongan way, survived. Blessed with an extraordinary first King who reigned for much of the century and showed great astuteness in what advice he would accept from his European advisers, Tonga entered the 20th century with a political system moulded and packaged into a European format - but Tongan at heart.
* Margaret Pointer, a New Zealander, is a historian, teacher and freelance researcher/writer with a specific interest in Pacific history. She lives in Tokyo.
