ABSTRACT
Countless generations of Moana (Oceanic) people relied on ‘wayfinding’ processes in their navigation and communication. As diasporic wayfarers, to’utangata Tonga (generations of Tongan people) continue to encounter New Zealand, Australia, and the US in search of opportunities for their kāinga (extended family). Despite assumptions that Tongan peoples’ sense of connectedness to their traditional culture dissipates as the distance from their homeland increases, a new sense of affiliation is constructed as they encounter “deep intimacy with an ever-changing world” (Spiller 2012, p. 3) that is challenging yet necessary. In this chapter I explore the dynamic yet fluid constructions of indigenous masculinities through to’utangata Tonga, assuming an entangling of Tongan males’ sense of ‘becoming’ in an ever-changing world. Vā and veitapui as sociospatial and sacred spaces enable us to wayfind the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, and social class where to’utangata Tonga and indigenous masculinities are understood.
