Coronations in Oceania are, or were, held in the following countries:
Coronations in Oceania are, or were, held in the following countries:
Bau island chief Seru Epenisa Cakobau used Western cannons and muskets to subdue most of Fiji. He was crowned as Fiji's sovereign by European traders and residents, who desired a stable government in Fiji in order to safeguard their investments. [1] Cakobau was crowned in May 1867 as King of Bau, and recognized as King of Fiji in 1871. Later, sovereign authority over Fiji passed to the British crown, until Fiji regained its independence in 1970. Fiji is now a republic, though it recognizes Charles III as Paramount Chief.
The Kingdom of Hawaii held a coronation ritual for King Kalākaua and Queen Kapiʻolani on February 12, 1883, nine years after his accession. Kalākaua's accession in 1874 saw no ceremony due to the political unrest at the time and his unpopularity with the Emmaites, supporters of Queen Emma. He was speedily sworn in as monarch at Kīnaʻu Hale, the chamberlain's quarter next to the Iolani Palace. Prior to this, the three previous monarchs were inaugurated at Kawaiahaʻo Church, where the feather cloak of Kamehameha was placed upon their shoulder.
Two golden crowns were manufactured in England for Kalākaua's subsequent crowning ceremony, and a large pavilion was erected in front of the newly completed ʻIolani Palace, into which the royals proceeded accompanied by bearers carrying the kahili, the ancient symbols of Hawaiian royalty. Given the diadem by a Reverend McIntosh, Kalākaua crowned himself, since no one was deemed sacred enough to crown an aliʻi. He then crowned his queen. When the crown was unable to sit on Kapiʻolan's elaborate hair, it was forced on, bringing the queen to tears. Kalākaua's sister Liliʻuokalani reported that at the moment of his crowning, the sun was obscured by a cloud which gave way to reveal a single bright star. Since this incident occurred during daylight, it caused a sensation among the assembled witnesses. [2]
Liliʻuokalani, who succeeded Kalākaua in 1891, did not have a coronation prior to her overthrow in 1893 and the abolition of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Unlike the other islands of Polynesia, Niue had no nationally organized government or single ruling chief until the beginning of the 18th century. Before then, chiefs and heads of families exercised authority over different segments of the population. Around 1700 the concept of kingship appear to have been introduced through contact with Samoa or Tonga, and from then a succession of patu-iki (kings) ruled the island, the first of whom was Puni-mata who bathed in Papatea, near Hakupu. The island was ceded to the British Crown by the eighth Patu-iki, Togia-Pulu-toaki in 1900.
Niue's kingship system was non-hereditary, leaders being elected by the population from among the heads of influential families. Following their election they were ceremonially anointed using traditional rituals, rather than European-style coronations. The new king was required to bathe or ceremonially cleanse himself by washing his body with scented (manogi) oils. A senior chief would then anoint (fakauku) the new ruler by dipping a lau-mamālu leaf in a cup of coconut oil, then striking the king's head three times. Songs (lologo) were composed and sung at the feast (katoaga) held to honor the king after his anointment; many examples survive through oral traditions to this today.
Each village would send representatives to attend the ceremony; others performed various services, such as providing the stone against which the king sat to be anointed, called a pepe. Two stones are in the village of Alofi where Tui-toga and Fata-a-iki were anointed. They are rough flat coral rocks, about four feet high and two feet wide. One other pillar-like stone lies at Tuapa; it was twelve feet high, sixty feet long, and fifty feet wide, although history does not record which kings were anointed there. Seventy or eighty yards away were stone seats reserved for the council of chiefs. Only the last three Niuean monarchs' anointment were recorded by Westerners: Tui-toga, the first Christian king, was anointed on March 2, 1875, Fata-a-iki was anointed on November 21, 1888, and Togia-Pulu-toaki, the last king, was anointed on June 30, 1898. [3]
The Kingdom of Rarotonga in reality had many Arikis or kings ruling at once. The Ariki of Rarotonga was ceremonially anointed upon pillar stones similar to the Niuean kings, although their traditions were much older. In Arai Te Tonga, a marae, the spiritual center of the island, the pillar called Tau-Makeva was the location of many anointments in the island's history. [3]
Chiefs of Samoa were anointed in traditional ceremonies. Malietoa Talavou Tonumaipe’a was anointed at Mulinu'u, the royal seat, on May 24, 1879. [4] Malietoa Laupepa was anointed on March 19, 1880, according to the Samoan custom, and installed at Mulinu'u. [5] Malietoa Mataafa was anointed on September 9, 1888, at Faleula, Upolu. [6] The Malietoas were recognized as Kings of Samoa by the Europeans during the 19th centuries even though they were not the only chiefs of the island.
Tahiti was ruled by native kings (and one queen) of the Pōmare dynasty from 1788 to 1880, when the last monarch, Pōmare V, ceded his country to France. Details from the coronation ritual of Pōmare II, second King of Tahiti (1791), have been preserved. The rite centered upon the maro ura, a sacred girdle symbolizing Pōmare's status and power, composed of yellow and red feathers, five yards long by fifteen inches wide. Black feathers bordered the garment's top and bottom. This robe also contained the auburn hair of Richard Skinner, one of the mutineers from the H.M.S. Bounty who had elected to stay in Tahiti when Fletcher Christian set out for Pitcairn Island. As the ship's barber, Skinner commanded special prestige among Tahitians, who valued his red hair and wove some of it into their maro ura. Also incorporated into the girdle was a red British pennant, which Samuel Wallis of the H.M.S. Dolphin had raised on Tahiti when he took possession of it for the British crown in 1767. The Tahitians had torn down this flag, and woven it into their royal robe as a symbol of their own sovereignty over their island. [7]
To receive this cloak, Pōmare went to his sacred marae, donned the cloak, then took the left eyes of certain sacrificial victims and acted as if he were going to eat them. He also listened to the cries of sacred birds and to a volley of musketry fired in his honor by certain Bounty mutineers who were on the scene. Following this, the new king was treated to a dance, with Tahitian men pretending to cover him with excrement and semen as a kind of honor. [8]
By 1824, when his son Pōmare III was crowned, the Tahitian coronation ritual had changed significantly, under the influence of foreign Christian missionaries. This time, a European-style rite was enacted, with the new king escorted to the Royal Chapel in Papeete behind a procession of flower-strewing girls accompanied by governors, judges and other civil servants. After being anointed and crowned, Pōmare was given a Bible and had a sermon preached to him. The festivities concluded with the proclamation of an amnesty and a coronation banquet. [8]
Similar coronation ceremonies were performed by Prostestant missionaries, not just in Tahiti, but in the other French Polynesian islands, including the Leeward kingdoms of Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora, and even the Austral Island of Rurutu.
The ancient kings of Tonga were always crowned at Kanakubolu, near Hihifo, where they took the title of Tui Kanakubolu. The tree under which they sat was torn down in a gale in the 1890s; George Tupou II had pieces of wood from the fallen tree inlaid into the throne of Tonga. [9] George and his successor, Sālote Tupou III, were crowned on 17 March 1893 and 11 October 1918, respectively. A European coronation ceremony had been introduced to the islands by Western missionaries, where it followed a centuries-old traditional Tongan rite involving the ritual drinking of kava by the new king, together with the receipt of dozens of cooked pigs and baskets of food.
In 1967 Tonga crowned king Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, while George Tupou V was crowned in 2008 and Tupou VI in 2015. All rulers participated in elaborate ceremonies complete with a large gold crown, sceptre, and throne. The Christian character of Tonga's monarchy was reiterated in the 2008 event—together with Tonga's former ties to Great Britain—as Anglican Archbishop of Polynesia Jabez Brice anointed King George Topou V with sacred chrism, just as in the British rite. [10] [11] [12] However, the Master of the Royal Household, the Honourable Tu'ivauavou, described the kava ritual (as opposed to the Western-style ceremony) as "the true coronation", a sentiment echoed by royal spokesman Ma'u Kakala. [13]
The history of Tonga is recorded since the ninth century BC, when seafarers associated with the Lapita diaspora first settled the islands which now make up the Kingdom of Tonga. Along with Fiji and Samoa, the area served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia. Ancient Tongan mythologies recorded by early European explorers report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands having been hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by Maui.
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV was King of Tonga from 1965 until his death in 2006. He was the tallest and heaviest Tongan monarch, weighing 209.5 kg (462 lb) and measuring 196 cm.
Pōmare III (1820–1827), born Teriʻitariʻa, was the king of Tahiti between 1821 and 1827. He was the second son of King Pōmare II and his second wife, Queen Teriʻitoʻoterai Tere-moe-moe. Sources differ on his relation to his sister with missionary sources citing them as half-siblings while later sources cited Tere-moe-moe as their mother.
The Tuʻi Tonga Empire, or Tongan Empire, are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony in Oceania which began around 950 CE, reaching its peak during the period 1200–1500.
The Tuʻi Tonga is a line of Tongan kings, which originated in the tenth century with the mythical ʻAhoʻeitu, and withdrew from political power in the fifteenth century by yielding to the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua. The title ended with the death of the last Tuʻi Tonga, Sanualio Fatafehi Laufilitonga, in 1865, who bequeathed the ancient title and its mana to his nephew, Fatafehi Tu'i Pelehake, who was the Tu'i Faleua, or Lord of the Second House. Tu'i Pelehake surrendered the title and its privileges to his father-in-law, King George Tupou I, who united its power and prestige with that of the Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tu'i Vava'u, and Tu'i Ha'apai titles to establish the modern-day institution of the Tongan Crown. Though the title is no longer conferred, the ancient line remains unbroken and is represented by the noble title of Kalaniuvalu.
Susuga Malietoa Laupepa was the ruler (Malietoa) of Samoa in the late 19th century. He was first crowned in 1875.
Viliami Tungī Mailefihi CBE was a Tongan high chieftain and Prince consort of Tonga as the husband of Queen Sālote Tupou III. He served as Prime Minister of Tonga from 1923 until his death in 1941.
Mālietoa is a state dynasty and one of the four paramount chiefly titles of Samoa. It is the titular head of one of the two great royal families of Samoa: Sā Malietoa. Literally translated as "great warrior", the title's origin comes from the final words of the Tongan warriors as they were fleeing on the beach to their boats, "Malie To`a, Malo e tau...".
The blue-crowned lorikeet, also known as the blue-crowned lory, blue-crested lory, Solomon lory or Samoan lory, is a parrot found throughout the Lau Islands (Fiji), Tonga, Samoa, Niue and adjacent islands, including: ʻAlofi, Fotuhaʻa, Fulago, Futuna, Haʻafeva, Niuafoʻou, Moce, Niue, Ofu, Olosega, Samoa, Savaiʻi, Tafahi, Taʻu, Tofua, Tonga, Tungua, ʻUiha, ʻUpolu, Varoa, Vavaʻu, and Voleva. It is a 19 cm green lorikeet with a red throat, blue crown, and belly patch shading from red at the top to purple at the bottom.
There are six monarchies in Oceania where supreme power resides with an individual hereditary head, who is recognised as the head of state. Each is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the sovereign inherits his or her office, usually keeps it until death or abdication, and is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers. Five of these independent states share King Charles III as their respective head of state, making them part of a global grouping known as the Commonwealth realms; in addition, all monarchies of Oceania are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The only sovereign monarchy in Oceania that does not share a monarch with another state is Tonga. Australia and New Zealand have dependencies within the region and outside it, although five non-sovereign constituent monarchs are recognized by New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and France.
The Kingdom of Tahiti or the Tahitian Kingdom was a Polynesian monarchy founded by paramount chief Pōmare I, who, with the aid of British missionaries and traders, and European weaponry, unified the islands of Tahiti, Moʻorea, Teti‘aroa, and Mehetiʻa. The kingdom eventually annexed the Tuamotus, and the Austral Islands.
Hawaiʻi–Tahiti relations refers to the historical relationship between the independent Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the Kingdom of Tahiti. Relations included one treaty, proposed marriage alliances and exchanges of trade and diplomatic representatives from the early 1800s to 1880.
The Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG) is an international governmental cooperation group bringing together four independent countries and eight self-governing territories in Polynesia.
Tamatoa IV, also named Moe'ore Teri'itinorua Teari'inohora'i (1797–1857) was the king of Raiatea and Tahaa from 1831 to 1857.
The Franco-Tahitian War or French–Tahitian War (1844–1847) was a conflict between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Tahiti and its allies in the South Pacific archipelago of the Society Islands in modern-day French Polynesia.
John Tamatoa Baker, also given as John Timoteo Baker, was a Hawaiian politician, businessman, and rancher who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii, including Governor of the Island of Hawaii from 1892 to 1893. Baker and his brother became the models for the Kamehameha Statues.
Sitiveni Polu Le'uligana Tuku'aho is a Tongan Prince and member of the Tongan Royal Family.
Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho, styled Lord Maʻatu, was a member of the Tongan royal family.
The Polynesian Confederation was a hypothetical confederation planned mainly by the king of Hawaii Kalākaua. The aim was to protect the Polynesian peoples from European and American imperialism since when the United Kingdom took over Fiji, there were only three independent archipelagos: Hawaii, Samoa and Tonga.
