Te Po o Tefolaha (English: the Day of Tefolaha), also known as the Golden Jubilee, or Aso Pati to the church, is a regional holiday celebrated annually by the people of Nanumea, Tuvalu, on January 8. To the Nanumeans, its significance rivals that of Christmas. [1]
Te Po o Tefolaha is celebrated on the day that Nanumeans were converted to Christianity by Samoan pastors from the London Missionary Society, an Evangelical church. The holiday started in 1922, the 50th anniversary of Christianity being brought to Nanumea. The pastor, Peniata, wanted this day to be an island-wide occasion. To realize this plan, the Christian Nanumeans, including Peniata, went from door to door singing hymns in a bid to convince those who still worshiped Tefolaha and the old Tuvaluan gods. The elder, Peni, headed one of the non-Christian families, and was so moved by the hymns, as well as the collaboration between the Nanumean Christians, that he accepted Christianity. Peni's relatives wept but accepted his decision and with that almost all of Nanumea was Christian. In celebration of this, there was a feast and dancing in the ahiga, and a cement monument was erected near the ahiga. In the 1930s, the Nanumean church, Loto Lelei, was constructed from stone and lime cement. It was called Te Po o Tefolaha because he founded Nanumea and they had once worshiped him as their god.
More than 20 years later, the pastor, Iosefa, declared the holiday's name should be changed to Aso Pati, or Pati Day. It means the Day of the Pentecost of the Children of Tefolaha for Jesus (Tuvaluan: Aso Pentekoso Alo Tamaliki o Tefolaha mo Iesu).
When the federal government requested that each district select a national holiday, Nanumea chose Te Po o Tefolaha.
By 1939, some of the other districts of Tuvalu had embraced the Putu Lama tradition. Men meant to be working on Banaba were sent to Nanumea to wait for the ships that would take them to Banaba, but the ships were delayed by the Japanese invasion of Banaba. Those men would take part in the Te Po o Tefolaha celebrations, and bring Putu Lama back to their islands. [2]
Te Po o Tefolaha is celebrated every year with a games and a feast in the ahiga. Oftentimes the people of Nanumea will fish for all night to prepare for the feast. [3] In the evening there is fatele dancing that lasts all night (there is usually around 200 dancers at the peak of the celebrations) and it is customary to donate money to the church. On this day, the pastor's books are also opened for anyone who wanted to be appointed as a volunteer for the congregation.
Putu Lama (English: short torch) is a tradition that takes place during the dancing, where Nanumean elders question the young bachelors about their crushes and try to get them to light their putu-lamas. If someone does, the bachelor lets the elders take their marriage proposal to their sweetheart for them. Often several marriages occur as a result of this practice.
Another tradition is solo (English: lining up), where during fatele, two plates are placed on a centered table on the side of the ahiga closest to the shore. Each plate is for one of the groups of dancers and a cashier collects coins for each group. The amount donated by each group is announced hourly. The money raised goes to maintaining Loto Lelei. After a whole night of dancing, hundreds of dollars may have been raised.
Tuvalu is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands, northeast of Vanuatu, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji.
The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians, so the origins of the people of Tuvalu can be traced to the spread of humans out of Southeast Asia, from Taiwan, via Melanesia and across the Pacific islands of Polynesia.
Tuvaluan, often called Tuvalu, is a Polynesian language closely related to the Ellicean group spoken in Tuvalu. It is more or less distantly related to all other Polynesian languages, such as Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, Tokelauan and Tongan, and most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian Outliers in Micronesia and Northern and Central Melanesia. Tuvaluan has borrowed considerably from Samoan, the language of Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of European origin. In these cultures it is traditionally regarded as the middle of summer, with the season beginning on May Day. Although the summer solstice falls on 20, 21 or 22 June in the Northern Hemisphere, it was traditionally reckoned to fall on 23–24 June in much of Europe. These dates were Christianized as Saint John's Eve and Saint John's Day. It is usually celebrated with outdoor gatherings that include bonfires and feasting.
Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people living on 5.6 square kilometres with the main village being Asau.
Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about 400 miles (640 km) of the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Nanumea is 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) with a population of 512 people.
The traditional music of Tuvalu consists of dances, including fatele, fakanau and fakaseasea. The influence of the Samoan missionaries sent to Tuvalu by the London Missionary Society from the 1860s resulted in the suppression of songs about the traditional religions or magic and many songs were lost. As the influence of the missionaries diminished in the 20th century the traditional dances were revived and the siva dance tradition from Samoa also became popular.
Nui is an atoll and one of nine districts of the Pacific Ocean state of Tuvalu. It has a land area of 3.37 km2 and a population of 610.
Protestants in Tuvalu- Tuvalu is one of the most heavily Protestant nations in the world. In 2019, over 92% of the population belonged to a Protestant denomination.
Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Joseph and Mary. It is based upon the account of the presentation of Jesus in Luke 2:22–40.
The Christian Church of Tuvalu, is a Christian church and is the largest religious denomination in the country. This status entitles it to "the privilege of performing special services on major national events"; its adherents comprise about 86% of the 11,600 inhabitants of the archipelago.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tuvalu:
Christianity is the predominant religion in Tuvalu, with Calvinism being the single largest denomination.
The following are public holidays in Tuvalu.
Women in Tuvalu continue to maintain a traditional Polynesian culture within a predominantly Christian society. Tuvaluan cultural identity is sustained through an individual's connection to their home island. In the traditional community system in Tuvalu, each family has its own task, or salanga, to perform for the community. The skills of a family are passed on from parents to children. The women of Tuvalu participate in the traditional music of Tuvalu and in the creation of the art of Tuvalu including using cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. There are opportunities of further education and paid employment with non-government organisations (NGOs) and government enterprises, education and health agencies being the primary opportunities for Tuvaluan women.
The Falekaupule on each of the Islands of Tuvalu is the traditional assembly of elders or te sina o fenua. Under the Falekaupule Act (1997), the powers and functions of the Falekaupule are now shared with the Kaupule on each island, which is the executive arm of the Falekaupule, whose members are elected. The Kaupule has an elected president - pule o kaupule; an appointed treasurer - ofisa ten tupe; and is managed by a committee appointed by the Kaupule.
The fatele or faatele is a traditional dance song of Tuvalu. Dancing songs are the most common type of traditional Tuvaluan song, with other traditional dance styles including fakanau and fakaseasea. Fatele dancers should wear titi fakamanumanu coconut, pulaka leaf skirts, and lakei or manogi accessories such as fau head wreaths or other floral garlands.
The Art of Tuvalu has traditionally been expressed in the design of clothing and traditional handicrafts such as the decoration of mats and fans. Tuvaluan clothing was traditionally made from Fala leaves.
Tuvaluan mythology tells stories of the creation of the islands of Tuvalu and of the founding ancestors of each island. While on some of the islands there are stories of spirits creating the islands, a creation story that is found on many of the islands is that te Pusi mo te Ali created the islands of Tuvalu; te Ali is believed to be the origin of the flat atolls of Tuvalu and te Pusi is the model for the coconut palms that are important in the lives of Tuvaluans. The strength of this belief has the consequence that Moray eel are tapu and are not eaten.
The Kaumaile is a wooden spear treasured by the people of Nanumea, Tuvalu. According to Nanumean myth, it was brought to the island by Tefolaha, from Samoa or Tonga, and had been used in battle, including to kill giants. The spear is central to Nanumean traditional history as their most important ancestral relic, and is featured on the letterhead of the Nanumean kaupule and the letterhead of Nanufuti, a community of Nanumeans in Funafuti.