Mānuia le folau: Kiingi Tuheitia and Kuini Nga wai

It is about “saying goodbye” as well as offering a blessing of “mānuia / best wishes” to someone who sets off on a journey.

Mānuia le folau applies to the journey of Kiingi Tuheitia Potatu Te Wherowhero VII, who was laid to rest on 5 September. His journey was to the world of the ancestors, and to the arms of Te atua, through an unmarked grave on Taupiri Mountain.

To my Tongan ears, the name of this maunga is significant. There must be a ‘sea of talanoa’ about the name, and i leave that for tangata whenua to tell. But the name Taupiri captures my imagination and my Pasifika heart – it is a place of clinging closely, of being cherished, of intimacy.

At Taupiri, Kiingi Tuheitia’s journey is toward intimacy. At his burial, his whānau did not send him off to be alone, on his own, but to be cherished, by and among his ancestors. For Kiingi Tuheitia, therefore, mānuia le folau.

Mānuia le folau also applies to Kuini Nga wai hono i te po. Shortly after her coronation she, alongside her mother and two older brothers, and a crowd of aroha, farewelled her father.

Then her journey as Te Arikinui and Kuini of the Kīngitanga began, and we also bid her well – mānuia le folau.

In Tongan circles, it is impolite to attribute meanings to matters relating to Te Arikinui. And as a native of Te Moananui a Kiwa, i locate myself among the manuhiri and offer this prayer for Kuini Nga wai’s journey:

Mānuia le folau, Taupou o Aotearoa

may everywhere you journey be tauranga

for your people, for our people

for our future, and our dreamings

in the taupiri of our ancestors

in the wisdoms of our rangatahi

may restlessness be your kai

and may mana form in your eyes

may tapu follow you

along your paths

and through your ihu

ake ake ...