SINO, ‘ILO, MOE ONGO: BODY, KNOWING, AND FEELING

Authors

Pā‘utu-‘O-Vava‘u-Lahi, Adriana M. Lear, University of Wollongong
Kolokesa U. Māhina-Tuai, Lagi-Maama Academy & Consultancy
Sione L. Vaka, Auckland University of Technology
Maui-TāVā-He-Akó, Tēvita O. Kaʻili, Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi
Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu, ‘Ōkusitino Māhina, Vava‘u Academy for Critical Inquiry and Applied Research

Abstract

This essay critically examines the intersection of sino body, ‘ilo knowing, and ongo feeling. The latter two are considered indivisible tendencies situated in the former, which is, in turn, taken merely as a vaka/hala medium/vessel/vehicle. The authors address examples from Tongan faiva performance arts of ta‘anga poetry, hiva/fasi music, and lea oratory, in which this topic is highly developed and refined, in contrast to academia, where it is largely, if not, entirely unexplored. By drawing on the Indigenous Tongan Tā-Vā Time-Space Philosophy of Reality, the critique is placed in the Indigenous Tongan thinking and practice of ‘atamai mind and mafu/fatu heart. By nature, we both “know” with the mind and “feel” with the heart things “out there” in reality. This involves their mediation through sustained tatau symmetry and potupotutatau harmony to produce mālie/faka‘ofo‘ofa beauty/quality and ‘aonga utility/functionality, transforming them from a condition of felekeu/fepaki chaos to a state of maau/fenāpasi order.

Recommended Citation

Lear, Pā‘utu-‘O-Vava‘u-Lahi, Adriana M.; Māhina-Tuai, Kolokesa U.; Vaka, Sione L.; Kaʻili, Maui-TāVā-He-Akó, Tēvita O.; and Māhina, Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu, ‘Ōkusitino (2021) "SINO, ‘ILO, MOE ONGO: BODY, KNOWING, AND FEELING," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 44: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol44/iss1/2