' Tongans are known for creating unique ' kahoa ' leis made of chains of flat, crescent or triangular arrangements made of flower petals and leaves sewn onto a leaf or cloth backing.

Recent maternal mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that Polynesians, including Samoans, Tongans, Niueans, Cook Islanders, Tahitians, Hawaiians, Marquesans and Māori, are genetically linked to indigenous peoples of parts of Southeast Asia including those of Taiwan.

* Kingdom of Tonga, Pacific Island nation whose people are known as Tongans and who speak the Tongan language

Any description of Tongan culture that limits itself to what Tongans see as anga fakatonga would give a seriously distorted view of what people actually do, in Tonga, or in diaspora, because accommodations are so often made to anga fakapālangi.

While the term is generally applied to people of European ancestry as a means of differentiation or categorization, some feel the term is derogatory, especially when aimed pointedly toward half-caste Samoans or ethnic Samoans who were born and raised in western, metropolitan societies ; " fia palagi " and " fie palangi " are commonly applied to ethnic Samoans and Tongans, respectively, who are viewed as favoring the " white man's " lifestyle or culture in lieu of traditional Polynesian modes of speech, dress, housing, interpersonal relations, etc.

One particular reason Tongans and Samoans came to Fiji was to build Drua ( large double-hulled canoes ) which they couldn ’ t build on their own islands because of the lack of proper timber.

Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao ( aka the Sipi Tau ).

Before the arrival of European explorers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Tongans were in frequent contact with their nearest Oceanic neighbors, Fiji and Samoa.

Describing the cultural practices of the Tongans, he wrote:

They were followed by the Melanesians in about 500 BC, and relatively recent trading with the Polynesian Tongans has added to the cultural mix.

Subsequent invasions by Samoans and Tongans introduced Polynesian elements to the previously installed Micronesian culture and invasions by Fijians introduced Melanesian elements, but extensive intermarriage produced a population reasonably homogeneous in appearance, language and traditions.

Although an increasing number of Tongans have moved into the only urban and commercial center,

Tongans themselves often have to operate in two different contexts, which they often call anga fakatonga, the traditional Tongan way, and anga fakapālangi, the Western way.

Hence Tongan culture is far from a unified or monolithic affair, and Tongans themselves may differ strongly as to what it is " Tongan " to do, or not do.

somewhat more than a third of Tongans adhered to the Methodist tradition.

Intimate sociocultural and genetic ties were maintained between the eastern Lapita colonies and the archaeological record supports oral tradition and native genealogies that indicate inter-island voyaging and intermarriage between prehistoric Samoans, Fijians, and Tongans.

By the 12th century, Tongans, and the Tongan kings, the Tu ' i Tonga, were known across the Pacific, from Niuē, Samoa to Tikopia they ruled these nations for over 400 years, sparking some historians to refer to a " Tongan Empire ," although it was more so a network of interacting navigators, chiefs, and adventurers.

Distinctive pottery and Tapa cloth designs also show that the Tongans have travelled from the far reaches of Micronesia, all the way to Fiji and even Hawaii.

There is also a large Pacific Islander population, mainly made up of Samoans and Tongans ; they compose roughly 2 % of the population of the Salt Lake Valley area.

Tuvalu is thought to have been visited by Tongans in the mid-13th century and was within Tonga's sphere of influence.

A third and fourth invasion of Tongan occurred in the late 16th century, again with the Tongans being defeated.

( Note: This is according to the Samoans, not the Fijians or Tongans ; see also Ila.

Although called ' Tongan ', his home was Ata, and he was better known by the original Tongans on the Lau Islands than in the kingdom of Tonga proper.

The mass conversion of most Tongans to Christianity – and primarily to Wesleyan Methodism – resulted in strong religious ties to England as the source of most of the missionaries involved.

Tonga ’ s earliest foreign relations were rooted in conquest of many of its neighboring islands so that by the 12th century, Tongans, and the Tongan kings, the Tu ' i Tonga, were known across the Pacific, from Niuē, Samoa to Tikopia they ruled these nations for over 400 years, leading some historians to refer to a " Tongan Empire ," although it was more so a network of interacting navigators, chiefs, and adventurers.

The mass conversion of most Tongans to Christianity – and primarily to Wesleyan Methodism – resulted in strong religious ties to England as the source of most of the missionaries involved.

Peace Corps Volunteers teach and provide technical assistance to Tongans.

A large number of Tongans reside in the United States, particularly in Utah, California, and Hawaii.

In 1938, Sukuna was installed as the Tui Lau ( Protector of the Tongans of Sawana in Vanuabalavu ), a senior chiefly title in the Lau Islands that had been vacant for many years.

Polynesian families, especially Samoans, Tongans and Maoris, also commemorate 21st birthdays with lavish parties and feasts.

He also has an odd fascination with The Little One, often poking and prodding him in order to write more on his paper about the Tongans.

It also has immigrant populations of Tongans and Vietnamese and a significant Aboriginal community.

Tonga never reliquished internal self-government, but when external foreign affairs were again decided by Tongans without reference to the United Kingdom in 1970, Tonga was said to have rejoined the Comity of Nations.

Many of them, moreover, are beginning to complain about the scarcity of Western amusements and to ridicule the old life of the bazaar merchant, the mullah, and the peasant.

More potent a charm to bring back that time of life than this record of a few pictures and a few remembered facts would be a catalogue of the minutiae which are of the very stuff of the mind, intrinsic, because they were known in the beginning not by the eye alone but by the hand that held them.

There are, however, some wonderful chapters at the beginning of the second part, concerning the reactions of the Swedes in adversity.

Defoe then commented, `` If they Could Draw that young Gentleman into Their Measures They would show themselves quickly, for they are not asham'd to Say They want only a head to Make a beginning ''.

Nine o'clock is the rush hour, when the busses are jammed, and by nine-thirty the restaurants are beginning to fill.

Among the most frequently quoted Biblical sentences are the Beatitudes and yet so few persons, other than scholars, really understand the true meaning of these eight blessings uttered by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

These are mentalities which crave action -- and they are beginning to get it, as Messrs. Salsich and Engh report on page 372.

Class 2, stations operating on clear channels are required to cease operation or operate under nighttime restrictions beginning either at local sunset ( for daytime class 2, stations ) or sunset at the location of the dominant class 1, station where located west of the class 2, station ( for limited-time class 2, stations ).

The editor, sports editor, and student business manager are chosen in December, the new staff assuming responsibility for the paper at the beginning of the second semester.

Our athletes are only just beginning to learn that they must study dance.

Even beginning students in linguistics are made familiar with an appreciable variety of consonant systems, both in their general outlines and in many specific details.

We are just beginning the task of trying to win or maintain the friendship of the new African nations against the ruthless competition of the Communist bloc.

Moreover, the cost of operations is always high in any new store, as the conservative bankers who act as controllers for retail giants are beginning to discover.

Declarative statements are never executed in the object program and should be separated from the program instruction area, placed preferably at its beginning or end.

At the beginning of the school year, the new students don't eat the cereal right away, but within a short time they are eating it voraciously.

that is, it is known empirically that names beginning with R are more common than those beginning with Z ; ;

Students of the college who are candidates for the A.B. degree and can satisfy the academic requirements of the medical and business schools, may enter either of these associated schools at the beginning of senior year, thus completing the two-year postgraduate course in one year.

The government has recognized the dilemma and is beginning to devise some moral education for the schools -- but the teachers often have no firm conviction and are confused.

The bays and gulfs of the Aegean beginning at the South and moving clockwise include on Crete, the Mirabelli, Almyros, Souda and Chania bays or gulfs, on the mainland the Myrtoan Sea to the west, the Saronic Gulf northwestward, the Petalies Gulf which connects with the South Euboic Sea, the Pagasetic Gulf which connects with the North Euboic Sea, the Thermian Gulf northwestward, the Chalkidiki Peninsula including the Cassandra and the Singitic Gulfs, northward the Strymonian Gulf and the Gulf of Kavala and the rest are in Turkey ; Saros Gulf, Edremit Gulf, Dikili Gulf, Çandarlı Gulf, İzmir Gulf, Kuşadası Gulf, Gulf of Gökova, Güllük Gulf.

The citizens are slow to realize the magnitude of the danger because they do not believe in pestilence or that it could happen to them, just as the French were complacent at the beginning of the war.

Articles of faith are sets of beliefs usually found in creeds, sometimes numbered, and often beginning with " We believe ...", which attempt to more or less define the fundamental theology of a given religion, and especially in the Christian Church.

* 1937 – Chinese Air Force Day: The beginning of air-to-air combat of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II in general, when 6 Imperial Japanese Mitsubishi G3M bombers are shot down by the Nationalist Chinese Air Force while raiding Chinese air bases.