IDNO

P.103552.VH


Description

Three-quarter length seated portrait of Enele Ma'afu'atuitoga, a Tongan chief, wearing a ngatu? (Tongan barkcloth skirt) and i-oro (white barkcloth cummerbund) over a European shirt. A fob watch and chain is attached to his shirt. The wooden seat, floor, and skirting board of the studio are visible. [JD 26/3/2008]


Place

Oceania Polynesia; Fiji; Tonga


Cultural Affliation

Tongan; Fijian


Named Person

Enele Ma’afu’otu’itoga (Ma’afu, Mafu)


Photographer

Stewart (Colonel, R.E.)


Collector / Expedition

von Hügel, Anatole (Baron)


Date

circa 1876


Collection Name

Von Hugel Collection


Source


Format

Print Black & White Mounted


Primary Documentation


Other Information

Biographical Information: Enele Ma'afu'atuitoga, commonly known as Ma'afu, was a Tongan chief who led an army of Christian Tongans and their allies from eastern Fiji. [Source: Brittanica Online, Jd 26/3/2008]

Publication: A similar image was published in Brewster, A.B., 1937, "King of the Cannibal Isles" (London, Robert Hale & Company) with the following information:
"Maafu, the Tongan Chief " f.p. 266
Photo by late Colonel Stewart, R.E., 1876
Caption reads: "Maafu, the Tongan Chief, Viceroy of the Lau or Eastern Islands of Fiji during the reign of King Thankombau."
Addition information provided by Just Pacific reads:
“This caption is so brief and specific that it is rather misleading. It is true that Viceroy was Ma'afu's designation during the brief constitutional monarchy in Fiji from 1871-4 immediately prior to Cession. Indeed, his acknowledgement of Cakobau's title of Tui Viti, and his pledge of allegiance, were critical to the success of the Viti government. prior to that, Ma'afu had long been a major threat to the Kubuna confederation, following his military conquest of much of Eastern Fiji and formation of the Tovata ko Natokalau kei Viti confederation (more generally known as the Tovata ko Lau), by amalgamating the old federations of Lau, Cakaudrove and Bua in 1867. Because of their elevation of Cakobau, and his role in Cession, Ma'afu has generally suffered a bad press at the hands of the British (including Brewster in this book). In fact he was demonstrably a far more skilled military and political strategist than Cakobau or any of the Fijian chiefs of his time. He was also an able and sophisticated administrator of his territories. As Derrick wrote (History of Fiji p.163), "it was in Lau that the Fijians first saw constitutional government working smoothly and for their benefit." Had the Viti government and then Cession not intervened, Ma'afu may well have achieved suzerainty over the whole Group, and the subsequent history of Fiji would have been very different.”
[Source: Just Pacific, www.justpacific.com/fiji/fijiphotos/books/cannibalIsles/index.html?PHPSESSID=a8d1ad215502d4e5792958a363c82861]

Source: This photograph is part of a collection of 32 prints and one album that was loaned to Tim Bayliss-Smith in the 1980s by the Museum before the photographs were accessioned as part of the Photograph Collections. Tim Bayliss-Smith returned the prints to the Museum for accessioning on 10 March 2008. [Jocelyne Dudding 25/3/2008]

Related Image: This Dufty print or negative appears to be a unique image within the MAA Photograph Collections. [JD 4/2/2012]


FM:238202

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