Tongan Teller of Tales

Master Tongan storyteller, scholar, and educator, Emil Wolfgramm shown here with Dr. Peter Hanohano and Ki'inani Ka'alekahi, M.P.A of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He holds a Tongan akaü or fire stick as a prop in his storytelling of how this stick is found as a constellation in the heavens next to Mäui’s fishhook (Scorpio). Emil retells the story of Mäui’s separating the earth and sky, first in Tongan and then in English with dramatic and an endearing, comedic effect. The audience previously learned the Tongan way of salutation (hand claps and the saying of “Issä”) which gets the audience hooked into the storytelling and participating in its telling – a very Polynesian trait in storytelling. Emil’s balance of humor and seriousness adds to the effect and enjoyment in listening and remembering this famous Polynesian story. He uses the akaü just as Mäui did to “prop” up the Dome of Heaven higher and higher until it reached its present position thus accounting for the akaü being up in the heavens.
I appreciated Mr. Wolfgramm’s story on how, as he was translating an important document from Tongan, and some parts with the assistance of the French translation, fell asleep and encountered his ancestors who revealed the meaning of Tongan cosmogony to him. He also shared that the names of the ancestors in Tongan cosmogony were more than just names but also virtues and attributes. He gave the example of Piki, a male, meaning that a man must “take hold” and “cling to” important things in life as his wife. Piki’s counterpart, Kele, refers to “cloudiness” and by virtue the idea of fecundity and procreation.
Mr. Wolfgram has the unique ability to work in the Tongan, English, and even French academic and literary milieu and in both traditional and scientific worlds. He currently lives in Hawai'i and is completing his doctorate in New Zealand.