The History of the family of Fuataga:
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A vivid history of Fuataga, as told by Salu Niu - the head orator of Fuataga**
My name is Salu Niu, son of Salu Sa, son of Salu Foa, son of Salu Taimi, son of Salu Tu'u II, son of Salu Tu'u I, son of Salu Fo'u, son of Salu Nesi, son of Salu Loa, son of Salu Tau, son of Salu Liva, son of Salu Tusa, son of Salu Fa'a, the son of the first Salu - Salu Salu. My task given from the high-paramount Chief: Pei Fuataga, blessed be his name, is to recite and explain the origins of our family - our history and our ancestors!
Although, it is considered very sacred and taboo to discuss the origins of our caste system amongst our people, I was directly told by the Chieftain Pei himself - blessed be his name - that for the sake of the historical importance and relevance of our entire clan it must be recited and included in this reciting of our history. As the "Fa'a" or caste system is the basis of our whole society and thus dictates the relationship between the many individuals that make up our clan as a whole.
*NOTE* - The word: "Clan" is substituted for the word: "Family" as it personifies a more grandeur and greater sense of Fuataga. Also, the term is used so that outsiders understand that Fuataga is actually a collective clan of may families, but traditionally: the Fuataga clan is simply called: "The family of Fuataga".
The origins of the Fuataga caste system:
In time before time, the great supreme God; Atua created two people, a man and a woman. The man was named: Fua {our first ancestor} and the woman: Taga {our second ancestor}. Fua and Taga made one flesh {hence we derive our clan name from them: "Fuataga"} and produced children - the most famous of which were five brothers, each with very distinct gifts and qualities. Their names were:
Pei, Salu, Toa, Naku and Lana. From these five brothers birthed the five castes which make up Fuataga Society.
The Fuataga Caste System is divided into three traditional general groupings:
The Head,
The Body,
The Feet .
The Head:
A Minor Chief from the Pei Caste:
Pei; who was the eldest of the five brothers was gifted a loud voice, a voice which boomed to the heavens every time he spoke. He was gifted profound wisdom to make decisions and find solutions to problems, no matter how hard or complex those problems were. He was also very tall and muscular - but was never inclined to doing much labour. His job, was to govern and lead his brothers and to settle disputes when they arose. His tall, imposing body - always adding to his overall persona: one of power and prestige. And so the first caste was born:
The Chiefs - Each carrying the name "Pei" in honour of the first Pei. The Chiefs are given the responsibility to rule and make decisions over the clan. Each small family within the Fuataga clan {in which there are some 200} have their own family Chief, in which he or she {although it is very rare for a woman to be a Chief, it is not unheard of} makes decisions for the family. Decisions such as; how many males of the family will be sent to fight for the clan {trained to be Toa from birth}, the selection of a potential woman or man to marry into his/her family, the proportioning of food amongst the family, enforcing the traditional laws and making sure they are obeyed and generally just making sure the family is bringing honour and pride to themselves. Every five years {which commemorates the five brothers} a supreme "Chief of Chiefs" is elected by all the Chiefs of the small families within the Fuataga clan. Whoever is selected will be the supreme law giver and ruler of all the happenings of the Fuataga. The current paramount Chief is "Pei Fuataga the Great" - blessed be his name!
A seasoned Orator from the Salu Caste:
The next brother; Salu was bestowed with a keen interest in the world around him and had a far more superior memory capacity, as he would memorise every single conversation that him and his brothers would have. In comparison to the rest of his brothers - Salu knew a lot more than they did and had a stronger connection with Atua, the creator. Salu grew himself a beard which would turn whiter and whiter with every inch that it grew. Hence the famous proverb amongst our people: "Like the beard of Salu, your power grows!" From Salu, came the second caste:
The Orators. Orators are only second to the Chiefs. Their role is to keep and maintain the history, legends, myths, names and important dates of our people. For this reason, they are greatly respected and revered - some even more than the Chiefs. Furthermore, similar to that of the Chiefs, the Orators make up a very small percentage of the population and there exists usually only one Orator for every small family within the clan {although there have been some families such as the: "Nu'u" who are famous for having more than two Orators in their family}. The Orators also act as advisers to the paramount-Chief and to the petty Chiefs as well. Their guidance, combined with the wisdom of the Chiefs make up the ruling-elite of the clan. And thus; the Chiefs and Orators form the "Head" of the Fuataga caste system.
The Body:
A Warrior from the Toa Caste:
The third eldest brother; Toa was given the gifts of speed, strength, skill and stamina. The most skillful of the five, Toa would regularly display his fighting prowess by killing huge wild animals with his bare hands or run long distances for many moons without tiring. Such is meant by the proverb: "Like the body of Toa" - in praise of an individual who has displayed great fighting skills in war. Toa was also considered the "casanova" of his day, as woman folk from other surrounding districts would marvel at his supernatural like abilities. Toa is also remembered for having a great dislike for his youngest brother; Lana - as one legend recalls Toa telling Lana to fetch him a drink of water from the Spring of Life, instead Lana brought back a drink of water from the Spring of War. Hence people chosen to be born within the Toa caste are constantly at War. As the legend implies; from Toa came the third caste:
The Warriors. The Warrior caste is formed from a male only population, who are forbidden to marry until permitted to by the paramount Chief {although frequent infatuations with foreign woman folk do occur, it is a very rare happening for a Warrior to marry a non-Fuataga woman, once relieved from service, as this would bring shame on his family honour} - Traditonlly; Warriors were selected by birth from the many small families within the clan, and sent away to the Warrior barracks in which they were trained and taught in the art of war. However, in the last one hundred years it has become more common place for the Warrior caste to accept men who have displayed 'Warrior Virtues' from the Naku and Lana castes. This has happened in an attempt to expand the Warrior caste in order to subdue larger opposing forces. Also, it has meant that the traditional rivalry between the Toa, Naku and Lana castes has decreased. The role of the Warrior caste is to defend the clan from attack, or to attack the enemies of the Fuataga clan. The Warrior caste also acts as the "policing" unit under the direction of the Chief caste, which deal with any serious crime or inner-clan threat. The Warrior caste is substantially larger than the Chief or Orator castes - mainly because it is through the Warrior caste that the most honour for ones family can be gained, and thus, many families send nearly all their male members to grow up within the Warrior caste. The Warrior caste make up the "Body" of the Fuataga caste system.
The Feet:
A Youth from the Craftsman Caste:
Gifted with the ability to create tools, different forms of shelter and deadly weapons {for his brother Toa} - Naku is echoed throughout our oral history as the "Atua amongst men". This is because Naku could always create something, where others saw nothing. The great God Atua blessed Naku with the power of craftsmanship, Naku is remembered as the most resourceful of the five brothers. For instance, there is one legend which recounts the time when all five brothers were surrounded by many enemies - Toa, directed by Pei created a bottle-neck in which to break through the enemy lines, however after a while Toas' hands began to become weak. It was at this point, that the resourceful Naku created a sharp spear from a near by branch and threw it to Toa. This then allowed Toa to kill the enemies faster and therefore, create a bigger and wider bottle-neck in the enemy formation which thus made way for the other four brothers to escape. For this reason, the fourth caste traces their origins back to Naku - they are;
The Craftsman. The Craftsman caste {which also includes traders and merchants} are economically and socially important to the clans existence! For they are responsible for the erecting of new building and infrastructure, forging of weapons and armour for the Warrior caste, trading surplus with other neighbouring clans {notably the Hill peoples to the far north} and generally stimulating the clans economy. During the early epochs of our clans history, the Craftsman were generally the young sons of Chiefs, Orators or the "incapable" males which were not sent to the Warrior caste at birth. However, in the last three hundred years - due to the increased contact with other peoples and trade in ideas and goods, the Craftsman caste has become renown as the "diluted caste". As many Craftsman children are of mixed blood. This has led to a tremendous amount of discrimination towards the Craftsman caste from the Chief, Orator and Warrior castes. As a result, the derogatory term for some Craftsman is: Naku Leai Sama Nui or "The one who spits on Naku".
A lowly Serf from the Lana Caste:
Finally, the fifth and least respected brother: Lana, was overlooked during the giving of gifts - and thus, since he had no outstanding gifts, was used as a slave and "fetcher" by the other four brothers. Lana is the shameful ancestor of the lowest caste found within Fuataga society;
The Servants. Unlike the other four castes, Servants are not extracted from the family unit - instead, they have their own ridiculous and primitive ways. The Servant caste have their own "Chief" - who divides the amount of labour that each Servant family must undertake for the whole clan. The Servant caste form the majority of the clan. Their task is to sweep the streets, empty latrines, fetch water, cook, clean, bury the dead, hunt and generally just serve for the other four castes needs. In ancient times, Servants were executed for small offenses which offended their higher caste superiors {such as not kneeling low enough or paying the due respect} - but in this epoch, the conditions in which the Servant caste is treated has improved slightly. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is that some Servant families have by chance, given the Warrior caste able Warriors {such was the case with the family of Su'a - which made caste history as the first and only ever family known, to have moved up into the Toa caste, from the Servant caste}. But mostly, the Servant caste are there to serve. Nothing else. And although both the Naku and Lana castes make up the traditional "Feet" grouping of the caste system, the Lana are seen as much lower individuals than their brothers: the Naku.
This concludes the reciting of the origins of the Fuataga caste system, and also a description of the functionality of each caste and their relationship with each other. There exists many sour opinions about our caste system, but it is
our way of life! In which we will defend with every ounce of strength our bodies can muster!
The migration from our Northern ancestral homelands into the lands of the House of Huber will be told in a latter account of the Fuataga history. Blessings upon your lives! And long live the Emperor!
