Tapa, A Tongan Treasure

This project is a collaborative project between the Tongan students at Marcellin College and students from Takuilau College in Lapaha. There are both family and religious ties that bind our two schools together. Many of our Marcellin College students have relatives who live in Lapaha, and who were students at Takuilau College. Both Takuilau College and Marcellin College are Catholic Schools which were founded by Marist Brothers.

In the Tongan communities in both Lapaha and Auckland tapa is highly valued. The aim of this project is to record this tapa making tradition. It focuses not only on the process of how tapa is made, but also on its meaning and how it is used and valued.