In the Pacific region, the period of the so-called “first contacts” may vary considerably from one country to another, in terms of length and processes. In some cases, such as in Tonga, this period lasted more than two centuries. During this long-lasting time of “first contacts” the European voyagers were not of one kind, did not share the same vision of the world and were not armed with the same intentions toward the Pacific Islanders. However, it seems possible to sketch a sort of common “European” heritage, which was shared by some of them at least. When attested, this long-lasting period of “first contacts” is generally constructed in different phases, some of which are well known, while others appear blurry. The turn of the eighteenth century in Tonga is precisely one of these “uncertain times” during which, through the existence in their country of a small community of white people, Tongans came to know the new foreigners. Their goods, abilities and skills came to be regarded as more and more desirable, but at the same time they put into question the Tongan system of representation and values.

The “heroes” of these uncertain times were not only the young and inexperienced missionaries but also the beachcombers and castaways. Curiously enough, these white men who were supposed to be “undesirable,” prepared the ground for the future Christian missions and played an important role in the relationship between the European and Tongan systems of values. With the missionaries, but also without them, they were the first cultural mediators between Europeans and Tongans.

Many things have been said about the natives’ greed for European goods, particularly metal tools, weapons and cloth, those goods for which natives were – to use the missionaries’ words – “dying from desire.” There is no doubt that, in Tonga, these goods attracted the indigenous people and convinced them of the missionaries’ mana and the powerfulness of the Christian god. Together with these objects, certain European skills helped the missionaries’ work considerably. In many countries, the medical skills of some missionaries constituted a powerful tool in the work of evangelisation. The healing part of the mission’s work was also important in Tonga, but writing must be considered as having played a role at least as important in the process of Christianisation. However, literacy had a particular effect on the Tongan system of values and power.

For Tongans, writing was at first suspected of being witchcraft: like firearms, writing appeared as a secret skill, the property of a few (white) experts, who used the magical power to kill at distance. Soon, however, Tongan chiefs understood the multidimensional character of writing, as the Tongan chief, Finau Ulukakala perceived: a technical means of communicating at a distance; a privileged way to get access to secret knowledge; and thus, a means of power. No doubt Tongans were conscious that writing could serve purposes other than religion. However, because it was learned through biblical texts, literacy was, for Tongans, intrinsically associated with the religious interests of the white people: their god, their mythology, their rituals. For Tongans, literacy was therefore conceived as a privileged tool to get access to the white people’s world. And, because the evangelical undertaking was by definition a global one, in principle every Tongan – not only chiefs – willing to be Christianised could get access to writing. Thus, for commoners, the art of writing was soon to become a powerful means of challenging the traditional hierarchy of rank. In many respects, it is still the case today, in contemporary Tongan society.