Seketo'a
Tongan · deity · mythic prehistoric · Recorded classification
Entered as a deity (a deified ancestor / tutelary shark-god of Niuatoputapu), firmly attested with a continuous local cult. He belongs to the Ma'atu/Niuatoputapu line (grandson of Puakatefisi, elder brother Moimoi) — NOT to the Tu'i Tonga line and not linked to Tele'a. A late tradition makes him the father of 'Ilaheva, but that is weakly/confusedly attested (and geographically awkward), so no kin edge to 'Ilaheva is asserted in-batch; he is therefore entered kinless (see SOLITARY flag). His structural rhyme with 'Aho'eitu (a jealous elder brother) is a thematic parallel only, not a genealogical link. Sex male; immortal (as a god).
Domains
- sea and sharks
- tutelary protection
Powers
- appears in the sea as a shark/fish
- guards the chiefs and people of Niuatoputapu
- manifests in the sea as a great shark heralded by two remora
- guards and answers the chiefs and people of Niuatoputapu and Tafahi
Relations
- sibling: MoimoiReciprocal of tongan_moimoi.sibling (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
- enemy: MoimoiReciprocal of tongan_moimoi.enemy (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
Sources
- Seketo'a is the deified Tongan ancestor-god of Niuatoputapu (and Tafahi): a man of the Ma'atu line, grandson of its founder Puakatefisi, who when his jealous elder brother Moimoi turned against him cast himself into the sea and became a god in the form of a shark/fish, summoned by the Ma'atu chiefs' matāpule casting kava on the sea, his two remora coming as his attendants.: Gifford, E. W. Tongan Myths and Tales (Bishop Museum Bulletin 8, 1924) (secondary); Collocott, E. E. V. Tales and Poems of Tonga (Bishop Museum Bulletin 46, 1928) (secondary)