"Being a Better Tongan" Identity, Sport and the Tongan Diaspora

Abstract

The narrative of Tongan migration to the United States has been unique to the immigrant Narratives of the past. Tongans engage in a constant cycle of exchange of products and people between Tonga and its diasporic communities. All with the same goal: be “better” Tongans. This ideology for migration has created an interesting phenomena for diasporic communities in the United States as they navigate being “better” Tongans. Examined through the lens of sport, a vital pillar of social integration in the Tongan diasporic community, interviews from diasporic Tongans share the experience of living up to being “better” Tongans, both consciously and unconsciously. Engaging with issues of cultural identity, race and racialization, and social mobility, diasporic Tongans have found that being a “better” Tongan can occur in a variety of ways despite the complications that sport introduces.