Tupoumoheofo was 12th Tu'i Kanokupolu of Tonga, and the only female to ever hold that title. She was the principal wife to the Tu'i Tonga though she may have been of higher social rank than him because of her matrilineal descent. After a vacancy in the Tu'i Kanokupolu title, she used her status to designate herself successor, reigning on Tongatapu for slightly less than one year starting in perhaps 1792 before being forcibly deposed by her distant relative TukuâÂÂaho. Tupoumoheofo retreated to retirement in the northern Tongan Island of VavaâÂÂu under the protection of the 'Ulukalala family.
In the late 18th century, Tupoumoheofo may have been the highest-ranking person in Tonga due to her matrilineal descent. Her âÂÂmotherâÂÂs mother was TamahÃÂ, the sacred eldest daughter of the TuâÂÂi TongaâÂÂs eldest sister, and thus the person holding the highest rank in Tonga(van der Grijp 538)âÂÂ. She also earned high status through her patrilineal descent as her father was Tupoulahi, the 7th Kanokupolu.
Tupoumoheofo was a sister of TuâÂÂihalafatai, the 9th TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu.
In the late 1760s, Tupoumoheofo married TuâÂÂi Tonga Paulaho, the 36th Tu'i Tonga, as principal wife (the moheofo), whom she is often considered to have helped in assassinating in 1791.
With her husband Paulaho, Tupoumoheofo had several daughters, including Fatafehi ûo Lapaha. Fuanunuiava, the future 38th TuâÂÂi Tonga, is often said also to be a son of this marriage and that obtaining him his future title was one of TupoumoheofoâÂÂs main goals. A genealogy collected by Neil Gunson suggests, however, that Fuanunuiava was not TupoumoheofoâÂÂs son but instead PaulahoâÂÂs son from his secondary wife, Fokonofo (202 herda) and therefore Tupoumoheofo would have little reason to push him into power.
There is some disagreement over when Paulaho was murdered â whether it was 1784 or a decade later. He most likely died in 1791 or 1792, just before Tupoumoheofo claimed the title of TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu. In an interview by a Spanish sailor years later, Tupoumoheofo claimed to have been a leading participant in an alliance of the TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu lineage that, âÂÂset out from Tonga with some 20 large canoes, putting into the ports of Annamoka [Nomuka] and Happai [HaâÂÂapai]. They passed to Vavao [VavaâÂÂu] where Paulajo [Paulaho], as the head of his people, received them. There was a clash which ended with the death of the latter at the hands of Vuna, after these two leaders fought hand to handâ¦â This put her in alliance with Mumui, who, though later her challenger, was a relative of the TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu line. The result was to completely debase the power of the TuâÂÂi Tonga line and elevate the TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu line.
Around 1791, the 11th Tu'i Kanokupolu, MulikihaâÂÂameâÂÂa, gave up his title rather quickly after attaining it. Some surmise that either he lost influence, he obtained a different title, that Mumui and TukuâÂÂaho forced him out, or that Tupoumoheofo herself instigated the change. Though the next Tu'i Kanokupolu would be officially voted on by the HaâÂÂa Ngata chiefs, ancestral protectors of the Tu'i Kanokupolu line in Hihifo, Tongatapu, the decision was really TupoumoheofoâÂÂs because of her rank.
Mumui, a powerful elder chief on Tongatapu, expected to receive the title. He shared ancestry with Tupoumoheofo through MaâÂÂafuâÂÂoutâÂÂitonga, the sixth Tu'i Kanokupolu, but his was of a lesser line. TukuâÂÂaho, MumuiâÂÂs politically ambitious son and then governor of âÂÂEua, strongly supported his fatherâÂÂs claim with hopes of securing power for their line.
Tupoumoheofo, however, did the unexpected by naming herself as Tu'i Kanokupolu. She, âÂÂwent to Hihifo, put a taâÂÂovala mat about her waist, and sat with her back to the koka tree beneath which the installation of the TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu took place. Then she came back and declared herself TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu.âÂÂ
This appropriateness of ascension is controversial among historians. Early European missionaries in Tonga labeled her act as, âÂÂsubversiveâÂÂ, âÂÂtyrannicalâÂÂ, âÂÂodious in the extremeâ and an anthropologist has considered it âÂÂunrightful" More recent scholarship has suggested that her action was not actually without historical precedent and was âÂÂpositively in line with her traditional position and rank.â Tupoumoheofo did have the immediate support of many chiefs.
Incensed by Tupoumoheofo taking the title of TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu instead of giving it to his own father, Mumui, TukuâÂÂaho denounced Tupoumoheofo and seized some of her estates. She refused to step down, reminding him that he was of a lower rank than she was. She threatened his life if he continued his insubordination. In 1793 he invaded Tongatapu with an army and defeated her, though the Tongatapu chiefs guaranteed her safety because, âÂÂshe was the daughter of a TamahÃÂâ and allowed her into exile in VavaâÂÂu.
Tupoumoheofo soon raised a new army and attacked Tongatapu but was again unsuccessful. âÂÂThis time she was pursued to HaâÂÂapai, where her army was trapped on the island of HaâÂÂano [sic] and slaughtered. Its bones were still easily visible in great number half a century later.â As victor in the brief war, TukuâÂÂaho appointed his father TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu.
Tupoumoheofo spent the remainder of her days in VavaâÂÂu under the safety of the 'Ulukalala family, which was at odds with TukuâÂÂaho and Mumui. It was Finau 'Ulukalala II and his relative Tupouniua who assassinated TukuâÂÂaho in 1799. William Mariner, a British sailor taken in by Finau 'Ulukalala from 1806 to 1810, writes that the assassination was done at the insistence of Tupoumoheofo to avenge her earlier defeat.
Most of the primary sources about Tupoumoheofo come from Europeans who often had conflicting accounts, descriptions, timelines, and biases. The lack of consensus makes her a controversial figure. Many of these historians were guests of Tupoumoheofo's enemies who eventually gained power and defeated her; the descendants of these enemies are Tonga's current royal family. These sources tend to view her negatively as an egregious usurper of power. She is also often accused of using her power to install her supposed son Fuanunuiava as Tu'i Tonga. Recent scholarship, however, claims that her actions were within historical precedent and acceptable to her social rank. There is also some evidence that Fuanunuiava was not actually her son.
There is agreement that at the close of the 18th century the old order that divided responsibilities between the TuâÂÂi Tonga, Tu'i Ha'atakalaua and Tu'i Kanokupolu chiefly lines dissolved, and that the TuâÂÂi Kanokupolu line (controlled by the Tupou family) eclipsed the others. TupoumoheofoâÂÂs actions, and those of her immediate successors, are best understood as an attempt to consolidate power during this chaotic time.