Vaimalà Â, is a village in the western district of Vavaûu in Tonga. The population is 114.
Vaimalà  was named by one of the most revered and beloved chiefs in Vavaûu's history the great Finau Fisi. The village became the sole estate of his only child and son Naufahu Mapilitoa. In 1781 right off the coast of Longomapu, it was Finau Fisi in his double hulled war canoe the Talito'a who met the Spaniard explorer Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle the first European to discover Vavaûu. With his supplies depleted and sailing the last three days without water it was by luck Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle and his crew found the inlet passage to the middle of the main island. In his journal Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle wrote of the great size of the 10 double hulled war canoes that encircled his ship as they anchored off the coast of Longomapu. The first thing the captain asked for when Finau Fisi met him was water, upon understanding his request Finau Fisi not only gave the explorer and his crew water but replenished their food supplies, took care and stayed with them the 2 weeks they spent in Vavaûu. Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle being grateful for the initial water given to him by Finau Fisi kept thanking him in Spanish; "Gracias aqua, gracias aqua" (thank you water, thank you water), hence the Tongan translation and the name of the village "Vai - Water", "Malà  - Thank you". Before the passage of the Vavaûu Land Acts (V.L.A) of 1849 and 1914 that effectively placed Vaimalà  under government control, the whole of Vaimalà  belonged only to Naufahu Mapilitoa and his family. Vaimalà Â's current general population is made up mainly of Naufahu Mapilitoaûs immediate descendants, relatives, and friends from Niue, Fiji, Samoa, and Solomon Islands.
Naufahu MÃÂpilitoa was the only child and son of Luseane ûI-fanga-Hihifo and the great chief Fënau Fisi. Fënau Fisi was the younger brother and chief advisor to the most feared and powerful man in all of Tonga in the late 18th and early 19th century, the infamous Vavaûu King or TuâÂÂi VavaâÂÂu Finau ûUlukalala II also known as Fangupà  and Finau ûUlukalala-âÂÂi-Feletoa. Naufahu MÃÂpilitoa was a mighty warrior of Vavaûu and was renowned for his independent disposition particularly his uncompromising and unrepentant opposition to the rule of his uncle and VavaâÂÂu King Finau ûUlukalala II whom he hated due to the King's cruel treatment of the common people. In 1807, TuâÂÂi VavaâÂÂu Finau ûUlukalala II was in the early stage of rebuilding and stabilizing VavaâÂÂu politically and socially after the bloody civil war between his forces and those of opposing VavaâÂÂu chiefs which ended when he unwillingly accepted a compromise with demands that favored the opposition. In that bloody civil war, Naufahu Mapilitoa opposed, broke away and fought bravely against his father and the King âÂÂs forces to great effect in Feletoa and Mataika. At the Fort Fatungakoa in Feletoa, it was Naufahu and the warrior Pupunu who threw the double spears that killed the King's giant chief warrior Siu'ulua. In the mound of Fekitetele in Mataika it was Naufahu and the warrior Fanafonua who slew his own father's twin Fijian chief warriors Koloiuluipuaka and Koloiloaloa fighting with his famous war clubs Pasivulangi and Pasitaukei.
After the war Naufahu MÃÂpilitoa returned to the land he made his home Vaimalà Â. He started a family but even that didn't stop him from voicing and making his hatred of his uncle the King known. This made him very popular with the common people but viewed by his father Fënau Fisi and his uncle the King as not only unforgivably and deeply disrespectful but hindering lasting peace. This made Naufahu a very dangerous enemy in the eyes of the ruling monarch as he was looked up to as a leader by other chiefs and warriors who felt the same way.
For these reasons and with the blessing of his brother and chief advisor Fënau Fisi, in 1808, the King concocted and carried out the legendary and tragic sinking canoes incident off the coast of Makave. A very diabolical act that made Finau ûUlukalala II infamous and stood out as not only a cruel ruler but the most brilliant and cunning strategist in the history of Tonga. With Finau Fisi inconspicuously absent, the highest ranked and most influential of opposing chiefs and warriors including Naufahu were invited to a great feast and royal kava ceremony hosted by the King in Makave. Sometime during the royal kava ceremony the king's warriors in overwhelming numbers suddenly attacked and subdued the seated opposing chiefs and warriors. Most were killed immediately where they sat, some were executed in different areas of the village and the most highly ranked and mightiest of warriors of which there were six were held down with their hands bound. The six were Naufahu, twins TaliaâÂÂuli and Mahe'uli'uli, NgÃÂngÃÂehau, Pupunukaetau, Fanafonua and they were soon joined by another fearsome warrior the chief Kakahu who refused the King's invitation but was betrayed by a close relative and captured at his home which made it seven chiefs and warriors of the highest order. Of these seven only Fanafonua managed to break free and escaped, the remaining six were bound hands and feet, put into old dilapidated leaking canoes that sank right off the shore at Neiafutahi. Even this mass execution didn't bring the lasting peace the King sought for Vavaûu but rather a wider division that lasted for another 12 years. In 1820, the King's youngest son and reigning Vavaûu King, the Tu'i Vavaûu Finau ûUlukalala IV or Tu'apasi and Finau ûUlukalala-'i-Pouono finally achieved peace and brought the whole island together with many of his late father's old enemies as his advisors and members of his national council.
Naufahu MÃÂpilitoa married Tulukava Siliika of Talau and they had one child, a son they named 'Avala-ûae-tau. Upon Naufahuûs death in 1808, Vaimalà  became the family estate of 'Avala-ûae-tau, his immediate family and a few relatives. ûAvala-ûae-tau married 5 times which was normal in ancient times throughout Tonga especially within the nobility class, his 5 wives bore him 11 children.
When His Majesty George Tupou I became Tu'i Vava'u, "Vava'u King", in 1833 after the death of Fënau ûUlukÃÂlala IV (Tuapasi), he ushered in a new political and social era in Vavaûu that became the historic road-map and foundation for change in all of Tonga forever.
When the V.L.A went into effect in 1849, His Majesty George Tupou I meticulously and cleverly persuaded countless Nobles or âÂÂûEikiâ of Vavaûu to accept the new V.L.A, especially those who stood to lose entire estates and land in accordance to the re-distribution ordinances of the new Vava'u Code. In exchange for the Nobles' acceptance and allegiance, His Majesty appointed the most influential of them to new governmental positions and bestowed upon some new aristocratic titles.
Such was His Majesty's appointment of a young Tevita Taûofi-kae-tau Tapueluelu to become his Governor of Vavaûu. This appointment is viewed by many as a very clever measure that appeased and formed an iron-fist alliance with a very influential, unpredictable and sometimes unruly Tapueluelu. The prestigious position and title with its implied significance did just that, Tapueluelu permanently moved out of Vaimalà  and made Neiafu his new home, now the newly established and bustling capital city of Vavaûu. Tapuelueluûs new position and title came with a hereditary estate that Tapueluelu named Sailoame. Tapueluelu was not the only child of Avala-ûae-tau that permanently moved out of Vaimalà Â, in 1878, Lesieli Afu Haûapai married Siaosi ûUlu-ki-vaiola who was the 6th Tuita, and made ûUtungake, Vavaûu her new home.
When the two eldest children of 'Avala-ûae-tau moved out of Vaimalà Â, the two remaining; Lavinia Sialehaehae and Salesi Matele-ûo-Haûamea decided to divide Vaimalà  into two separate Estates. Lavinia Sialehaehae made the whole oceanfront part of Vaimalà  her home and named it Muileleu or Mourelle after the Spanish explorer Francisco Antonio Mourelle the first European to discover Vavaûu. Salesi Mataele-ûo-Haûamea took over the inland part of Vaimalà  and named his home Mohe-mo-langa.
Lavinia Sialehaehae was barren and didn't have any children, so upon her death, Salesi Mataele-ûo-Haûamea became the sole âÂÂhereditary occupantâ of Vaimalà Â. Soon thereafter, he gave his inland home of Mohe-mo-langa to Manase Manu'okafoa a relative and moved into Laviniaûs oceanfront home of Muileleu. Salesi had only one child a son named Salesi Kato-ki-moûunga Tuûipulotu whose great-grandchildren are the current occupants of Muileleu, Mohe-mo-langa, and most of Vaimalà  today.
Vaimalà Âûs nickname is Funga Mapitoa. Mapitoa is a massive rock that protrude out of the ocean and is only five meters or so away from the tail end of Vaimalà Âûs landmass right in front of Muileleu. This rock was so named âÂÂMapitoaâÂÂ, short for âÂÂMapilitoaâ by His Majesty George Tupou I, as a tribute to Vaimalà Âûs original renowned resident Naufahu Mapilitoa.