Katoaga information

The kātoaga is a customary festival in Wallis and Futuna, a French overseas collectivity in Oceania with a Polynesian culture. During this ceremony, goods are exchanged, such as pigs, baskets of vegetables (yams and taro), banigs, tapa or envelopes filled with banknotes. It takes place on the occasion of religious festivals, political events (enthronement of a sovereign, national holiday...) or private events (wedding, communion, funeral). Of ancient origin and present in many Polynesian societies, the katoaga obeys a strict ritual and protocol that has changed little since the Christianization of Wallis and Futuna in the 19th century. It begins with a Catholic mass, is followed by a meal, a kava ceremony and dances performed by the villagers, before the food brought by the inhabitants is redistributed to the dignitaries and the population, each gift being allocated according to the rank of the person for whom it is intended. Speeches, poems and stories from the oral tradition are recited by the participating dignitaries. These major customary celebrations mobilize several villages or districts, and require several weeks or even months of preparation.

The katoaga is a customary obligation that concerns the entire population. It follows a logic of gift and counter-gift comparable to that of the potlatch, where the goods offered confer prestige on the giver and oblige the recipient to give in return, without any use or monetary value. The recipient's social status is determined by the quality and quantity of the goods offered. The food and objects donated during a katoaga are produced by those who bring them, according to a gendered logic (pigs and yams for men, banigs for women), but more and more salaried Wallisians and Futunians are buying them from producers, leading to an inflation of donations and indebtedness to be able to offer goods commensurate with their rank. Nevertheless, this contributes to a redistribution of monetary wealth among the population.

The katoaga showcases the social order of Wallisian and Futunansociety, displaying each person's place in the hierarchy, but also constitutes a political arena, with the authority of customary chiefs measured in their ability to bring together large numbers of people to offer wealth, which is then redistributed. This ceremony also consecrates the role of customary kings as guarantors of the smooth running of society, acting as intermediaries between the world of the living, that of the ancestors and God.