Tongan pride parades through streets of Portland for national rugby league team

It was the weekend of the Rugby League World Cup semifinals, and one team’s fanbase was already rejoicing ahead of the scheduled matches.

On Friday afternoon, Portland residents took to the streets, swaddled in the red and white colors of the Tongan flag, declaring their national pride in anticipation of the game against New Zealand on Saturday.

“Win or lose, we’re always going to celebrate our boys,” said Mele Latai Talanoa, a mother who had brought her two young boys to the impromptu parade down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on a school day. “We took the day off for them to come and celebrate their kingdom.”

For the tiny island country of Tonga, a Polynesian archipelago populated by just over 100,000 residents, representation of its culture on an international stage was cause for celebration. Out of 10 teams, Tonga had advanced, unbeaten, to the semifinals, where they faced off against New Zealand. The Rugby League World Cup is hosted every four years, and the last time that Tonga advanced to the semifinals was in 2017.

Thousands of miles away from the live game in Australia, Oregon audiences saw Tonga lose to New Zealand in a bruising 34-10 defeat at 3 a.m. PT this Saturday. Sunday, starting at 1 a.m. PT, Samoa will face Australia in the semifinals that will determine New Zealand’s opponent in the World Cup.

Despite the loss, Tongan pride was undefeated. More than rooting for her national team, Talanoa wanted her sons, who were born and raised in Portland, to remember and be proud of their heritage. Painted on cars and on people’s cheeks were the numbers “676,” the international telephone country code for Tonga.

“I want them to know where they’re from,” said Talanoa, who was born in Tonga. “There’s something called ‘Mate Ma’a Tonga,’ like ‘We Die for Tonga.’ Tonga is in our blood even though we’re raised here in the States.”

Tongans are one of Portland’s fastest-growing ethnic communities, and it’s estimated that about 2,000 Tongans live in the Portland metro area.

Sulupepa Napa’a said it was a big deal to see hundreds of people show up to celebrate the semifinals run.

“People are so spread out, the only time we get to see all of us is when we have stuff like this or weddings, or birthdays, or funerals,” said Napa’a, who was dressed in a white wig as Tyler Perry’s fictional character Madea. The popular matriarch figure has become an unofficial mascot of sorts for festivities celebrating the Tongan national rugby league team.

“Rugby and NFL players, that’s our number one export,” said Kolini Fusitua, program coordinator at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization. Pacific Islanders, including Tongans, Samoans and Maoris, are disproportionately represented in football and rugby. “This is a path for financial stability.”

Even after Tonga’s elimination, there are still other players such as New Zealand’s Naufahu Whyte or Australia’s Keaon Koloamatangi, who have Tongan heritage and could still play in the final.

“We’re very proud of our players regardless if they represent our tiny islands,” Fusitua said.

Akanesi Aisea, Fusitua’s niece, was inspired to start organizing the event just three days prior after seeing other cities like Salt Lake City, Utah, organize their own popular Mate Ma’a Tonga parades.

Along the parade route in Portland, the energy was infectious as people whooped and danced while speakers blasted Tongan pop classics, including a rendition of Shakira’s “Waka Waka” reworked as “It’s time for Tonga.”

“There’s a word in Tonga, it’s called ‘māfana,’” Aisea said. She’s been filled with so much adrenaline watching the games early in the morning that she can’t sleep. “It’s this warm feeling, happy, excited feeling. So I think everyone is māfana right now.”