History
The original eke (or at least one version of it) comes from Futuna. It was composed by the Futunans as a kind of penitence for the murder of the Marist father Pierre Chanel in 1841. Or, more likely, a recast of an older, already existing, heathen version. With the introduction of Catholicism in Tonga, they brought the eke with them, first to Tafahi, then to Niuafoʻou. After the volcanic eruption of their island in 1946 the people of Niuafoʻou were resettled on ʻEua. From there the eke, by then named sōkē came to Tongatapu, to the Catholic diocese of Maʻufanga to be more exact, which brought it into Tonga's mainstream.
Read more about this topic: Soke (dance)
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