Elizabeth Colson, Tonga Religious Life in the Twentieth Century. Lusaka: Bookworld Publishers (pb £24.95 – 978 9 9822 4045 1). 2006, 316 pp.

This book is based on Colson's participatory observation of the religious life and practices of the Tonga people. The author acknowledges using the diaries of her research assistants, the field notes of fellow anthropologists and other related publications. Her contact with Tonga began in 1946 when she first arrived in what was then called Northern Rhodesia as a research officer of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, assigned to work among the Plateau Tonga. Colson's long-term research among the Gwembe began in 1956 and since then she has maintained regular visits up to 2005. Colson takes responsibility for the translations of Tonga terms into English. She recognizes the limitations of her working knowledge of the ci-Tonga language, however, imposed by her long absences between visits as well as the fact that different regions speak different dialects.

The main focus of the book is to examine the thought processes of the Tonga people regarding the nature of their world, the meaning of their lives, and the sources of good and evil over the last century. The author argues that as people meditate upon events around them and others, they try to make changes – and often this leads them to formulate explanations of the why and how of their world. She further observes that people also seem to interrogate the extent to which their lives are controlled by forces beyond their control.

Colson examines the impact of the religious and ritual experiences of the Tonga in a changing world, including the influence of the West. She interacts with the rhetoric of how people conceive of and engage with the world as a place ruled by forces that can be understood only through metaphors and rituals. She observes a lack of any developed corpus of myths or elaborate rituals, and an absence of dogmatic statements of belief among the Tonga, although failing to indicate the methodology for arriving at such a conclusion.

Colson holds the view that some Tonga people switch between Christian denominations in search of ‘something that worked’. While such a conclusion may not be dismissed, it undermines the place of revelations and dreams which many people often claim to be their source of inspiration for taking particular decisions. Colson argues that changes in economy or social organization lead inevitably to changes in how people think about the universe and their place in it. She undoubtedly agrees with Carmody (2001) that many Tonga accepted the early Christian missions in view of their connection to employment and education. Such a position often underplays any genuine involvement of the indigenous people with the early missionaries. It might also be considered an over-generalization which may not apply in all cases. Daily experiences lead many people to remain resistant to particular religions, irrespective of changes around them – whether positive or negative.

The author claims to have cited only a portion of the many references to the religious practices and the realities of witchcraft contained in the diaries and field notes which she used. Colson holds her numerous informants in anonymity, except for two well-known mediums and elders, without any explanation as to why she chooses to mention a few and exclude others. It is possible that if she had cited the oral sources that exist, the book would have provided more enriching material for follow-up researches among the Tongas.

Furthermore, the responses of individual Tonga Christians to the local practices are not mentioned. It is possible to observe a gulf between the official representations of different Christian denominations and the real life of their members. An interaction with such complex internal dynamics would have enriched Colson's work. She repeatedly uses the term ‘fundamentalism’ in describing some Christian denominations without any explanation. Such othering seems to misrepresent the author and her work.

However, Colson's work provides interesting interdisciplinary information and offers rich insights that will enable other researchers to engage with the religious life of the Tonga people.