Time has passed and the traditional knowledge of weaving is disappearing from Tongan society as more daughters and young girls lose interest in learning the skill (Hettinger and Cox 1997). Another reason that this specialized knowledge is not being passed down could be caused by the Tongan diaspora. Being away in another country with different cultural practices than your own can make it challenging to keep traditions flowing. Because Tongan values heavily rely on commitment and social ties, when this is not being performed by Tongans outside Tonga, it disrupts the harmony among relationships (Nishitani 2014). Social ties or kinship is referred to the term va, which is affected by the diaspora (Nishitani 2014). Va can be disrupted for multiple reasons but a big one is the competition for cultural capital, reputation and status, especially among Tongan women (Nishitani 2014). This competition threatens the very weave that holds traditional Tongan practices in tact. Although there are still a handful of Tongan women who practice the art of weaving, many of them are older and because of the value placed of cultural capital, weaving skills are not as desirable as before. 

Source:

Hettinger, Amy and Paul Cox. 1997. "The Making of the Kato Alu-A Traditional Tongan Basket." Economic Botany 51, no. 2: 144-48.

Nishitani, M. 2014. "Kinship, gender, and communication technologies: Family dramas in the Tongan diaspora." Australian Journal of Anthropology, 25(2),  pp. 207-222.