Some 250 years ago, Lifuka was the site of carving workshops where female figurines of gods were made – mainly incarnations of the goddess Hikole'o, the goddess of the realm of the dead, whose vagina was believed to be the dark place from which everything comes and into which everything must return (lalo fonua).
Captain Cook actually landed on Lifuka on May 17, 1777, where he met the Tu'i Tonga Paulaho, the ruler of the Tongan Empire, and participated in a great feast. During Cook's nearly two-week stay on the island, there was much bartering between his crew and the Tongans, which may have included the Herrnhut sculpture of a woman.