Sawana is a village on the Fijian island of Vanua Balavu, in the Lau archipelago and is Part of the Tikina of Lomaloma. A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a Town or City. Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य Vanua Balavu (βanua mbalaβu is the second largest island in Fiji 's Lau Archipelago (not counting the islands of the Moala Group) and The Lau Islands (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Lomaloma is a Village on the Fiji island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau Archipelago.
Sawana is separated from the main village of Lomaloma only by a large ditch. Lomaloma is a Village on the Fiji island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau Archipelago. As the population is predominantly of Tongan origin, church services are conducted in Tongan, as well as Fijian. The Kingdom of Tonga is an Archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean comprising 169 islands 36 of them inhabited stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 miles Tongan ( lea fakatonga) is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji.
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The selection of a high Chieftain
The nomination for the title of the Tui Lau comes from the Tongan community in Sawana and is then handed to the Vuanirewa clan on the island of Lakeba for a final decision. Tui Lau is a Fijian chiefly title of recent history and of Tongan origin stemming from the time of Ma'afu and his conquests The Vuanirewa is the ruling tribe (yavusa of the Lau Islands, a scattered group of more than a hundred islands (16 inhabited and reefs along the eastern edge of Fiji Lakeba (lakemba is an island in Fiji 's Southern Lau Archipelago.
Strengthening tribal ties
Viliame Fonolahi and Setaita Miller, who though Fiji-born, were related to Tongan royalty (Setiata's mother was the sister of the King of Tonga) and were a senior family of Sawana, Their daughters married into chiefly families uniting tribes and creating a strong Vasu connection or maternal tie to Sawana and Vanuabalavu
Viliame's daughter Lusiana Qolikoro was the first wife of Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba III, who held the title of Turaga na Tui Nayau. Vanua Balavu (βanua mbalaβu is the second largest island in Fiji 's Lau Archipelago (not counting the islands of the Moala Group) and Tui Nayau is the title held by the Paramount Chief of the Lau Islands in Fiji and is synonymous with the title holders over lordship of these islands Their son was Ratu Sir Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, who served for decades as Prime Minister and President. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara Kabakoro] GCMG KBE CF, ( May 6, 1920 &ndash April 18, 2004
The youngest of Viliame's children was Laisa Kaukiono, who had issue with Ratu Sir Edward Tuivanuavou Tugi Cakobau (1908-1973), also known as Ratu Tui. Ratu Sir Edward Tuivanuavou Tugi Cakobau ( 21 December 1908 - 26 June 1973) was a Fijian chief and statesman Their child, Ratu Tui's first, was Ratu Viliame Dreunimisimisi of Bau Island. Bau (mba u is a small Island in Fiji, off the east coast of the main island of Viti Levu. Ratu Tui himself was the son of King George Tupou II of Tonga and Adi Litia Cakobau, a granddaughter of Turaga Na Tui Kaba Na Vunivalu, Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, who forged the first Fijian nation state in 1871 before ceding it to the United Kingdom in 1874. Turaga na Vunivalu ni Bau is the Paramount Chief of the Kubuna Confederacy, loosely translated the title means Warlord of Bau or Root of War A Name forged in Battle The Vunivalu and the sacred Chieftain the Roko Tui Bau had many power struggles during the course of nearly a century
Finally Mere Tuisalalo (1910 - 1982) Married and became the first wife of the Turaga na Rasau, Ratu Keni Naulumatua the Chieftan for Lomaloma Tikina. Turaga Na Rasau is a traditional Fijian Chiefly title of the Lau Islands Lomaloma is a Village on the Fiji island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau Archipelago.
References
- Mara, Ratu Sir Kamisese: "The Pacific Way: A Memoir", Page 91. University of Hawaii Press, 1997
- Newspaper Article, Title: Fiji Born Actor dies, Content: Talks in reference to Manu Tupou the Hollywood actor, of his ties with Lomaloma with reference to Ratu Mara and Adi Mere and Ratu Dreunimisimisi, Fiji Times Saturday June 12th 2004, Fiji Times Archives, following is a Web Reference to Fiji Times.
- Why these unions were important was due to the Vasu connection that brought different tribes together following are examples documenting the Importance of the Vasu connection or maternal lineage in Fiji: as outlined in this Book ‘Matanitu’ the struggle for power in early Fiji by David Routledge 1985,published by the Institute of Pacific studies and the University of the South PacificFiji, Chapter 1 page 36, also see the Book Fiji and the Fijians By Thomas Williams, James Calvert, Ch 2 Page 33,34
- Lau Islands, Fiji By A. The Fiji Times is a daily Newspaper published in Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869, it is Fiji's oldest M Hocart and Bernice P. Bishop - Museum Bulletin 62 p226, Publication Date: June 1969, Publisher: Kraus Intl Pubns, ISBN-10: 0527021687, ISBN-13: 9780527021689 this book Documents in detail the Rasau and Ratu Keni
- Fijian Heralds and Envoys. , A. M. Hocart, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 43, Jan. - Jun. , 1913 (Jan. - Jun. , 1913), pp. 109-118, doi:10. 2307/2843163, Arthur Maurice Hocart does a comparative study on two chiefs and their heralds and envoys one being the Rasau of Lomaloma
- the following website has the document Fijian Heralds and Envoys but must be accessed through a public library computer. Arthur Maurice Hocart ( 26 April 1883, Etterbeek &ndash 9 March 1939, Cairo) was an Anthropologist best known
- 20th Century Fiji, edited by Stewart Firth & Daryl Tarte - 2001 - ISBN: 982-010421-1, this book has a very detailed reference to Ratu Edward and Ratu Mara acknowledges their mothers
- Web link reference to Ratu Edward.
Further reading
- Village of the Conquerors, Sawana: a Tongan Village in Fiji, By Alexander Philip Lessin, Phyllis June Lessin - 1970.
External links
- A guest house situated on Vanubalavu has reference on website to Sawana Village.
- website for Lomaloma Resort has Reference to Sawana Village.
- Travel Article talks briefly about Sawana Village on Vanubalavu.
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