Sawana

Sawana is a village on the Fijian island of Vanua Balavu, in the Lau archipelago and is part of the Tikina of Lomaloma.

Sawana is separated from the main village of Lomaloma only by a large ditch. As the population is predominantly of Tongan origin, church services are conducted in Tongan, as well as Fijian.

Contents

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.

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 mother to the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, who served for decades as Prime Minister and President. Ratu Mara's father being Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba III, who held the title of Turaga na Tui Nayau.

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. Their child, Ratu Tui's first, was Ratu Viliame Dreunimisimisi of Bau Island. 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.

Finally Mere Tuisalalo (1910 - 1982) married and became the first wife of the Turaga na Rasau, Ratu Keni Naulumatua the Chieftan for Lomaloma Tikina.

References

  • Mara, Ratu Sir Kamisese: "The Pacific Way: A Memoir", page 91. University of Hawaii Press, 1997
  • Fiji Times 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 12, 2004, Fiji Times Archives.
  • 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.M Hocart and Bernice P. Bishop - Museum Bulletin 62 p226, Publication Date: June 1969, Publisher: Kraus Intl Pubns, ISBN 0527021687, ISBN 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.
  • 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.
  • Village of the Conquerors, Sawana: a Tongan Village in Fiji, By Alexander Philip Lessin, Phyllis June Lessin - 1970.

External links