Kubuna Confederacy
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Kubuna is one of three confederacies which comprise Fiji's House of Chiefs, to which all of Fiji's chiefs belong.
Details of Kubuna
It consists of the provinces of Tailevu, Naitasiri, Lomaiviti, and parts of the western provinces of Ba, Ra. Most of Kubuna is located in the northern part of Fiji's Central Division.
The capital of this confederacy is Bau Island in Tailevu Province.
Paramount Titles of Kubuna
The Paramount Chief of Kubuna, who is generally considered to be the highest-ranked chief in Fiji, is the Vunivalu of Bau. This position has been vacant since the death of Ratu Sir George Cakobau, a former Governor General, in 1989. Succession is not necessarily from father to son, although there is a hereditary element. Currently, there are four eligible contenders, namely Ratu George Cakobau, Jr., his brother Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, Ratu George Kadavulevu Naulivou, and former Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli. It is thought that clan politics is part of the reason why none of these candidates has, of yet, been installed. It is said that the nominations of Ratu George Kadavulevu Naulivou and Ratu Jope Seniloli have been disqualified based on the basis that their fathers were born out of wedlock. Also listed as a possible candidate is Fiji's current President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau; however he too is considered by some to be disqualified as he is only connected through maternal links being a descendant of Ratu Edward Tuivanuavou Tugi Cakobau, a product of trial betrothment from King Tupou III and Adi Litia Cakobau.
Another high chief from Kubuna is the Roko Tui Bau, currently Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, the Vice-President of Fiji. According to sources within the Great Council of Chiefs (a traditional body which, among other things, functions as an electoral college to choose the President and Vice-President), he was chosen for the Vice-Presidency because it was thought that as President Ratu Josefa Iloilo was from the Burebasaga and his predecessor, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara from Tovata, the current Vice-President should be from Kubuna.
References
- Planets Around the Sun: dynamics and contradictions of the Fijian Matanitu - Page 13, By Nicholas P. G. Thomas - 1986, Reference to Kubuna and its origins
- Apologies To Thucydides: Understanding History as Culture and Vice Versa - Page 64, by Marshall David Sahlins, reference to Kubuna and its origins