Roko Tui Dreketi

Last updated

The Roko Tui Dreketi is the title of the Paramount Chief of Fiji's Rewa Province and of the Burebasaga Confederacy, to which Rewa belongs.

Contents

Details on the title

This title is considered the second most senior in Fiji's House of Chiefs. The dynasty holding the title is the Tuisawau family. Unlike many other chiefly titles, this one is not reserved for males, as it had become a common occurrence among many other parts of Fiji.

Recent history

The present Roko Tui Dreketi is Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Tuisawau-Kepa, who was the Minister for Education in the Qarase government. She succeeded her late sister Ro Lady Lala Mara, Fiji's former First Lady, in 2004.

Title holders

OrderRoko Tui DreketiReignedLived
1. Ro Rawalai
2. Roko Tabaivalu 1825 - 1839? - 1839
3. Ro Koroitamana 1839? - 1839
4. Ro Bativuaka 1839? - 1839
5. Ro Macanavai 1839? - 1839
6. Ro Cokanauto 1839 - 18411810 - 1851
7. Ro Qaraniqio 1839 - 1840? - 26 January 1855
8. Ro Banuve 1839 - 1845? - December 1845
. Ro Cokanauto 1845 - 1851(s.a.)
. Ro Qaraniqio 1851 - 1855(s.a.)
9. Ro B.V. Rabici - 1915
12. Ratu Lutunauga Tuisawau - 1917
13. Ro Emori Bikavanua Logavatu 1885–1892
14. George Tuisawau 1936 - 19611901 - 1961
15. Lala Mara 1957 - 20043 January 1931 - 20 July 2004
15. Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Tuisawau Kepa 2004–presentb. 1945

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamisese Mara</span> Fijian former prime minister and president

RatuSir Kamisese Mara, was a Fijian politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the first Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992. He subsequently served as president from 1993 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seru Epenisa Cakobau</span> King of Fiji from 1871 to 1874

RatuSeru Epenisa Cakobau was a Fijian chief, monarch, and warlord (Vunivalu) who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing a united Fijian kingdom. He was born on Natauloa, Nairai Island in Lomaiviti but spent his youth on Vanuaso, Gau, Lomaiviti, later returning to Bau to re-establish his Father's Ratu Tanoa Visawaqa reign. Ratu Epenisa Seru Visawaqa was given the name "Cakobau" meaning destroyer of Bau, in reference to his grandfathers' (Nailatikau) effort to first claim the tile from the people of Butoni and Lovoni, returned with most of his warriors from Vanuaso, Gau, Lomaiviti to coup the leadership in Bau then and later takeover his father's title; known after his father as the 6th "Vunivalu" or Warlord of Bau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lala Mara</span> First lady of Fiji of very distinguished lineage under president Kaimese Mara

RoLala, Lady Mara, maiden name Litia Cakobau Lalabalavu Katoafutoga Tuisawau was a Fijian chief, who was better known as the widow of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, modern Fiji's founding father who served for many years as Prime Minister and President of his country. As Fiji's First Lady, Adi Lala took on a diplomatic role, frequently representing her country abroad. She was regarded as a formidable and astute woman, whose influence on her husband was said to be considerable.

Ratu is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, adi, is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ratu is also the traditional honorific title to refer to the ruling king or queen in Javanese culture. Thus in Java, a royal palace is called "keraton", constructed from the circumfix ke- -an and Ratu, to describe the residence of the ratu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joni Madraiwiwi I</span>

Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi was a Fijian Ratu and early colonial administrator in what was then the British Crown Colony of Fiji.

The House of Chiefs in Fiji consists of the Fijian nobility, composed of about seventy chiefs of various ranks, majority of which are related. It is not a formal political body and is not the same as the former Great Council of Chiefs, which was a political body with a prescribed constitutional role, although the membership of the two bodies did overlap to a great extent.

Burebasaga is the largest of the three confederacies that make up Fiji's House of Chiefs, to which some of the Fijian chiefs belong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teimumu Kepa</span> Fijian politician

RoTeimumu Vuikaba Kepa is a Fijian chief, former Member of the Parliament of Fiji, and former leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party. She was the first Fijian woman to serve as Leader of the Opposition. She previously held the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the Qarase-led Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) government from 2001 to 2006. As the paramount chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy, she holds the title Roko Tui Dreketi.

Sailosi Wai Kepa was a Fijian statesman, judge, and diplomat.

Semesa Koroikilai Sikivou, CBE was a Fijian academic, politician, and diplomat.

There are three confederacies in the Fijian Traditional Government, Kubuna, Tovata and Burebasaga. One of the two Paramount chiefly tribes in the Kubuna Confederacy is the "ToraniBau" the other

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rewa Province</span> Province of Fiji

Rewa is a province of Fiji. With a land area of 272 square kilometers, it includes the capital city of Suva and is in two parts — one including part of Suva's hinterland to the west and a noncontiguous area to the east, separated from the rest of Rewa by Naitasiri Province. The province had a population of 108,016 at the 2017 census, making it Fiji's third most populous.

Roko Tui is the title for the executive head of any one of Fiji’s 14 Provincial Councils. Each province, called a "yasana", is administrated by a provincial council, which itself is subject to the Fijian Affairs Board, variously considered the “guardian” of the traditional Fijian administration system, amongst many other aspects of modern Fijian culture. The name Roko Tui is derived from what was traditionally used as a title denoting the Paramount Chief, and so more often than not the modern role of Roko Tui is given to the Paramount Chief of the regions most chiefly clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lasakau sea warriors</span>

The Lasakau Sea Warriors were a 19th-century warrior sub-culture in the pre-colonial state of Bau, in Fiji. The sea warriors were instrumental in spreading Bau's political power throughout the South Pacific archipelagic islands. The rise of the eminent islet of Bau amongst other embryonic states was due mainly to the projection of sea power through its naval forces. Bauan chief Ratu Loaloadravu Tubuanakoro was praised by French Captain Dumont D'Urville in May 1827 for his geographic knowledge of the Fijian archipelago signifying Bau's naval influence. More far-ranging than Bau's land warriors led by the Vusaradave clan, the Lasakau clan became the leading proponents of war and tribute for the emerging island kingdom. They became known as the Bai kei Bau or 'War fence of Bau'. Sahlins made the crucial observation that," The kings of Bau based their rule not on native cultivators but on native sailors and fishers-which is to say in Fijian categories, as in political strategies, not on the land but on the sea". This was the great political transformation that catapulted Bau to power over other pre-colonial kingdoms.

Roko may refer to:

Kadavu Province is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and forms part of the Eastern Division, which also includes the provinces of Lau, Lomaiviti and Rotuma. Kadavu also belongs to the Burebasaga Confederacy, a hierarchy of chiefs from southern and western Fiji with Roko Tui Dreketi of Rewa as the paramount chief.

Ratu Jione Atonio Rabici "Tom" Doviverata was a Bau chief and medical doctor and administrator in colonial Fiji.

The Fiji Native Tribal Congress (FNTC) was established in June 2011 to advance, protect and maintain the rights of indigenous Fijians, in accordance with the 2007 United Nations Declaration On the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in a manner that balances equitably those rights with the rights of other individuals and groups in Fiji.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Tuisawau</span> Fijian chief and politician

RatuGeorge Cokanauto Tuisawau was a Fijian chief and politician. He was Roko Tui of Rewa from 1936 until 1961, and spent two decades as a member of the Legislative Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filipe Tuisawau</span> Fijian politician

Ro Filipe Qaraniqio Tuisawau is a Fijian chief, politician, and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the People's Alliance. He is the son of former National Federation Party MP Ratu Mosese Tuisawau and the nephew of former SODELPA leader Ro Teimumu Kepa.

References

1. Ro Rawalai 2. Ro banuve Bativuaka Lutunauga