In 1873, work commenced on a double-canoe called Ramarama at Somosomo, which was 99 feet (30m) in length with a crew of 50 paddlers, although the vessel could carry an additional 200 warriors.[4] Her steer oars were 34 feet (10m).[4] The builders included Manase Gauamo, an expert Tongan canoe maker, who worked for five years to complete Ramarama.[4] The double-canoe was built for the Tui Cakau, who later gave Ramarama to Seru Epenisa Cakobau. The double-canoe made three voyages to Tonga.[4]
According to the myth, the god who ruled over this village is Qurai.[7] There is a short discussion of traditional religion as practiced on Somosomo in J. G. Frazer's famous work, The Golden Bough.[8] Frazer describes belief in a continuity of divine nature between humans and deities, in which certain priests and chiefs were considered to be "sacred persons."
Ratu Sir Penaia Kanatabatu Ganilau was a Fijian politician who served as the first President of Fiji, serving from 8 December 1987 until his death in 1993. He had previously served as Governor-General of Fiji, representing Elizabeth II, Queen of Fiji, from 12 February 1983 to 15 October 1987.
Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, was a Fijian military officer and politician. His career previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga. On 15 January 2007 he was sworn in as Minister for Fijian Affairs in the interim Cabinet formed in the wake of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état which deposed the Qarase government on 5 December 2006.
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.
Vanua Levu, formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 square kilometres (2,157.2 sq mi) and a population of 135,961 as of 2007.
Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu MBE is a Fijian Paramount Chief and the current speaker of the parliament. He had served as the leader of the opposition.
Tovata is one of three confederacies comprising the Fijian House of Chiefs, to which all of Fiji's chiefs belong.
The Northern Division is one of four Divisions into which Fiji's fourteen Provinces are grouped for local government purposes. The administrative centre of the Division, where main governmental departments are located, is Labasa.
ʻEnele Maʻafuʻotuʻitonga, commonly known as Maʻafu, was a Pacific islander who held important titles in two countries in the Pacific. He was a traditional Tongan Prince and a Fijian chief nominated and installed by the Tovata chiefs of Lakeba and Vanua Balavu as 'Tui Lau' in 1869. This title was ratified by a wider council of Fijian chiefs and subsequently formalised under British colonial administration. In 1847, Maʻafu went to Fiji in an expedition to Vanua Balavu to investigate the killing of a preacher.
The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji.
Sivoki Volitilakeba was the eldest child and only daughter of Niumataiwalu, first Roko Sau and High Chief of the Lau Islands, Fiji. Oral history has it that Sivoki was exceedingly beautiful, a trait she most likely inherited from her father and for which she was eventually used for, in strengthening alliances with other noble households. She was married off at a young age into a noble house from Somosomo, another chiefly village in Cakaudrove, a realm that came under the Tui Cakau. Her husband, Komaibatiniwai, was a renowned warrior during this period and the union from this marriage produced one child, a son, Radravu. As her husband was in his twilight years the marriage ended prematurely resulting with her and her son’s return to Lakeba, at the request of her brothers, Uluilakeba I, had by now succeeded to his father’s title. Her son was raised and adopted into one of the noble households, Vatuwaqa, whilst she herself was eventually married off again to another chief from the island of Vanua Balavu.
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of 434 square kilometres. The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometres east of Vanua Levu, across the Somosomo Strait. It belongs to the Vanua Levu Group of islands and is part of Fiji's Cakaudrove Province within the Northern Division.
Kanacea (Kanathea) is a volcanic island with seven peaks in Fiji's Lau archipelago. It is 15 km west of Vanua Balavu. Covering an area of 12.48 square kilometres, it has a maximum elevation of 259 meters.
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 50,469 at the most recent census in 2017, making it the seventh most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 3,372 in 2007.
The monarchy of Fiji arose in the 19th century, when native ruler Seru Epenisa Cakobau consolidated control of the Fijian Islands in 1871 and declared himself king, or paramount chief, of Fiji. Three years later, he voluntarily ceded sovereignty of the islands to Britain, making Fiji a crown colony within the British Empire.
Lomaloma is a village at the south of the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau archipelago of Fiji. The settlement is part of the tribal district of Tikina, Lomaloma and consists of 9 villages, 13 Yavusa (tribes), 42 Mataqali (clans), and 54 family units known as Tokatoka. The nine villages of Lomaloma Tikina are Lomaloma, Sawana, Susui, Narocivo, Namalata, Uruone, Levukana, Dakuilomaloma, and Tuvuca.
Joseph Browne is a Fijian civil servant, who was Official Secretary to the late President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, prior to Mara's possibly forced resignation during the insurrection which deposed the constitutional government in 2000. He had first been employed by Mara in 1985 when the latter was still Prime Minister, and had remained with him through the various offices he held, including the Vice-Presidency and Presidency. He is now the head of the Immigration Department.
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.
Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, chiefly seafarer, and descendant of the Vunivalu of Bau.
In Fiji, Turaga na Roko Tui Bau is a vassal chief of the Vunivalu of Bau. From his seat at the residence of Naicobocobo, the Roko Tui Bau rules the Vusaratu chiefs and has relationships with the Roko Tui Dreketi, Ratu Mai Verata, Roko Tui Namata, Roko Tui Veikau, Tui Vuya and other members of Fiji's House of Chiefs.
Semi Radradra Turagasoli Waqavatu is a Fijian professional rugby union and rugby league footballer. He currently plays rugby union for the French club Lyon and the Fiji national team. Nicknamed 'Semi Trailer', Radradra has played primarily as a wing in both codes.
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