Page 25 - IB March 2018 Edition

Culture

a streak of rebellion.”

Traditional Protocol Fiji Islands
When Biuvakalolo-
ma decided to return
to Moce to bring back
another drua to start
his tourism venture in
1993, he was told to
wait until the sea was
cleared for travel.
A taboo had been
imposed in the waters
of the Tovata confeder-
acy following the death
of Fiji’s then President,
the Tui Cakau, Ratu Sir
Penaia Ganilau, at the
Walter Reed Hospital in
the US on 16 December,
1993.
Ratu Penaia was
head of the cultural
Tovata confederacy of
which the islands of
Lau are part of.
As part of the tra-
ditional protocol and The map shows the route JImione Paki took when he sailed from Moce to Suva on his drua (inset: Top right) where he settled with on
the tip of the peninsula at Korova in Suva. (inset: above left ).
sign of respect for the The route Metuisela Biuvakaloloma (inset left) is believed to have taken when he defied traditional protocol on his fateful voyage in 1993.
paramount chief of the
confederacy, mariners were warned to stay It was the last place from where Biu- tried to travel to Kadavu to retrieve the
clear while the chiefly cortege travelled to vakaloloma was seen. drua but their father advised against it.
Somosomo in Taveuni, Fiji’s fourth larg- No one knows what happened to him “My father said the drua was his coffin
est island. that day. and for us to let it be at Buliya.”
On the night of 28 December, 1993, Biu- Cama and Biuvakaloloma’s son, Fu- According to Marika Biaukula of Buliya,
vakaloloma defied the taboo and set sail luna, who was only three at that time, the canoe was pulled to the village from
for Suva to start his drua cruise business. believe his defiance of traditional protocol where it had beached. Over the years, it
It was mistake, he would never learn cost him his life. disintegrated. All that’s left of it today is
from. “We can only imagine what happened part of the bow.
The next morning the government ves- to my brother. He could have fallen off Being blessed with many sons, Paki
sel, Tovata, left Suva carrying the fallen the drua because of the bad weather never lost hope of the dream he shared
chief. conditions or something worse could have with his lost son.
The Fiji Times reported that it was only happened,” Cama, now 73, said. Cama moved to Korova in 1996 and
fitting that a school of sharks appeared “Maybe the sharks attacked him.” helped his father teach the younger gen-
suddenly to accompany the funeral flotilla Fuluna said his father breached rules eration
that Wednesday. that indigenous Fijians should have The children at the swampland con-
The event was witnessed by the thou- observed. tinued to learn the art of sailing the drua
sands of mourners who came to bid fare- “When there’s a taboo at sea, we should and camakau.
well to the chief on his final journey home. always observe that. The land and ocean The drua and camakau he brought from
The sharks - regarded as the traditional are inter-linked.” Moce in 1991 had started to rot.
custodians of the Tui Cakau resurfaced “Our forefethares respected that and Cama kept their tradition alive and built
during the ceremonial 21-gun salute in our people have always relied on the several more camakau at Korova the fol-
front of the Tovuto, which carried the for- ocean for their survival. lowing years.
mer president of Fiji’s coffin to Somosomo “Our stories revolve around it, our life Eleven years after he lost his son at sea,
where he was laid to rest. too. The ocean sustains us and gives Paki decided to return to Lau and return
The Fiji Times reported that the seas us life and we should always link them with another drua to Suva.
were rough as the Tovuto sailed towards because they always have been.” But the ghosts of 1993 returned to
Taveuni. Several days later, the family at Korova haunt the family.
Cama said from the accounts of relatives heard a report that a canoe had beached r ilaitia.turagabeci@gmail.com
on Moce and Moala, another island about at Buliya, an island off the Kadavu main-
169km away towards Suva, the sea condi- land, 313km from Moce. Next month: Curse haunts the
tions were the same. Some of Biuvakaloloma’s brothers later canoe dream

Islands Business, March 2018 25