Turaga na Rasau is a traditional Fijian chiefly title of the Lau Islands. Prior to Fiji's colonial days, Fiji had many different Vanua with their own Paramount Chieftain which exercised no authority over the other; a saying from the island of Kadavu aptly summarises it "Nomu Turaga o sega na noqu Turaga" or "Your Chief is not my Chief" also the people of Beqa Island were of a similar opinion saying "Qali Cuva Ki Lagi"Fiji and the Fijians, p.19 or "Subject only to heaven" and would bow to no outside Chieftain, but at the turn of the 20th century aspects of the traditional social structure remained, but for administrative purposes three main Matanitu were solidified and formedNeither Cargo Nor Cult, Page 25Islanders and the World: P 47 to 51 as they were the dominant consolidated powers at the time being that of Kubuna, Burebasaga and Tovata. With regard to the Rasau while its traditional origins were in Kubuna on BauHigh Court civil action No.226 of 1999 the titles traditional authority in modern Fiji is now in Tovata, Lau in particular Lomaloma Tikina on the Island of Vanua Balavu.Ai Vola Ni Kawa, Yavusa Buca, Tokatoka No.7
The title Fijian regional and inter-regional chiefly titles vary in name and history and each tribal unit will have its own unique title with its history, mythology and Folklore and as tribes interacted in trade or in war, their unique stories and histories became intertwined, there is evidence of this across the Fiji island Group and also with Fiji's closest Pacific neighbor and sometimes friendly foe Tonga, the following section of this article covers that of the Turaga Na Rasau as far as its traditional jurisdiction, translation, composition and location.
Lomaloma 1c.Chart, 1881, Native Registrar Tikina of Lomaloma, NLFC.
Yasana Ko Lau (Province of Lau)
Vanua Ko Lomaloma (District of Lomaloma)
Turaga Rasau, Tui Tuvuca
Koro Ni Lomaloma (Villages of Lomaloma District)
Lomaloma, Sawana, Susui, Narocivo, Namalata, Uruone, Levukana, Dakuiloma, Tuvuca
Composition and location 1a. The Turaga Na Rasau is the Chieftain of Lomaloma Tikina and the Turaga I Taukei for Yavusa Buca as per NLTB records from 1895 to date. there are two other Yavusa that being Yavusa Qala and Yavusa Naturuku with their Chieftain being Ravunisa and Tui Naturuku.
The Yavusa Toga of Sawana village are an exception as they are the direct descendants of Enele Ma'afu and his conquests and are independent of the Rasau. Past title holders of the Rasau title have had ties via intermarriages to both Yavusa Toga and Yavusa Buca but have not led both.
Future decisions of the Rasau's authority will have to be decided and passed through provincial and tikina meetings and documented with NLTB records. As the records stand the Rasau is currently the Chieftain for Lomaloma Tikina and Lomaloma koro and the Yavusa and Matagali that fall within this domain.Tovata I & II, Part II Chapter 2 Page 40 Lomaloma Tikina comprises 10 villages and they are as follows: Lomaloma (Nakoro), Sawana, Susui, Narocivo, Namalata, Uruone, Levukana, Dakuilomaloma, and Tuvuca. These villages are located on the island of Vanua Balavu except for Tuvuca, which lies between Vanua Balavu and Lakeba and near the Island of Nayau, all of which are located in the Lau group of islands, which form part of the island nation of Fiji.
The title 1b. Ratu Keni Waqalekaleka Ugadregadrega Naulumatua II is most senior in line for the title although the traditional installation has not taken place. Ratu Keni is the head Chief or the Turaga I Taukei of the Yavusa (tribe) Vusaratu Vuaniivi Buca, Mataqali (clan) Vusaratu Vuaniivi Buca, and Tokatoka (family unit) Valelevu.Oral History Tokatoka Valelevu According to Ratu Keni II the title Rasau is a short form for Ratu Ni Vanua, Sau Ni Vanua roughly translated to Chief of the land or representation embodying all that is the people and their ways and their ancestor gods. In a direct transliteration, Ra is a prefix in many titles (Ramasi, Ramalo, Ratu) and Sau is simply 'Chief' it also has the same meaning in Rotuma and Tonga (Hau).Spoken Fijian: Albert J. Schütz
The Turaga na Rasau in Native land and Fisheries recorded documents is part of the Tokatoka Valelevu, Matagali Buca and Yavusa Buca and heads the Tikina of Lomaloma, the addition of Vusaratu and Vuaniivi in the clan and tribe names was added on request of the Turaga I Taukei and the Tokatoka Valelevu in remembrance of the chiefly ancestors of the Tokatoka Valelevu of the Turaga na Rasau.
Origin on the mainland Legend and facts "2a. The title of the Turaga na Rasau, according to the tokatoka Valelevu of Yavusa Buca says its origins are from the eldest descendants of the Mythological Chief and Master Sailor Ratu Lutunasobasoba, the Ratu ni Vanua and Roko Kubunavanua, the Sau-ni-Vanua, and that is where the anointer word Ra-Sau comes from,Oral History Yavusa Buca however the Lutunasobasoba legend has many variations depending on the province and village and its authenticity has been questioned and said to be the fabrication of European missionaries other villages in the province of Ra say he was an outsider who arrived with his people and was such a trouble maker that he was banished from Nakauvadra, however it is viewed the legend still remains part of the social and ceremonial fabric of Fijian ceremony and folklore but whether there is archaeological or historical evidence to prove the great Migration Myth or not, history does show that the Rasau Originates from Kubuna,Tukutuku Raraba – History of Bau – Chapter 1 Page 1 more importantly from Bau Island which is part of Bau Tikina from the Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi descendents, which is on the main Island of Viti Levu through the eldest line of descendents of Ratu Vueti as noted down by traditional Bauan historian the late Ratu David ToganivaluThe Pacific Way, page 122.Fiji’s Heritage a history of Fiji, Part 10, Page 44 of the Masau while doing a comparative study of the link to the Rasau with Ratu Viliame Fonolahi Keni,Broken waves, Pages 235 titles they both held in the order as mentioned, they found that at one stage in old Fiji the Masau were the heralds of the Rasau.Apologies to ThucydidesAi Tukutuku Kei Viti - By Rev. Epeli Rokowaqa
2aa. It is believed that through Oral historyFiji Museum, Archaeology Newsletter, Oral traditions passed down amongst the Tokatoka Valelevu of the Rasau that all Fijian tribes generally derived from Vuni-ivi-Levu (an Island that once lay between Viti levu and Vanua Levu which later sank) and also Nakauvadra, and BurotukulaFiji Times, Sunday, June 10, 2007 Yasayasa Moala, and thence spread out to occupy the various lands and islands which now all come under the banner of Viti. Viti Levu transliterates in English to Fiji Big; Levu in Fijian means Big and "Viti" is the Fijian name for Fiji, According to Oral tradition of the Tokatoka Valelevu of the Rasau, Ratu Lutunasobasoba named Viti, for the people he selected to travel up the mountain range to the village called Lomolomo, which is named Tua-Leita. The leading range traveller was named "Coci", who was the second eldest son of Degei. Ratu Lutunasobasoba called this place Viti Kau or Viti Kalevu or Viti Levu and later was called Viti.
2aaa. The name Fiji came about because our Neighbour Tonga accepting the Europeans amongst them much earlier pronounced Viti as ‘Fisi’ Captain James Cook coming to Fiji Via Tonga where he heard the expression and then used the term to refer to ‘the Cannibal Isles’ (which is how they were first known to the European) as ‘Feejee’ now known as Fiji.Fiji Government Online " Please note that in the following part of this article especially points 2a, 2aa and 2aaa, diverges on topic to some historical points and explanations of time, places, people, names, mythology and folklore this is to create an overall understanding of the Rasau Title and its origins.
Nakauvadra to Bau 2b. Kubuna is known as a confederacy or Matanitu in Fiji but in pre-colonial times Kubuna was a place name with that in mind, as recorded in Bauan pre colonial history, It was at Kubuna that the great ancestral Chief, Ratu VuetiTukutuku Raraba – History of Bau Koroi-Ratu mai Bulu, Serui-Ratu mai Bulu, the first Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi, (according to legend he was the fourth (4) generation from Ratu Lutunasobasoba)Oral History Yavusa Buca who established the Kingdom of Kubuna, and formed one of the earliest known Fijian settlements after hostilities ceased the people of Nakauvadra and the victorious Bauan army upon leaving the Mountains and finding their way to the sea made a Cairn named UlunivuakaA History of Fiji, Chapter 4 Page 54 and 55 and later called it Bau in honour of Ratu Vueti and his achievements.(it was named after a shrine in the Nakauvadra hill range in the province of Ra)Oral History Yavusa Buca He took the titles of Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi and Koroi Ratu Maibulu. After his death, he was buried in Kubuna in a throne called Tabukasivi, and was deified and became the ancestral god of the people of Kubuna, they worshiped him in the form of a serpent.
After his death a division arose between Bucaira and Vunibuca over the installation of a successor to Ratu Vueti. Other clans went to Namuka and wandered from place to place. Eventually a new Roko Tui Bau, Ratu Serumataidrau, was selected from the Vuaniivi, a Tokatoka Valelevu of the Mataqali and the Yavusa Ratu Vuani-ivi Buca clan, which had settled at Namuka.
The reign of Naulivou
The following section outlines the continuation of a journey and the battle of two Chieftain and their tribes the losing senior Chief then settles in the far flung Lau Islands while his subordinate then seizes power, this is to show the early history of the Rasau.
Naulivou and Raiwalui
3a. Naulivou was installed circa 1804 as the Vunivalu (in modern Fiji this is now the highest chiefly title in the Kingdom of Kubuna, but was not so in Fiji's early history) after the death of his father Banuve who had three sons Naulivou, Tanoa II and Celua. Ratu Raiwalui of the Roko Tui Bau Vuaniivi Clan, Yavusa-Ratu, became the sixth Roko Tui Bau Vuani-Ivi which was the highest chiefly title in the greater area of Kubuna and the second Roko Tui Bau Vuani-Ivi that occupied the Island Delainakorolevu or Ulunivuaka,A History of Fiji, Chapter 4 Page 54 & 55 which was then called Bau in 1760 which was named by the fifth Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi Ratu Lele who was then buried at Delai Daku the hilly range of Viwa Island. But the relationship between these two men was not a happy one. When they came into conflict, the Vuaniivi clan fled to Kubuna and sought the protection of Titokobitu, the Chief of Namara. Together with some other chiefs of Namara, they reached Koro and from there went to Vuna, on the island of Taveuni, and thence to Vanuabalavu. The Namara people who later joined their early travellers now of Levukana village on Lomaloma, were left behind at Vuna and they fled to the mountains lest the Bauans should pursue them. The Vuaniivi warriors left some of their war canoes high and dry on the beach at Vuna when they set off for Vanuabalavu.
Wars and betrayals