Taukei Ni Waluvu - Customs and Traditions

Customs and Traditions

The Taukei ni Waluvu and his subject hill tribes are warriors (bati balavu) foremost to the ancient tribal state of Verata and later also to the pre-colonial states of Waimaro, Namosi and Bau. With these pre-colonial states the Taukei ni Waluvu has the traditional veibatiki relationship which is still extant today. The clan name Bale drokadroka illustrates the tribe's warrior status.Bale drokadroka in Fijian literally means ‘to fall whilst still green’. It is also a metaphorical phrase that means ‘to die young’. The name in fact valorizes a young warrior that fell in battle; hence it is a name that belongs to warrior clans. A fallen warrior may have been known by another name but because he died young the word phrase bale drokadroka eulogizes his ultimate warrior feat- to fall in battle for the cause of his tribe.

As recorded, Roraiova was renowned for spreading the clan’s power through his valu ni lulu skirmishes against other hill tribes. He was the warrior chief that died young and is eulogised in Taukei ni Waluvu history. To valorize and honour Roraiova, his younger brother in Taulevu who took over the leadership of the clan, was bestowed the name Baledrokadroka in memory of his fallen elder brother.

Arthur Maurice Hocart the noted anthropologist from 1909 to 1914 did field research into the kinship relationships in the highlands of Colo East and Colo West. He studied the familial relationships of Nairukuruku chief and Taukei ni Waluvu, Ratu Alipate Baledrokadroka and the neighbouring chief of Nakorosule, Tui Waimaro and published what is known today as the Principle of Alternate Generations such as the Tako-Lavo relationship of the hill tribes of Viti Levu.

Dr. Sean Sloan of JCU is the latest of scholars who in his case study of Nairukuruku Village explores the relationships among felt land scarcity, communal forces for equality, and tenure transformations in native Fijian villages. Dr. Sloan’s case study is vital contemporary research into neo-traditional communal land issues that inevitably forces many villages to seek urban living.

In November 1979 anthropologist Dr. James W. Turner conducted a 17 month field research into Fijian customs and traditions in Nairukuruku village. He published his observations in academic journals titled : ‘True Food and First Fruits: Rituals of Increase in Fiji', 1984, ‘Owners of the Path: Cognatic Kinship Categories in Matailobau, Fiji', 1986, ‘The Sins of the Father: Rank and Succession in a Fijian Chiefdom', 1986, 'The water of life:kava ritual and the logic of sacrifice', 1986, 'Blessed to Give and Receive: Ceremonial Exchange in Fiji', 1987, 'A Sense of Place: Locus and Identity in Matailobau, Fiji', 1988 and 'Rituals, Habitus and Hierarchy in Fiji,’1992.

In 'Rituals, Habitus and Hierarchy in Fiji', Turner studied the Fijian hierarchical system in Nairukuruku through the social interaction where the Yaqona ritual is clearly implicated in the reproduction of hierarchy reinforcing the clans status.

The Taukei ni Waluvu has a contemporary yaqona ceremony or meke ni yaqona vaka turaga only performed for a VIP on occasion. The verses are inter-changeable to suit the person in whose honour the ritualistic ceremony is being performed. Such a meke ni yaqona vaka turaga was performed for Prime Minister- the Honourable Laisenia Qarase who opened the new Vunidawa Hospital on the 19th of June 2002. The meke ni yaqona vakaturaga was composed and choreographed by Daunivucu Rokosuka of Taulevu village Matailobau.