BEFORE the arrival of the first group of Europeans in Fiji, indigenous Fijians held strange rituals at special stone formations called naga.
These were different from the ancient ancestral worship practices of the natives. So some early writers treated the stone rituals as a cult.
The naga and rituals associated with them were performed largely in certain parts of western Viti Levu, particularly the area known as Colo West.
Some researchers identified that these may have been Melanesian cults that originated from Vanuatu.
The erected stones also shared some vague similarities with stone rituals and sun worship in other parts of the world. Author, Ronald Wright (1986) highlighted that the most probable purpose of the naga rituals were to “promote fertility of yams, pigs and human beings”.
Many of these rites were held in secret within special rectangular formations within the naga which contained four pyramidal stone altars.
The naga shrines were built mostly on ground level, usually beside a river or stream.
Wright’s interpretation was that the naga cult was introduced from across the western ocean probably by two gods or heroes called Veisina and Rukuruku, names symbolising the male and female being. In some places in the west of Viti Levu, the naga rites were called baki. Similar to the naga ritual, the baki rites were associated not only with crops and fertility but also with initiation rituals for priests and youths. According to anthropologist, Basil Thomson, the naga was the “bed” of the ancestors.
It was the spot where the living descendants might have held communion with their dead relatives.
He said the baki was where “several rites were celebrated in the naga”.
These rites were commonly associated with the initiation of youths, the presentation of first-fruits called isevu, the healing of the sick and winning charms against wounds in battle. In his writings, historian, Ronald A. Derrick said kava was used in the ceremony and no women were allowed to see the ceremony that took place inside the naga.
Secret rites
Secret rites were held in special rectangular stone formations that contained four pyramidal stone altars aligned on the cardinal points (north, east, south and west). One of these rituals was the initiation of young boys into manhood through circumcision or veiteve, which has been covered extensively through the Discovering Fiji pages of The Sunday Times over the past few weeks.
“Fijian mythology is essentially tribal but the baki took no cognizance of tribal divisions. It was rather a secret religious society bound together by the common link of initiation,” Thomson wrote.
The cult practice was confi ned to a comparatively small area within Viti Levu. Outside this area the peculiar rites were unknown. When research on the naga were commissioned, the tribesmen whose ancestors built and used the naga hardly knew anything about the cult except noting that certain spots near their village were not allowed to be visited “without exciting the displeasure of the gods”.
The tribesmen said while they were not permitted to approach these tabu places, members of the tribes that worshipped other gods, and were frequently at war with them, would resort to the naga.
“Even when the two tribes were at war those of the enemy that were initiated were safe in attending the rites, provided that they could make their way to the naga unobserved,” Thomson said.
The naga now lie in ruins but some may still be found in isolated locations, unseen and forgotten. In the past, naga ruins had been discovered in Narokorokoyawa, Navosa and the southern coast of Viti Levu between Serua and the Sigatoka River. On the western coast, two were found in Vitogo and Momi.
Thomson’s description of the naga was explicit. He described it as a “rough parallelogram formed of fl at stones embedded endwise in the earth”.
The naga measured about 100 feet long by 50 feet wide. It spanned from east and west, though the orientation was not exact. The upright stones forming the “walls” were from 18 inches to three feet in height.
They did not always touch and were “alignments” rather than “walls”. At the east end were two heaps of stones with square sloping sides and flat tops resembling a pyramid.
The main entrance to the naga enclosure had a narrow passage. Two similar pyramids placed about the middle of the enclosure divided it roughly into two equal parts with a narrow passage connecting the two. The eastern part of the naga was called the loma ni naga (or middle naga) while the western portion was the naga-tabu-tabu (or holy of holies).
There were minor variations to the naga in other parts of Viti Levu where it was built. In some places, they were erected close to graves.
Thomson said chiefs might have been buried near the “holy of holies” within the naga.
Origin of the naga rites
Although Reverend Lorimer Fison, of the Wesleyan Mission, never got the chance to visit any naga, he wrote about it after gathering information from native Fijians. It is said he did this through a joke. While he described the Australian aboriginal bora (site of initiation) rites to one of the vunilolo matua (naga elder of the naga), a woman passed by.
Lowering his voice, Mr Fison whispered, “Hush! the women must not hear these things!” The old man exclaimed, “Truly, sir, you are a lewe ni nanga (member of the naga). I will tell you all about it.”
Adolph Joske was probably the fi rst European to see and describe the great naga at Narokorokoyawa. He was able to impart more knowledge of the rites that happened within the stone “walls.
Among the tribes that used the naga were the Noemalu, Noeloa, Vatusila, Batiwai and Davutukia. All these tribes had spread east and south from a place of origin in the western mountain district.
They were of largely of Melanesian origin and had fewer traces of Polynesian connection like the coastal tribes. While the naga “temple” was similar to the Polynesian marae, the baki had a very strong resemblance to Melanesian structures.
The naga’s stark diff erence with the Fijian religious system and structures suggested that they may have been part of traditions introduced from “overseas”.
Thomson said Veisina and Rukuruku who were believed to have started the naga, drifted across from the west and passed through the Yasawa Islands. They beached their canoe upon the little island of Yakuilau, on the Nadi coast. Veisina landed first.
He fell into a deep sleep and slept till the coming of Rukuruku. Cago (turmeric) sprang up from the spot where Veisina lay and from Rukuruku’s footsteps, grew lauci (candlenut), a native coastal tree with nuts (called sikeci) that inspire oil scents.
Therefore, when they went to the naga, the followers of Veisina smeared themselves yellow with turmeric while the followers of Rukuruku covered themselves with the black ash of the candlenut. Veisina and Rukuruku sought the help of a chief and asked him to divide his men so they could teach them the baki.
The chief gave them a piece of fl at land on which to build the naga and taught its mysteries. They called the place Tubalevu. The two groups of men were taught diff erent things. When they left their home and travelled eastward they carried the mysteries with them.
The descendants of Veisina did not know what the descendants of Rukuruku did in the naga nor did the descendants of Rukuruku know about the Veisina’s mysterious practices. Thomson said Veisina and Rukuruku’s teachings were “the earliest tradition of missionary enterprise in the Pacific”.
He said the two “sooty-skinned” castaways were driven to Viti Levu by westerly gales” that usually lasted three weeks at a time.
“By Fijian custom the lives of all castaways were forfeit, but the pretence to supernatural powers would have saved men full of the religious rites of their Melanesian home, and would have assured them a hearing.”
Thomson said during research, the tribes in the Wainimala region could name six generations since the castaways settled and therefore the introduction of the naga could have been more than three centuries ago. Since then it had spread out to one third of Viti Levu.
Some of the old stories of the naqa rites were gathered from inquiries that Thomson made with natives when he went to research the Davutukia naga in Nadroga. He also used information gathered from accounts written by Mr Fison and Joske. The Veisina and Rukuruku sects used the same naga but at different times.
They were forbidden from revealing their mysteries to one another. In the Wainimala area the sects held their respective festivals in alternate years.
Here, Thomson said a few of the youths of each sect were initiated in the mysteries of both, in token, perhaps, of the common origin of their institutions. Some naga shrines were used only once while others were used many times over generations. (This article was based on The Fijians – A study of the decay of custom by Basil Thomson.
Mr Thomson was a former stipendiary magistrate and commissioner of native lands in Fiji between the 1880s and 1890s). Part 2 Next week.)
History being the subject it is, a group’s version of events may not be the same as that held by another group. When publishing one account, it is not our intention to cause division or to disrespect other oral traditions. Those with a diff erent version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.
