A long time ago, two brothers from Korolevu, Noikoro in the heart of Navosa had one of the most important conversations they ever made as siblings.
The younger of the two had decided to leave home in search of new land and possibilities.
While the exact reason behind the kinship separation is not clear, we do know the younger brother made his way southwards and finally settled on Serua Island. He left his older brother and his people behind in Navosa.
In last week’s story (Part 1) in the Sunday Times, we learned that the people of Korolevu established a village in Tadra, above the hills of Naviti, and later moved downhill to the coastline to Korolevu and Sanamua before finally establishing themselves on Serua Island.
By the time the people of Korolevu arrived on the coast, led by the Vunivalu, the island was already being occupied by the people of Narukusara.
There were talks to dispose of the people of Narukusara and possess the island but that idea was dropped in favour of a strategic one.
“The Vunivalu said let’s not remove them. We are from the interior and it might be a wise idea to live with them since they are skilled fishermen. Let them be here with us so they can gather our fish,” said Serua’s matanivanua or the Vunivalu’s spokesperson, Joseva Boseiwaqa Robanakavu.
Today, Serua Village consists of four mataqali. Robanakadavu said these were Raralevu (the chiefly mataqali), Tacini, Qaloqalo, and Lutuya. Two mataqali merged to form Tacini.
The military force of the Vunivalu was called Natausara which described the swift manner in which it operated and conquered.
Robanakadavu said during the days of heavy tribal battles in the Navua River delta and surrounding areas, the chief of Naceva, Beqa requested military assistance from the Vunivalu of Serua.
As a result, warriors from all parts of Serua accompanied the Vunivalu to war. Warriors came from as far as Deuba, Wainiyabia, and Noi Vuso (Komave) representing where Korolevu’s high chief had blood ties and vanua lies or qali.
“Then, we the members of the mataqali Lutuya were not here on the island yet. We were on Viti Levu and were told to remain and help defend the island of Yanuca”,” Robanakadavu said.
“Some warriors were placed in Naceva . When something happened in Naceva they were told to report to Yanuca and the people of Lutuya would report to Serua Island.
According to historical records, the Navua River Delta was a war zone of sorts. There were frequent battles between the people of Korolevu and nearby districts and provinces.
In the book, Degei’s Descendants: Spirits, Place, and People in Pre-Cession Fiji author Aubrey Parke’s noted that there were three main polities, each with its associated sphere of influence, in and around the extensive delta of the Navua River.
There was the Dravuni polity, (whose paramount chief was the Tui Dravuni), comprising of two recognised yavusa, Dravuni, and Deuba. Dravuni was based at the mouth of the Navua River.
To the west of Dravuni was Korolevu or Serua polity, based on the island of Serua, the seat of the paramount chief of Serua, the Vunivalu, Parke said.
The Korolevu polity merged with the Komave people who now form the south-eastern borderers of the province of Nadroga/Navosa, and included the island of Yanuca.
The Komave people, despite their traditional links to yavusa Korolevu had politically aligned themselves to Colo West in the early 1900s.
Efforts were made several times by former Vunivalu and Roko Tui Serua, Ratu Aseri Latianara, to bring the people of Komave back under his rule.
In the end, Komave tikina, fell under the province of Nadroga/Navosa.
Ratu Aseri was decorated by his people and a few writers chose to salute him in their writings.
In the book Fijian Colonial Experience, Timothy J.Macnaught said: “Ratu Aseri belonged to a world where what mattered most was the prestige of his people, ceremonial celebrations of their corporate pride, and the functioning of his chiefly titles to secure their peace and prosperity.”
Parke said that official government papers from 1914, which recorded investigations by the Native Lands Commission, agreed that the yavusa Korolevu were a “fragment of the Noikoro yavusa in the heart of the interior of Viti Levu (Navosa)”.
This corroborates with accounts given by Robanakadavu, outlining his people’s journey from Navosa, in the interior of Viti Levu to Serua Island.
According to Parke, the original ancestor of the yavusa Korolevu was called Nagoneva, who was sent by Degei on the Nakauvadra range.
He wandered until he came to Noikoro where he stayed and was made their leader.
The Vunivalu and his wandering yavusa eventually established permanent residency on Serua Island and was later made the paramount chief of the entire Serua province as we know it today.
While some accounts contend the island was given to the Vunivalu as a gift token, others argue it was secured through military might.
The latter seems to agree with accounts from 1912 when Mr G.V.Maxwell, the chairman of the NLC of the Colo West Province pointed out that the chiefly yavusa of Serua were originally from the interior of Viti Levu.
Mr Maxwell noted that the Korolevu people were “a fragment of the Noikoro yavusa, from the heart of Colo West” and they “fought their way down to the coast and attained its present position (Serua Island) through its prowess in war.”
The prestige of the tiny Serua Island is noted in the establishment of the first school on the island, the first hospital, and the first provincial council office.
Today, the former provincial council office which also used to be the Roko Tui Serua’s residence sits on one of the two hills on the island that houses the resting place of former Vunivalu (sautabu). It towers over the village with authority and is now owned by the chiefly family.
Below the building, on the waterfront, is a place called Navua, where the first health facility in the province was built.
There is nothing left on the island to show off this health facility except its cement foundations which still stand erect but are covered in coastal shrubs and are at the mercy of ebbing waves.
The first school in Serua was also on the island. It was later moved to Korovisilou around 1947, according to Robanakadavu. It used to sit around the place where the current Methodist church is built.
Behind the church is the second and taller of the island’s two hills which also hold old graves.
The yavusa Korolevu’s totemic plant is dalo (matadra), a breed of taro with white flesh but with a red top. Their traditional icoi or food is saulaki, the edible ferns found in abundance in the local market.
The matadra and saulaki were given by the two chiefly siblings’ grandmothers when they departed from Korolevu in Noikoro.
Tacini, which is a merger of two mataqali – Tacini and Narakura, is made of people who were settled from Deuba. Between them, their traditional food are the vavai loa and duna (eel).
To demonstrate the close link between the people of Korolevu on the coast and the people of Korolevu in the district of Noikoro, Navosa, the two share similar surnames and household names or yaca ni vale.
On the island is a family household called Koroilagi, which has its origin in Koroilagi, Navosa.
Robanakadavu said there is a spot on the Serua coast also named Koroilagi, which is where the people of Korolevu used to go when fetching water during times of drought.
To indicate their close ties, the two Korolevus also share similar surnames.
Like many Fijian villages of today, Serua Island reminds us of how polities in the olden days were forged and formed, some through negotiation and reciprocation and some through sheer treachery and military might.
Regardless of how they were formed, today many tribes live side by side – coherently, peacefully, and united.
They know their past, appreciate where they came from, and choose to be the components of the unique community they now belong to and identify with.
Serua’s uniqueness is its people and its geography. Though it is getting smaller by the day due to the increase in the population on the island and destructive factors like climate crisis, people remain on the island and treat it as their source of pride.
While there are talks of further modernising the village, Robanakadavu seems sceptical. Developments like building a walkway to connect the island to the mainland, though exciting, bothers him.
“A multi-million dollar crossing would help us a lot. It would. On the other hand, we are a proud people and it will take away the essence of being a Serua islander and what it means to be from Korolevu,” he said.
- 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 different version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.
