Not following them resulted in punishments like encountering strange diseases, bad weather and even death.ĭiranamu said another strict taboo was observed by men. Taboos like this were revered in ancient Fiji. Should one woman in the group fail to follow the requirement of skinny dipping, the fish would mysteriously disappear from Navurevure and they would return home emptyhanded. He was known to be wedewede, a term that describes someone who proudly shows his or her affection for the opposite sex. The belief was, the male keeper of the place found pleasure in ogling at women’s bare bodies and would reward them handsomely by allowing them to return home with a big catch. In the olden days, when strict customary protocols were followed and respected, every woman who went to Navurevure was required to strip naked before dipping into its cold waters. In 2010, when The Fiji Times made the visit, it was Teresia Diranamu, 73, who had that authority because she was the head of the tribe at the time.ĭiranamu said Navurevure was visited only on special occasions that required the presentation of fish, such as feasting and traditional gatherings. The rule is, no village woman could go and catch fish at Navurevure without first requesting the traditional approval from the head of mataqali Nasava, the tribe that owns the fishing ground. They protected the natural environment and occupied mostly rivers, streams and swampland. These shape-shifting custodians were largely elderly women who walked around with a grandchild on her back called “veibuni” (granny and grandchild). It has a semi-sacred status and exudes an eerie feeling when you pay a visit.īeing there makes you feel you were being watched by invisible traditional keepers of the land.Īncient Fijians believed in the spirit world and waterways had their special keepers or owners. Navurevure is not the typical by-the-roadside creek or river that children love to dip in. It was a fine day to gather fish, so the team left the village in the morning and headed to a place down south called Vurevure. To experience Nakawakawa’s traditional nude fishing method, this newspaper was taken to streams near the village by a group of women led by Adi Vanioni Ramarieta. Men are engaged in farming for subsistence living and commerce, while women are often expected to look for meat protein found in abundance in nearby mangrove swamps, reef flats and small freshwater streams near the village. Here, the main sources of income include fishing and the commercial farming of dalo, yaqona, and other root crops and vegetables. The village is perched on a hill, surrounded by rich vegetation and a few kilometres from the coastline. It is nestled within the district of Wainunu, famous for its tea, rubber, coffee and copra plantations during the British colonial days.īua as a whole, though regarded as Fiji’s least developed province, rose to fame during the sandalwood trade of the early 1800s. Nakawakawa is a three-hour ride from Labasa town, the largest town in Vanua Levu, in the province of Macuata. This was the very reason The Fiji Times visited the village of Nakawakawa, eleven years ago - to speak to women there and document this very rare practice. You will obviously ask why and how did this strange practice start? Women could gather large amounts of fish, but they had to gather them naked. In the province of Bua, a rather peculiar fishing tradition was already in practice during the days of tribal wars, pagan worship and cannibalism. While men were experts in gathering fish from the sea, the women’s area of specialisation was in gleaning food from the reef, mudflats including mangrove swamps and freshwater streams.īefore the arrival of modern fishing tools, early Fijians caught fish in large numbers, especially for traditional occasions using the yavirau, a net of sorts made from intertwined strands of vines and coconut fronts. Seafood gathering was so important that it became a specific traditional role (ie gonedau). In old Fiji, both men and women gathered fish. Both these superior knowledge and skills allowed them to be great seafarers and fishermen too in the world’s biggest ocean. In the Pacific, the superior knowledge of seamanship and skills in canoe building among our ancestors continue to wow the world. When a new world goes online, TW stats will automatically update to support that world.Some historical records show that the fishing tradition began about 40,000 years ago.Īnalysis of the skeletal remains of a 40,000-year-old modern human from East Asia called the Tianyuan man has shown that “he” consumed fish on a regular basis.įurthermore, past archaeological finds such as shell dumps, discarded fish bones and paintings inside caves indicate that seafood was an important source of food and were gathered for subsistence living by early humans. TW Stats contains tools, statistics and tracking that will enhance your TW experience.
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