My previous post, Volcanoes and Legends: Part 2, linked volcanic activities on Vanuakula Island, west of Dravuni, to its own legend of Ravouvou and Raluve iVanuakula. My narration of the legend is contained under Legends. The legend has it that when Naitotokowalu’s waqa titi (sailing craft) arrived back on Dravuni, after Naitotokowalu (the vu of…
Volcanoes and Legends: Part 2
My second posting under ‘Legends’ is: The Tale of Ravouvou and Raluve iVanuakula. Like my first legend, this too, has a connection to volcanoes and aspects of climate change. Vanuakula Island, like all other Astrolabe Islands, is volcanic.[1] The southeast coast of the island, for example, represents the steeper inner wall of the original caldera…
Volcanoes and Legends
I have written about the legend of Tanovo and Tautaumolau (see Legends). The legend has attracted scholastic interest. Two scientific papers available to me[1] have treated the legend as a narrative, conceived by early ancestors (of Ono and Nabukelevu) to explain, in their own way of seeing, knowing and imagining a volcanic eruption of Nabukelevu…
Exploring Dravuni’s Volcanic and Climate Change Past
I briefly introduced these two aspects of Dravuni in earlier postings. In the posting: Solo Lighthouse: beams light to ward off mariners from its treacherous rocks; hides secrets from the past, I touched on the volcanic characteristics of the Solo Reefs and the Solo rock on which Solo Lighthouse stands today. In my Reflection: It…
Translating Poetry into Fijian Language is No Mean Feat
The uploaded video records my reading of the Fijian version of Vunilagi, a poem I had penned in English and posted (see Poetry). Vunilagi is the Fijian version of horizon. The overlaying picture is taken on top of Natute, the highest peak on Dravuni – an andesite plug, 110m high. The photographer is looking south…
The Legend of Tanovo and Tautaumolau Published
The last blog on this subject, posted on 18/12/17, was titled: History in the Making in Children’s Books Soon to be Published. The legend, as a reminder, has been published in both English and in the Dravuni dialect. Much has happened since then. Publication, dated 2017, was done through the Institute of Education (IOE) of…
Like the three-tailed comet, the lila balavu also left its impact on oral history
In a previous post entitled, Three-tailed Comet Marked an Unprecedented Early 1800s in Fiji, I demonstrated the connection between major events in the country and their representation in subsequent oral/traditional history. In this case, it was the appearance of a three-tailed comet influencing visual art by way of a masi design in Cakaudrove. The unusual comet…
What features and which occupants will endure?
Victor Hwang referred to an “ecological systems” point of view in his article recently published in ‘Evonomics.’[1] But he was referring to ‘organizational management’ as it relates to business and the economy. The phrase however is intuitively engrossing and has convinced me to revert to my earlier post, Reefs’ names reveal either prominent features or…
Reefs’ names reveal either prominent features or star occupants
In ‘Solo Lighthouse: beams light to ward off mariners from its treacherous rocks; hides secrets from the past,’ I referred to the collective ownership of the Great Astrolabe Reef and Lagoon under the headship of Tui Ono. That is the legal position. Throughout the length of the Great Astrolabe Reef and Lagoon, however, there are…
Solo Lighthouse: Beams light to ward off mariners from its treacherous rocks; hides secrets from the past
Solo Lighthouse was built in 1888. The lighthouse stands on a massive rock surrounded by the circular Solo Reef, also known as the North Astrolabe Reef, adjacent to the Great Astrolabe Reef and Lagoon. The Solo Reef is actually the crater of a distinctive volcanic system, now extinct, and the massive rock in its centre…
Three-tailed Comet Marked an Unprecedented Early 1800s in Fiji
In The village site changed with Time, I discussed “the most infamous cargo brought in by the crew of the ‘Argo’ – being the Asian cholera, which became known as the ‘wasting disease’ or lila balavu to the Fijians. I added that: “The lila balavu reached Dravuni, like it did in many parts of Fiji, and…
History in the Making in Children’s Books Soon to be Published
Previous blog posts: “Benefit from the Exhibition Continues,” published on 12.02.17; “The Legend Abridged,” published on 15.04.17; and “Reviving the Dravuni Dialect,” published on 14.12.17, all referred to the various developmental phases of this book project – in English and in the Dravuni dialect, written for children between 7-10 years old. The books’ titles are:…
kaidravuni 