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Hatana
Hatana Island is considered the most sacred or " haa" islet of the Rotuma Group, Fiji, commonly featuring in various Rotuman Creation myths. Rotuman mythology The island's potency is connected to the supposed founder of Rotuma, Raho. Legend maintains that Raho, a Samoan chief, after fleeing his home island, "planted" the island of Rotuma with two baskets of sand, and was subsequently tricked out of his newfound paradise by a Tongan chief named Tokaniua. In a fit of pique, Raho climbed up Rotuma's old volcano, Mamfiri, and dug a stick into its peak, the dirt flying off becoming the surrounding islets of Hafliua, Hatana, Hafhaveiaglolo, Solkope and the Haua islands. Thus, Raho left the main island of Rotuma and made his home on the island of Hatana, with a bevy of maidens. He is presumed to have died there, given that there is a site on the island referred to as his burial place. There remain two small boulders, said to resemble two crouching figures, marking the burial places of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotuma Group
Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans". Its population at the 2017 census was 1,594, although many more Rotumans live on mainland Fijian islands, totaling 10,000. Geography and geology The Rotuma group of volcanic islands are located (Suva to Ahau) north of Fiji. Rotuma Island itself is long and wide, with a land area of approximately , making it the 12th-largest of the Fiji islands. The island is bisected by an isthmus into a larger eastern part and a western peninsula. The isthmus is low and narrow, only wide, and is the site of Motusa village ( Itutiu district). North of the isthmus is Maka Bay, and in the south is Hapmafau Bay. There is a large population of coral reefs in these bays, and there are boat passages through them. Rotuma is a shield volcano m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapu (Polynesian Culture)
Tapu is a Polynesian traditional concept denoting something holy or sacred, with " spiritual restriction" or "implied prohibition"; it involves rules and prohibitions. The English word ''taboo'' derives from this later meaning and dates from Captain James Cook's visit to Tonga in 1777. The concept exists in many societies, including traditional Māori, Samoan, Kiribati, Rapanui, Tahitian, Hawaiian, and Tongan cultures, in most cases using a recognisably similar word (from Proto-Polynesian '' *tapu''), though the Rotuman term for this concept is "ha'a". In Hawaii, a similar concept is known as "kapu". Outside Polynesian The root also exists outside Polynesian languages, in the broader Austronesian family: e.g. Fijian ''tabu'', Hiw (Vanuatu) ''toq'' ‘holy, sacred’, Mwotlap ''ne-teq'' ‘cemetery’… François (2022). Whether Polynesian or not, all modern forms go back to a Proto-Oceanic etymon reconstructed as *''tabu'' . As for cognates outside Oceanic, they seem to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about . The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population of live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva; or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry; or in Lautoka, where the Sugarcane, sugar-cane industry is dominant. The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed by Volcano, volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Some geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotuman Mythology
Rotuman may refer to: *anything related with the island Rotuma *Rotuman people *Rotuman language Rotuman, also referred to as ''Rotunan'', ''Rutuman'' or ''Fäeag Rotuạm'' (citation form: ''Faega Rotuma''), is an Austronesian language spoken by the indigenous people of the South Pacific island group of Rotuma, an island with a Polynesia ... {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoans
Samoans or Samoan people ( sm, tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language. The group's home islands are politically and geographically divided between the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. Though divided by national border, the culture and language are the same. The Samoan people and culture form a vital link and stepping stone in the formation and spread of Polynesian culture, language and religion throughout Eastern Polynesia. Polynesian trade, religion, war, and colonialism are important markers within Polynesian culture that are almost certainly rooted in the Samoan culture. Samoa's colonial history with the kingdom of Tonga, Fiji and French Polynesia form the basis of modern Polynesian culture. Social organization Among the many parts of Samoan society, three are described below: The ''matai'' (chief), the ''a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solkope
Solkope is a small and densely wooded island off the southern coast of Rotuma in the Fiji Islands, at the edge of the fringing coral reef. It is separated from the main island of Rotuma by a channel that is between 50 and 200 m wide, and lies immediately southeast of the village of Kalvaka in the district of Noatau. It 765 m long east–west, and up to 515 m wide, and rises to a height of 128 m. Its area is 0.3 km2. From the sea, it cannot be recognised as a separate island. Secessionist movement In 2000 Solkope was the subject of a land ownership dispute, as a consequence of an attempted secession of Rotuma from Fiji which was jointly orchestrated by the Molmahao Clan of Noatau district, and unrecognized micronation Dominion of Melchizedek. According to documents tendered in court pertaining to the case, the native landowner of Solkope Island, Hiagi Apao and Melchizedek's "Head of House of Elders", Tzemach "Ben" David Netzer Korem, concluded a "99 year sovereign master lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haua
Haua () or Haua tuꞌu taketake, also known as the 'Chief of the eggs', was the companion of the creator god Makemake of Easter Island. Little is known of him, or of any aspects of indigenous religion on the island, but prayers said before eating were made to the two of them. His wife was ''vîꞌe'' Hoa. Only a few details of Haua have been preserved. Along with Makemake, he was central to the Birdman sect of Eastern Island. He and Makemake had removed nesting seabirds to the offshore islets of Motu Nui ('big islet') and Motu Iti ('little islet'), because people were eating all of their eggs, and established the Birdman sect through a priestess who came across the two gods. Haua and Makemake instructed the priestess to tell the Rapa Nui that before eating, when they took the food from the oven, they should set aside a portion and say 'Take for Haua, for Makemake!' (''Ka toꞌo ma Haua, ma Makemake'').Routledge 1917, p. 135 References * Alfred Métraux. 9401971. ''Ethnology of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock outcrops, etc.—but there are also reefs such as the coral reefs of tropical waters formed by biotic processes dominated by corals and coralline algae, and artificial reefs such as shipwrecks and other anthropogenic underwater structures may occur intentionally or as the result of an accident, and sometimes have a designed role in enhancing the physical complexity of featureless sand bottoms, to attract a more diverse assemblage of organisms. Reefs are often quite near to the surface, but not all definitions require this. Earth's largest coral reef system is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, at a length of over . Biotic There is a variety of biotic reef types, including oyster reefs and sponge reefs, but the most massive and widely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
