Kanacea (pronounced ) (Kanathea) is a

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

island with seven peaks in

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 ...

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

. It is 15 km west of

Vanua Balavu Vanua Balavu (pronounced ) is the third largest island in Fiji's Lau archipelago, and the main island of the Northern Lau Group. Geography and infrastructure This coral and volcanic island has a land area of . Its maximum elevation is . The islan ...

. Covering an area of , it has a maximum elevation of 259 meters. The island features a

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

plantation and many streams, and is circled by great beaches and fringing reefs with a boat opening and a large lagoon on the northeastern side. Plantation buildings and a school remain. Kanacea is privately owned. Its main economic activity was centered on

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

and sugarcane, and it retains a coconut plantation.

Controversy

In 1991, when the island of Kanacea, which the paramount chief of Cakaudrove, the

Tui Cakau The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. In Modern Fiji this chiefly title is regarded as the most senior in the Tovata Confederacy, and the third most senior in the country. Recent history The current ''Tui Cakau'' ...

, had originally sold to a European settler in 1868, was sold by an Australian company, Carpenters (Fiji) Ltd., to an American company, the government persuaded Carpenters to pay compensation to the island's original landowners, Kanacea people, who had been relocated to the island of

Taveuni Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated to the east of ...

at the time of the original sale. However, to the outrage of both the chief of Kanacea and the Tui Cakau, a number of Kanacea commoners demanded that the island be returned to its original landowners because the original sale by the Tui Cakau had been invalid. In response to the populist attack of Kanacea people's consultant Francis Waqa Sokonibogi on the Tui Cakau for having sold his people's land, the government and chiefs of Cakaudrove pressured the chiefs and people of Kanacea to distance themselves from Sokonibogi. As reported in the Fiji Times, the

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chief

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to re ...

William Toganivalu William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

, who was minister for lands in the interim government, said that the Tui Cakau, Ratu Golea, had sold the island of Kanacea because Kanacea people had sided with

Tongans Tongans, a Polynesian group, represent more than 98% of the inhabitants of Tonga. The rest are European (the majority are British), mixed European, and other Pacific Islanders. There also are several hundred Chinese. Almost two-thirds of the pop ...

in a war between the people of Cakaudrove and

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 ...

saying, “The Tui Cakau at that time owned all the land because he was the ‘Head Chief’ and for that reason he did not need the permission from anybody to sell the land" Ratu William reportedly said "Sale of Kanacea ls Legal: Minister" ''Fiji Times'', 17 February 1991 The government rejected Waqa's demand, and the government, chiefs of Kanacea, and Carpenters agreed that out of the F$6, 000,000 for which the island was sold, Carpenters would pay the sum of F$1,000,000 as compensation to the people of Kanacea.

Controversy

References

Further reading