Namalata on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Namalata () is a village and island in
Mel Gibson's purchase of Mago
Research Paper on Vanuabalavu has map and reference re Namalata
{{coord, 17, 20, 10, S, 178, 59, 05, W, type:isle_region:FJ, display=title Namalata Populated places in Fiji Human migrations
Namalata () is a village and island 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 ...
. It is located in the southern portion of the 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 ...
island group, part of Fiji's Lau Islands. The village is a constituent of the larger Lomaloma
Lomaloma (; officially ''Lomaloma Tikina'', ) is a village at the south of the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau archipelago of Fiji. The settlement is part of the tribal district of Tikina, Lomaloma and consists of 9 villages, 13 Yavusa (tribe ...
village.
The people of Namalata descend from the original inhabitants of Mago Island, who were displaced in the nineteenth century.
Chiefly titles
The Chief of Namalata Village is the ''Tui Mago''.From Mago to Namalata
In the mid-19th century, Fiji's two dominant chiefs at the time, theVunivalu of Bau
Turaga na Vunivalu na Tui Kaba is the Paramount Chief of the Kubuna Confederacy, loosely translated the title means ''Warlord of Bau'' or Root of War. The succession to the title does not follow primogeniture, but the candidate must be a high-r ...
(Seru Epenisa Cakobau
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau (; occasionally spelled ''Cacobau'' or phonetically ''Thakombau'') (c.1815 – 1 February 1883) was a Fijian Ratu and warlord ('' Vunivalu'') who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing ...
) and the Tui Cakau were threatened by the Tongan warlord, Enele Ma'afu. They sought the help of the Namalata people while Ma'afu was in Lomaloma
Lomaloma (; officially ''Lomaloma Tikina'', ) is a village at the south of the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau archipelago of Fiji. The settlement is part of the tribal district of Tikina, Lomaloma and consists of 9 villages, 13 Yavusa (tribe ...
, on 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 ...
, as they could provide information on his movements.
The island of Mago was then given to Europeans in order to slow Ma'afu's advancement into Fiji, as the threat of retaliation from their respective homelands deterred him from attacking Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...
. When Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1874, those occupying the island were registered as the rightful owners, thus dispossessing the Namalata people. Mago Island is now owned by actor and film director Mel Gibson.
References
* Derrick, Ronald Albert; ''The Fiji Islands, a Geographical Handbook'', published 1957 Govt. Press, Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized July 1, 2006. Contains basic details on Namalata.External links
Mel Gibson's purchase of Mago
Research Paper on Vanuabalavu has map and reference re Namalata
{{coord, 17, 20, 10, S, 178, 59, 05, W, type:isle_region:FJ, display=title Namalata Populated places in Fiji Human migrations