When we think about Fiji’s early history, most of us think about Viti Levu. After all, Viti Levu is Fiji’s largest island and is the one where most people live today. But what if the first people to come to Fiji thought differently?
Fiji’s early history
Scientific research on Fiji’s past suggests there are a number of very, very old settlements in Fiji. The two earliest are in completely different parts of the islands. One group of early settlements is found along the coasts of the Rove Peninsula (Nadroga), northwest of famous Natadola Beach — the earliest settlements were at Bourewa and on offshore Qoqo Island, both probably established more than 3000 years ago. Another group of early settlements is found in Lomaiviti, the older at Matanamuani on Naigani Island, with one established about 3000 years ago at Naitabale on nearby Moturiki Island.
The very first people in Fiji are known to us today as the Lapita people. Arriving about 3100 years ago (more than 1000 years before the birth of Christ), they came from the west. Originating from the outer islands of Papua New Guinea, they travelled through parts of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu before successfully crossing the 900-kilometre ocean gap that separates these islands from Fiji. This incredible feat, at a time when people in most other parts of the world feared sailing out of sight of land, is something of which all Fijians should be proud.
But where the first people in Fiji landed and why remain intriguing questions. Vanua Levu has for years remained almost unknown in terms of its early history, although archeologists have recently found traces of Lapita settlements on Vorovoro Island (off Labasa) and along the sides of Natewa Bay. But neither of these places is likely to have been the very earliest places on Vanua Levu to be settled by the Lapita people. So where was the earliest place?
West Vanua Levu — key to
early settlement puzzle?
Given that the Lapita voyagers sailed to Fiji from the west, it seems plausible to suppose that western Vanua Levu was the place where they landed first. This area, stretching from Nabouwalu in the south to the Naivaka Peninsula and Yaqaga Island in the north, is huge and much of it is accessible only by sea. But one key to knowing where the Lapita people settled is understanding that they liked eating seafood, especially reef foods. So anywhere where there is a broad fringing coral reef is likely to have attracted these people.
Recent research on western Vanua Levu by personnel of the Fiji Museum, USP and the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia) uncovered a new Lapita settlement. It is located on the western side of the Seseleka Peninsula, just at the place where the fringing coral reef is widest. At the moment, only a few pieces of the characteristic Lapita pottery have been found but that is enough to confirm the presence of the Lapita people here, probably about 3000 years ago.
The area is a huge coastal flat, littered with pottery fragments and the remains of edible shellfish, telling the researchers that people living here long after the Lapita people vanished as a distinct cultural group (about 2500 years ago). More research in this area will give us more information.
But there is another reason why this part of Vanua Levu is of such interest to historical researchers.
Hill forts
After the arrival of the first people in Fiji about 3100 years ago, people stayed living along island coasts for more than 2000 years, eating much seafood and planting crops in lowland coastal areas. Much like many people in Fiji do today.
But then about 700 years ago, all this changed. People everywhere in Fiji (and many other Pacific Island countries) abandoned their coastal settlements and fled into the hills, establishing in many places fortified settlements, some in caves but many on the tops of mountains. These are the koro ni valu (hill forts) of Fiji traditions.
There are few written descriptions of Fiji hill forts because most were abandoned shortly after European settlement. But for western Vanua Levu, where European arrival was comparatively early (because of the trade in sandalwood and beche-de-mer), we do have some descriptions.
The earliest comes from 1808 and describes a visit by William Lockerby to “the fort of Tattalepo” or Tacilevu, which is today just close to the coastal village of Navunievu. Then from the 1840s, there is another account of hill forts elsewhere on the Seseleka Peninsula, including the conspicuous “war town” on the peak of Seseleka, 500 metres above sea level, that dominates the landscape of this area.
Take the Sea Road bus from Suva to Labasa, sit by a window on the left, and (if it’s not raining) you will see what I mean. About 30 minutes out of Nabouwalu, heading towards Labasa, you will notice a peak on the horizon. A massive cliff on its south side, a more gentle approach on its north side.
This is the peak of Seseleka, one of the largest hill forts in this part of Fiji.
Seseleka
Recent research by the Fiji Museum, USP and a team from Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast focused on mapping the Seseleka hill fort. This is not a straightforward task. Depending on your degree of fitness, it takes two-four hours to reach the summit of Seseleka. The last part involves a number of sheer rock climbs but then suddenly you find yourself on a flat surface, the size of half a rugby pitch, with incredible views in every direction.
These views helped make Seseleka a fine hill fort, for in every direction it would have been possible to see people approaching long before they arrived. But it is the natural defences of the site that make it almost impregnable.
Almost 95 per cent of the Seseleka perimeter is surrounded by sheer cliffs, impossible to climb. The remaining 5 per cent is a narrow ridge line (tua) along which the inhabitants of Seseleka built walls, dug (defensive) ditches, and had numerous guard posts intended to repel attackers. You can see the remains of these structures today.
The summit of Seseleka has room for 150-200 people to live, and this number is also suggested by the number of house mounds (yavu) found there. But incredibly, there is also a rock pool (tobu) at the top which people claim is connected to the sea and never runs dry.
Around the edges of the houses and the pool are scattered the remains of edible shellfish that must have been collected by the people of the hill fort from the coast and taken back up the hill for the frightened residents to consume.
With the support of the Tui Bua and the people of Bua, more research on Seseleka and the other hill forts of western Vanua Levu will be undertaken in the next two years.
* Patrick Nunn is professor of geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia) and also adjunct professor in Pacific studies at the University of the South Pacific.
