There are many places in Fiji where you’d hear of ancestral male and female deities being supposedly Caucasian or white-skinned.
Nabalesere, in Ra is one such place.
According to village elder, Paraone Nakewa, a great warrior and vu (ancestral deity) of Nabalesere named Manu once lived in a bure on the village’s hilly terrain a long time ago.
This was before anyone had moved to the current site of the village.
It is quite possible that Manu was a man who gained prominence through his prowess in war and was deified by his subjects after his death. This was common practice in some parts of old Fiji.
The foundation of Manu’s bure, called yavu, exists today in the hilly centre of Nabalesere, somewhere between the village canteen and vale ni soqo (community hall).
Nakewa claimed the legend was passed down to him orally by his dad during a yaqona session, as was the practice when something of importance needed to be discussed.
“Manu was revered as a fearless warrior. He possessed sau which meant that whatever he said happened, much like a magician,” Nakewa said during an interview with The Sunday Times.
Back in those days, one of Nabalesere’s wonders was Savulelele, a magnificent waterfall that dropped from towering black rocks in the hills beyond the village boundary.
Today, the same Savulelele Waterfall attracts locals and tourists from all over the world who travel great distances to explore the pristine beauty of this cascading waterworks.
Nabalesere was given its name because the grass surrounding the village during olden days had the fascinating ability to chat ancient songs (sere means to sing or a song). Another popular belief is that the village was named after a type of lemon that grew abundantly in the village called moli sere.
According to Nakewa’s story, a vu from Rewa heard Savulelele thunder through the rocky cliffs and hills and asked his warrior to visit the place and capture the owner of the great waterfall.
As the Rewan warriors scaled the village, they came face to face with a bure. They knew it belonged to the owner of the waterfall and entered with the intention to take him captive.
“Manu had supernatural power. He always kept a throwing stick or ula hanging above the door of the bure. At his instruction, the club killed all but one warrior from Rewa.”
Overwhelmed with fear, the surviving warrior went back to his master and told him that his colleagues had died at the hands of the Nabalesere warrior who killed everyone single-handedly.
Hearing this, the Rewan vu grew very angry. He fortified his army and sent them back to capture Manu.
But this time, the warriors had a plan. Upon reaching the foot of the village at the site of a small spring, they started digging a hole big enough for people to crawls through.
For days, they dug a tunnel from the stream right inside bure. Manu was caught by surprise.
“That’s how they arrested Manu. They were disgusted to see Manu had scabies all over his body. He was smelly and looked awful. They took him to Rewa where he was put under house arrest,” Nakewa said.
The vu from Rewa got his two daughters to keep an eye on Manu. One daughter, as a form of punishment, wanted to make Manu a toilet doormat because he was ugly and covered with itches.
However, the other daughter, Wa ni moli, who was kind hearted, volunteered to look after him.
“She said why make him a toilet doormat? Despite his physical appearance he is still human and deserves some respect. So she took him to her house and looked after him,” Nakewa said.
Manu made use of his sau and cursed the land belonging to his captors.
All plants withered and died. There were no more root crops and fruits in the garden, and there was widespread hunger amongst the Rewans.
“Food was so scarce that the people of Rewa lived on titi ni doqo (tips of mangrove aerial roots) and coconuts,” Nakewa said.
“However, Wa ni moli and Manu continued to eat food brought in from Nabalesere. He would utter the name of the food he wanted and it would be on their table, fresh and warm.”
One day Wa ni moli’s other sibling caught the two partying on fresh fish, root crops and fruits while everyone was starving. She asked how this was possible.
Wa ni moli answered saying it was through Manu’s magic and if the people from Rewa would like to eat from their farms again, then their leader would have to ask him for forgiveness through traditional means.
The sibling told the vu from Rewa who then took ash from the fireplace and put it on his head as a sign of remorse. He also presented his soro (traditional apology) to Manu and soon afterwards, fruits and root crops were plentiful again.
Despite his filthy looking scabies, Manu was in fact a fine looking white man. He had a waqawaqa, an outer body covering used to hide his true physical appearance.
Manu was charming and a womaniser. When women from Rewa would go fishing, he’d secretly follow them. He’d take off his waqawaqa and reveal himself to the fisherwomen who would return home with stories and gossips to tell.
One day Wa ni moli went fishing with the village women and approached Manu when she returned.
“She told him how women have had several sightings of a fair and handsome white man while fishing and how she met him earlier in the day while fishing with friends,” Nakewa said.
“Wa ni moli said if the white man was human then soon all women in the world would fall in love with him. Manu wasn’t surprised about her story so she grew suspicious.”
A few days later, Wa ni moli told manu she was going out to fish again with the women. But instead of going to the beach she returned home.
She was convinced that if Manu was to follow, he’d leave his waqawaqa behind in the house. Later she found his filthy-looking body covering full of scabies under his sleeping place.
“When she saw Manu’s waqawaqa she was so excited. She took it out and burned it saying “I now have a handsome man as a husband for ever. I’ll burn his outer covering so that I can always have a fair man by my side,” Nakewa said.
Manu and Wa ni moli had a child but one day, Manu called his wife and thanked her for being kind, loving and for looking after him for many years.
He told her he would have to go back to Nabalesere alone to see his people.
“That was the end of the story which my dad told me,”Nakewa said.
Until today, villagers treat the ancient foundation of Manu’s bure as an important historical site.
Those who reach Nabalesere can view it together with a heap of stones called Nauluvatu, which are believed to have magical powers.
Nobody is allowed to remove the pile of rounded stones. Any contact with the stones or bad behaviour can result in someone having a mysterious swollen belly or bukete vatu, which can only be remedied by a soro.
Also, women are not allowed to face the direction of Manu’s yavu when urinating. Disobeying this will result in being strangely impregnated.
“The story of Manu is a tukuni (an old legend). Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. I only know it was passed down to me by my old man and I’ve passed down the same story to younger generations after me, including you,” Nakewa said.
“Legends, chats and meke (traditional dance) are ways in which we communicate history and stories from the past. They are part of our culture and identity and we must treasure them.”
This article was first published in The Sunday Times in February 2019. History being the subject it is, a group’s version of events may not be the same as that held by another group. When publishing one account, it is not our intention to cause division or to disrespect other oral traditions. Those with a different version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.
