FIJI has a rich traditional history.
Our history comes in many forms and are passed down from generations through various medium.
Among them is the iTaukei canoe sailing.
Records say that the iTaukei found Fiji when they arrived here in canoes.
It was their form of transportation. Over the years canoe sailing competitions were born as a form of entertainment and a medium to keep the tradition alive.
The information and legends for its significance were passed down, especially to young Fijians.
Last week, in Suva, to coincide with the school holidays and the Vodafone Hibiscus Festival, a canoe sailing competition known as the Veitau Waqa competition — was held at the Suva foreshore.
It attracted a lot of attention from members of the public when it took to the waters of the Suva foreshore on Friday.
The event was hosted by the Pacific Blue Foundation, a non-profit public benefit charitable trust which provides basic research, education, encouragement and disseminations of sustainable practices in coastal regions with the ultimate goal of preserving and promoting the biological and cultural diversity of the region.
Competition official Peter Sipeli said people of Lau who had come to Suva to settle at places such as Korova, a settlement in Laucala Bay, Bilo in Lami and Makoi, took part in the competition.
“It was the ninth race we had so far after it started in 2010. We have worked with three communities which are Korova, Bilo, and Makoi,” Sipeli said.
“It was a special day since in the past, we used to have only two categories which were bakanawa (toy iTaukei canoes) for children and camakau (small sailing canoe with mast) which can be sailed inside the bay.
“The biggest one is the drua (double outrigger canoe for ocean sailing) as we had two canoes which competed in the competition. They were Heart of Tefiti and Vola Sigavou.”
According to the Pacific Blue Foundation website, iTaukei sailors in the past navigate their way while sailing by looking at currents and the stars.
“About a thousand years before the birth of Christ, the first Fijians ploughed through hundreds of miles of uncharted waters of the Pacific Ocean with nothing but currents and stars to act as their GPS (Global Positioning System) system. The mighty dug-out outrigger canoe was their only transport.
“They battled ferocious seas and weather to find landfall among the 300 scattered islands that would later become Fiji. Quite an extraordinary feat, considering it took place at least 2000 years before the Vikings navigated their longboats to the coasts of Greenland and America,” the website reported.
“Testament to the ingenuity of the traditional Fijian boat builders and voyagers is that these smaller outrigger canoes were until a few decades ago used as the pickup trucks of the Fijian lagoons — ferrying people to fishing grounds and transporting trade goods such as coconuts, tapa cloth and hardwood from island to island.
“A much smaller number of these boats are still around today, but with technology that brought the outboard motor on a fibreglass hull, and the departure of many youth from outer islands to secondary schools in urban areas, the use of traditional craft has seriously declined. But the tide is now turning.
“Hundreds of Fijians gathered on the foreshore of Suva Harbour last August to witness Veitau Waqa competition, a traditional outrigger canoe race.
“Conceived in 2010 by the Pacific Blue Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to cultural and ecological conservation in Pacific Island countries, the event is now an annual canoe race.
“People get the opportunity to experience centuries-old craftsmanship demonstrated in the building and sailing of traditional canoes, with the purpose of helping invigorate a revival of this once dwindling art and skill down through the family.”
“There are three categories for competing — bakanawa which is a race for children to have fun and learn the knowledge about the board and the children are not supposed to build the boat more than one metre in the length while the materials for hull needs to be of a timber. The second category is double sailor where two adults race on a camakau boat.
The elders define a starting point from the bench and around buoys placed with the help of Fiji Navy out in the harbour for them to follow and sail back to the starting point, according the website.
The third category is a triple sailor where three adults race on the camakau boat following the similar course to the double sailor.
The website reported that in 2012, Tuicakau Jikoisuva, 15, son of master boatbuilder Jiujiu Bera, raced his toy bakanawa canoe. Four years later, in 2016 Tuicakau repaired a full size camakau provided by Pacific Blue Foundation and competed in the double sailor and triple sailor adult events.
“This was a huge boost to us and we believe these children are playing a very important role in the Veitau Waqa competition — the boat lives.”
Chairman of the Foundation Dr Brian Gregory Mitchell said they were proud to contribute towards the cultural conservation of the camakau.
“The sailing canoes were the steamship, the locomotive train, the jumbo jet of ancient Fijian trade and travel,” he was quoted on the website.
“The boat is part of the story of the ancestors of all Fijians, whether they come from the islands or the mountains.
“We are proud to have been able to contribute to the cultural conservation of the camakau, so this ancient knowledge is not lost and their sailing grace can be enjoyed by all at the annual Veitau Waqa competition — the boat lives.
