Update: 11:43AM DAWASAMU is the name of the hill on which the old village called Nasuku is situated, on a raised coral platform just before the village of Nasau.
This is a massive site with house foundations
fully intact and well preserved in a densely vegetated canopy.
The site is
being used by some of the villagers to harvest wild yams and in doing so an
elderly man came across an undamaged clay pot tucked away in the crevices of a
rock structure.
Covered with a thick layer of algae, the pot has remained
hidden and undisturbed by human and animals for many years.
Nasuku was said to be occupied when the ancestral Gods made their way out of
Nakauvadra following the ridge or the waka ni vugayali as it is known locally.
The site belonged to the Yavusa Naloto, and the name of their army was
Dritabua. The site was set up during civil war when cannibalism was its peak.
Christianity was introduces first in Bau, then Sawakasa and later to Dawasamu
site.
At this point the Vunivalu decided to introduce Christianity to other
places known locally as the event called ‘valu ni lotu‘ in an effort to end
cannibalism.
He went up the Wainibuka all the way up to Nalawa and following
the traditional protocol he managed to reach Nadroga, Navosa and Naitasiri.
In the Wainibuka dialect, Nasuku means to scoop.
The old village of Nasuku is
mainly raised limestone and so the villagers scooped earth below, at the foot
of the limestone hill and took it up to form house mounds and also for their
gardens.
For more on this story in the iTaukei language, grab a copy of the iLalakai tomorrow.
