Beqa
This morning we landed at the island of Beqa, home of the famous Fijian firewalkers just of the North coast of Viti Levu. One of the elders of the village and a member of the firewalkers troupe, explained to us that the ability to walk on fire was first bestowed upon one of their ancestors, a warrior named Tui-na-vikalita who spared the life of a spirit god that he captured while fishing for eels. The grateful spirit rewarded Tui-na-viqalita with the ability to walk upon the heated stones of an earth oven without burning his feet.
Members of different cultures in Indonesia and other places of South East Asia perform similar feats, but there the firewalkers walk upon hot embers, instead of heated basaltic rocks. In Polynesia the only other place where firewalking was practiced was in the island of Raiatea during certain religious festivals related to subsistence activities, and is still performed occasionally today when dignitaries visit the island.
At Beqa, the descendants of Tui-na-viqalita, that belong to the tribe of Sawau, are the only persons allowed to practice this rite of vilavilairevo (jumping into the earth oven). Though they usually perform in resort hotels in Viti Levu, they had been informed of our visit and they where waiting for us at the village of Dakuibeqa (Population 276) - one of the only three villages allowed to perform this art.
Firewalking is only done by men and traditionally they were not permitted to have sex or eat any coconuts for two weeks prior to a performance, and a man whose wife was pregnant was also barred from it. But today, this has become their main occupation and they perform this ceremony sometimes up to three times per week. If many tourists arrive to Fiji we were told that their high priest asked Tui-na-viqalita’s spirit what to do, and he answered that “it was okay to have sex and eat coconuts”, but they had to bring back to the village all the money they earned.
Since then, the village of Dakuibeqa has undergone extensive remodeling and modernization. Cement paved walkways about a meter wide connect each house, and lead to the district school located about 300 meters inland upon the foothills. A small bridge has been built over both streams that run through the village and the Methodist church was tiled. This prosperity has also given them the possibility to send their children to attend high school in Suva and then enter the University of the South Pacific and earn a profession.
Upon landing at 9am the chief of the village together with other authorities was awaiting our arrival on the beach, meanwhile a group of about thirty adult women sang welcome chants nearby. The village was very clean and the houses although modest fulfilled all their needs. There was a small stand with some souvenirs, not many, mainly shells and some masi (backcloth). Once everyone had disembarked we were led in groups of about 15 by our guide up to the District school, were the children had prepared to perform a Meke for us, that is a combination of dance, song and theater that usually narrate a traditional story or an event that they wish to remember. There were 86 schoolchildren from the three villages and those from the other three villages slept in dormitories and on weekend they returned home by boat. The Meke took place upon the soccer field in front of school and meanwhile the majority of children sang sitting upon the grass with their legs crossed, a group of 14 young girls danced the seasea, a very artistic fan dance.
Then came the highlight: the fire walking. This took place upon a ground next to the village that had been prepared specially for these performances (even Prince Charles had gone there to see it) and consisted in some coconut trunk long benches, that enclosed on three sides a leveled terrace where a large earth oven about four meters across had been built to heat the stones. The fire in the pit had been lit upon our arrival and it was evident that the stones were very hot. The troupe of about 10 to 12 men led by their priest, or bete, invoked the sacred chants taught to them by Tui-na-viqalita to acquire immunity to heat, and then proceeded to remove the burning logs and rearrange the pile of stones until they formed a semi-flat pavement which they walked across led by the priest. This was repeated several times, and then bundles of leaves and earth were thrown upon the stones to cover them. They seemed to have immunity to pain and no one was burnt.
To celebrate this extraordinary performance, we were then invited to the chief’s Meeting House to enjoy yaqona drinking. This tranquilizing non-alcoholic drink that numbs the tongue and lips, is made out of the crushed rootlets of the Piper methysticum plant, diluted in water. We all sat upon a mat on the floor, meanwhile the yaqona was scooped out of a Tanoa, or wooden hand-carved circular bowl of halved coconut shells. There was great excitement and the village women then invited us to dance the tralala, a simple two-step shuffle danced side by side.
Edmundo Edwards, our archaeologist, found in the exposed faces of both streams that cut through the village, the buried remains of a previous Lapita occupation. Between 1.80 and 2.10 meters below the present surface, lays a thick layer of potshards, some with decorated lips that probably date back to around 2500 years ago. The islanders told him that similar potshards lay buried under the other villages and that they also turned up when gardening in other areas. No archaeological research has been carried out upon this island to date.
Many of us made good friends with our charming hosts and before leaving we exchanged addresses to be able to send them copies of the photos we took of them and their homes. In the afternoon snorkeling, swimming, diving and other water activities took place upon another beach of Beqa.
This morning we landed at the island of Beqa, home of the famous Fijian firewalkers just of the North coast of Viti Levu. One of the elders of the village and a member of the firewalkers troupe, explained to us that the ability to walk on fire was first bestowed upon one of their ancestors, a warrior named Tui-na-vikalita who spared the life of a spirit god that he captured while fishing for eels. The grateful spirit rewarded Tui-na-viqalita with the ability to walk upon the heated stones of an earth oven without burning his feet.
Members of different cultures in Indonesia and other places of South East Asia perform similar feats, but there the firewalkers walk upon hot embers, instead of heated basaltic rocks. In Polynesia the only other place where firewalking was practiced was in the island of Raiatea during certain religious festivals related to subsistence activities, and is still performed occasionally today when dignitaries visit the island.
At Beqa, the descendants of Tui-na-viqalita, that belong to the tribe of Sawau, are the only persons allowed to practice this rite of vilavilairevo (jumping into the earth oven). Though they usually perform in resort hotels in Viti Levu, they had been informed of our visit and they where waiting for us at the village of Dakuibeqa (Population 276) - one of the only three villages allowed to perform this art.
Firewalking is only done by men and traditionally they were not permitted to have sex or eat any coconuts for two weeks prior to a performance, and a man whose wife was pregnant was also barred from it. But today, this has become their main occupation and they perform this ceremony sometimes up to three times per week. If many tourists arrive to Fiji we were told that their high priest asked Tui-na-viqalita’s spirit what to do, and he answered that “it was okay to have sex and eat coconuts”, but they had to bring back to the village all the money they earned.
Since then, the village of Dakuibeqa has undergone extensive remodeling and modernization. Cement paved walkways about a meter wide connect each house, and lead to the district school located about 300 meters inland upon the foothills. A small bridge has been built over both streams that run through the village and the Methodist church was tiled. This prosperity has also given them the possibility to send their children to attend high school in Suva and then enter the University of the South Pacific and earn a profession.
Upon landing at 9am the chief of the village together with other authorities was awaiting our arrival on the beach, meanwhile a group of about thirty adult women sang welcome chants nearby. The village was very clean and the houses although modest fulfilled all their needs. There was a small stand with some souvenirs, not many, mainly shells and some masi (backcloth). Once everyone had disembarked we were led in groups of about 15 by our guide up to the District school, were the children had prepared to perform a Meke for us, that is a combination of dance, song and theater that usually narrate a traditional story or an event that they wish to remember. There were 86 schoolchildren from the three villages and those from the other three villages slept in dormitories and on weekend they returned home by boat. The Meke took place upon the soccer field in front of school and meanwhile the majority of children sang sitting upon the grass with their legs crossed, a group of 14 young girls danced the seasea, a very artistic fan dance.
Then came the highlight: the fire walking. This took place upon a ground next to the village that had been prepared specially for these performances (even Prince Charles had gone there to see it) and consisted in some coconut trunk long benches, that enclosed on three sides a leveled terrace where a large earth oven about four meters across had been built to heat the stones. The fire in the pit had been lit upon our arrival and it was evident that the stones were very hot. The troupe of about 10 to 12 men led by their priest, or bete, invoked the sacred chants taught to them by Tui-na-viqalita to acquire immunity to heat, and then proceeded to remove the burning logs and rearrange the pile of stones until they formed a semi-flat pavement which they walked across led by the priest. This was repeated several times, and then bundles of leaves and earth were thrown upon the stones to cover them. They seemed to have immunity to pain and no one was burnt.
To celebrate this extraordinary performance, we were then invited to the chief’s Meeting House to enjoy yaqona drinking. This tranquilizing non-alcoholic drink that numbs the tongue and lips, is made out of the crushed rootlets of the Piper methysticum plant, diluted in water. We all sat upon a mat on the floor, meanwhile the yaqona was scooped out of a Tanoa, or wooden hand-carved circular bowl of halved coconut shells. There was great excitement and the village women then invited us to dance the tralala, a simple two-step shuffle danced side by side.
Edmundo Edwards, our archaeologist, found in the exposed faces of both streams that cut through the village, the buried remains of a previous Lapita occupation. Between 1.80 and 2.10 meters below the present surface, lays a thick layer of potshards, some with decorated lips that probably date back to around 2500 years ago. The islanders told him that similar potshards lay buried under the other villages and that they also turned up when gardening in other areas. No archaeological research has been carried out upon this island to date.
Many of us made good friends with our charming hosts and before leaving we exchanged addresses to be able to send them copies of the photos we took of them and their homes. In the afternoon snorkeling, swimming, diving and other water activities took place upon another beach of Beqa.
