Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Vorovoro is a small island of roughly 100 acres separated from the west coast of Mali Island by a roughly 50m channel. At low tide, you can wade from one to the other. Mali is a 15 minute boat ride north of the mouth of the Labasa River on north-central Vanua Levu, the second largest island in the Fijian islands.

Traditionally, Vorovoro Island has been the official residence of the past holders of the title of Tui Mali. The current Tui Mali, Ratu Apenisa Uate Bogiso takes his title in line as a direct descendant of the chiefly family who has been the custodians of the title since time immemorial. Members of the extended family with genealogical connections to the same apical ancestry, and who are members of Tui Mali’s clan comprise the membership of his landowning unit of mataqali Dave’alev u( ‘the big passage’). This in turn is invariably connected to the Yavusa or subgroup of Muana-i-Ra (‘the down portion of the land’) within the vanua of Mali. The set up which in a sense defines what used to be the traditional autonomous vanua of Mali also becomes the outer-bounds of the administrative district in contemporary terms under current laws pertaining to Fijian Affairs.

Vorovoro encapsulates the ultimate embodiment of the vanua of Mali. Any traditional reference to Mali would invariably imply Vorovoro for it is undoubtedly the oracle from which the mana, pride and sense of belonging of the people of Mali are derived. Furthermore, this reference invariably combines the manifestation of the actual and cosmological connection to its land and/ or customary fishing grounds (I qoliqoli). In traditional terms Mali and Vorovoro are inseparable just as its people are inseparable from it.

Mali consists of 3 yavusa(s): clearly referenced by the three villages present today. All villages are located near the coast on flat tracts of land with easy access to the sea and fertile gardening grounds. The villages vary in size, but generally each has around 18-20 houses with the average of 5 persons per household. Yauca, based in the village of Matai Labasa which is on the mainland of Vanua Levu, completes the Mali socio-economic and geo-political landscape.

From written accounts of early historians, it may seems that Mali before the arrival of Christianity was an autonomous polity by itself, having fought noted wars in 1841 and a recent recorded one around the time Cession to England in 1874. It is recorded that Mali had the perfect fortress in ‘Sugar Loaf Hill’, Vesi. This explains why most battles were fought on Mali turf.

Tui Mali’s Tribe Today

Tui Mali (pronounced “Twee Marlee”) is Chief of the Yavusa tribe which live in 4 small fishing villages on the adjacent island. “Tui Mali”, his brother “Poasa”, and their families live in two small houses on Vorovoro where he is the chief landowner. Tui Mali has welcomed the new tribe to his home and is looking forward to build on the strong relationship that they have forged over the past year. The partnership between Tui Mali’s tribe and our tribe will be reinforced by community projects that we actively and financially support in the nearby villages. Tribe members will be able to visit the local school and help in specific development work.