Burial of Fiji’s Most Famous Son...

ONE would need to be a Fijian, or well-steeped in the ways of Fiji, to appreciate the long drawn-out ceremonial that occurred in the 11 days between the time of the death of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna at sea in the Indian Ocean on May 30, and his burial at Lakemba, Lau Islands, on June 11. (June PIM, p. 61).

Everything, indeed, stopped in Fiji for the obsequies of Sir Lala.

On the official mourning day, June 9, not even the local newspaper came out. This does not happen, even for the King, in other British countries.

As Vakatawa says elsewhere, Sukuna was more than a high chief; he was a symbol of achieve ment to Fijians.

So that it was as Fiji’s greatest son that Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna.

KCMG, KBE, was buried in the small village of Tubou, on Lakemba, on June 11 and the ceremonies that preceded it, as well as the cere mony of burial itself, were rich in ritual beloved of all Fijians, and had all the dignity of which the Fipan is capable, which is con siderable.

Sukuna was a Lauan chief, from that chain of small, delightful islands that lie like a jewelled necklace to the east of the main Fijian group. Of all Fiji, they lie nearest to Tonga, and are more in fluenced by Tongan blood than the rest of the Colony.

Sir Lala had travelled widely, spoken with Kings, Queens and the men and women of th° world’s high places, but in the end his body was taken back to lie among his own people, within sound of the sighing casuarinas and the surf, on the reef.

A crowd of 25,000 lined the streets of Suva on June 9 when his body was taken to the small, dark-painted Adi Maopa, for its last, long voyage over the Koro Sea to Lakemba. The vessel reached Lakemba on the following night Thousands of Lauans, all dressed in black and wearing the traditional mat of mourning about their waists, were seated along the route along which the casket was borne.

All through the night, women kept vigil, chanting a chiefly lament, accompanied by the weird wailing of conch-shells.

In the morning he was buried with full military honours. And with the last notes of the Reveille, the conch shells were laid aside and the dirges ceased, as the people prepared themselves for yet another part of a Fijian funeral—the vast feast of baked meats, fish and vegetables with which visitors and mourners are regaled.

Photos; At top, casket carried on board "Adi Maopa" at Suva, on June 9. Lower, the feast, which ended the funeral ceremonies at Lakemba, on June 11.

Photos: Rob Wright, of Fiji PRO.