::LAKALAKA PERFORM AT BAU ISLAND:1981

[davetheo1]

malie Na Wanise @ 1:54

[davetheo1]

4 Facts:

1. Lakalaka is not a traditional Fijian dance; it is Tongan

2. Lakalaka is performed mostly by Lauans acknowledging Fiji's traditional connection with Tonga

3. Lauans are Fijians, not Tongans

4. Lakalaka - though not a traditional dance in Fiji - is now an important part of Fijian dance, further enriching Fiji's culture.

[kaivitigurl71]

Lol.... I was only 10yrs old I remember this day I was sitting under the vunikau levu

[BOBMARLEYfAN3752]

sa totoka dina na marama ni lau malo mate ma'a tonga!!!!

[10ooh3]

Dis is so AWSOME!!!!! never knew Fijians perform the Tongan lakalaka too, wow it really gave me a shock!!! and performed and sung like true Tongans:) malo Lau....

[islandguy84601]

What a waste of time saying who was First on doing da lakalaka.. Bottom line is, this represents the strong ties between the 2 islands (Tonga and Fiji), which is a Beautiful site.. Unity, at its Best and is something that we ALL should learn from (= Great Video, and Great Reminder to us All

[reereesan]

wow! very similar to tongan dancing. i think tongan and fijian are very similar in culture, huh? is that why alot of them marry? like tongan and fijian get married

[vui07bureta]

the second lady from Adi Ateca looks like Adi Sovanatabua, daughter of the late Ratu Sukuna.

[islandlewa]

@vui07bureta it is

[sea2fire]

Kaba, get your facts right... haha

[jononjonjon]

If it wasent 4 those afroz on da ladies i would  Never of thought dat they are fijianz lol not only do they perform da lakalaka like tru blu Tongans but they also look like tongans just not da afroz hehehe....

[TSBNT]

one of my great grandfathers came from lau.. he was one of them who came with king ma,afu.

[mizye]

URO LA NA KAI TONGA KEI NA KAI LAU ! LOLS

[1982knox]

Isa!! ko Tua Sale.. May Your Soul Rest In Peace...

[jenmajol]

i'm very much in awe at how good you people are with keeping and cherishing your heritage... sadly at the turn of the century, 1900 my people had already lost 50% of their culture due to missonary influences, i'm one of your many pacific island brothers from the marshall islands,micronesia...

[Dakunikuila]

1982 October 10th !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[valentines01]

im full  tongan but i know my grandmother had lauan blood in her! this is a really cool vid! i would one day love to go to lau and visit..hehe..it would kinda be like visiting tonga lol bula vinaca my fijian bro n sisz

[spiritfingers1]

Lakalaka is a tongan dance adopted by ira na Tovata (Lau/Cakaudrove) The traditional meke of the Fijians are (Meke Iri/fan dance...Meke moto/spear dance... Meke i Wau/club dance...Seasea/standing action dance....Vakamalolo/seated action dance) Also the reason ta'ovala is worn by some of the fijians in particular in Lau, is because of intermarriage between the two ethnic groups and especially the Tui Tonga daughters to the Bauan/Somosomo/Lau Chiefs. Ma'uluulu is tongan name for vakamalolo

[rockdalefijians]

kaba..we aint borrow the lakalaka from the tongan...they bring to us...

malo

[kabarara]

But that doesn't make it ours ... my point is we can perfom the lakalaka but it does not become a Fijian meke like how the title suggests... it is still very much without doubt (irrespective of who the performers are) it's still a Tongan dance. We have our own meke that we label as Fijian meke...

[spiritfingers1]

Also the Cibi is traditionally a war dance performed with clubs and spears in the old days and was similar to the maori haka.

The Dele & Wate were womens dances performed after a war victory to humiliate the sexuality of the defeated warriors.

Dele & Wate are not performed as they were deemed barbaric by the missionaries

[22871987]

@kabarara lol kabarara the Lakalaka was not borrowed by the Fijians it was passed down from generation to generation especially with the Lauans. To instill traditions and culture one should maintain and proud of their identity. Au kerea mo lei wilika mada nomu viti dua. Sa malo!

[kabarara]

@22871987 Well my point is whether it was performed by our fore fathers it's still a Tongan lakalaka... apart from the fijian names mentioned everything else is in Tongan so therefore never at anytime did it become Fijian... BTW.. I know my Viti Dua and lakalaka was never part of it... and being a Lauan... it's pretty much Tubou in Lakeba, Ono i Lau and Sawana in Vanua Balavu...that perform the lakalaka... and punakes (daunivucu) for the meke pretty much can be from the 3 mentioned...

[spiritfingers1]

@kabarara They also perform lakalaka in Vanua Levu but that is most likely because they are part of Tovata confederacy with Lau. Lakalaka style was definitely Tongan in origin. There is excellent footage of a Lakalaka, Meke Wesi, and Meke Iri from the royal visit in 1953. Looks amazing when there are a huge number of performers.

[80TABS]

Vinaka Lau..Kalougata jiko mada ko viti kei ira na kena kawa tamata tabu saka yani.

[22871987]

Malo malo

[boheissa]

i love this video.. im from lau myself vasu i bau.. so its awsome to see a lakalaka being performed in the vasu land :):)

malo malo!

[MY1LEGEND]

tongan slave master

[Islandbratha]

Wat r u tokin bowt bru??

[sveikoso]

I am very impressed. Great job!

[killahoe62]

malie fisi

[aisokulaguy]

that was so cool i saw my mother's family's house the one with the red roof next to vatunitawake i think the yavu's called vunivutu

[peksful]

ia ia qaraunia na bati

[kabarara]

Isa the late Tua Sale from Sawana is the Punake (daunivucu) for the Lakalaka... He's from the Fakauli'afa family in Sawana, Vanuabalavu Lau.

[islandlewa]

wooooohoooo love it ! LAU, na vanua au dodomo kina

[lekea08]

wow I lived on Bau for 3 months Im from Samoa!!! it was an awesome experience, we met with the former Presidents family, and joined in the village affairs!!! awesome experience!!!

Faafetai and vinaka vaka levu!!!

[atukoto]

sa malo matuku pride lol

[rockdalefijians]

malo malo makutu..oops matuku

[lewanavanua]

do you have the extended version of this laka2?

[rockdalefijians]

lewa..ni wawa toka mada meu tarogi ira mada nai lala qo me ra meke tale mada vakadua so that i can take the whole footage..ia kani rarawa ni so vei ira sa leqa oti..kerei nomuni veivosoti..anyway..qori ga na balavu ni foootage ni lakalaka qo

sa malo

[WainibukaKido]

hahahahahahaha boom boom! SA MALO A VAKADRAKAI!!!

[lewanavanua]

HAHAHA how funny! lol... vinaka

[boogernana]

i didn't know Fijians did the lakalaka too

[22871987]

@boogernana No the rest of fiji dont do the lakalaka ONLY the people from LAU do. Since their ancestors are Tongan, they still live in their traditional Tongan customs and languages. Only in Lau, sa malo :)

[rockdalefijians]

@22871987 Tongan influence can seen in Bau(Tui Tonga)..Rewa.(Nasigatoka nabua(Mua.Tongatapu).Taveuni(M­atapule..Lemaki, Mataitonga)..Nadroga (Pelehake)too

malo

[100yrsable]

@22871987 im a vasu to taveuni.. their dialect is mix of samoan n tongan..n they do av the mau'luulu meke too..call tafi..and tao'vala is worn too in chiefs funeral..and that a tongan influence too

vinaka

[spiritfingers1]

To 22871987 The people of Somosomo/Cakaudrove also do lakalaka but as an influence through Lau. But yes the Lau people do have a lot of tongan tradition in their customs. Also the stick dance is performed in savusavu which is the only place I have seen it performed by people other than Tongans.

And the Savusavu dialect is unique compared to the rest of Cakaudrove.

[100yrsable]

@spiritfingers1 : my grndmther who hail from wainikeli district in taveuni..still perform the ma,uluulu..the only thing im fascinated about is tht, aftr 100 yrs or so..the mauluulu dance still perform in tongan language..

[spiritfingers1]

To 100yrsable Very Interesting to know that they perform the meke using tongan language still in wainikeli.

I know most of the meke vaka Tonga that they do in Lau follow the same beat and melody from the Tongan, however a lot of the words are a mixture of Tongan and Fijian.

[100yrsable]

@spiritfingers1 i just like add ..tht lakalaka was not adpoted in cakaudrove(somosmo) thru lau...its was a direct influnce from tonga,,,and same as the POLOTU or Hiva USU..I guess the 9th or the 10th Tui Cakau was brought up in Tonga.. when he brought back to Fiji to be installed as the Tui Cakau he translate most of the Hiva usu (polotu) tune into fijian..but the thing is...most of the song he translate never sung in other parts of fiji,,,only on Taveuni...

[spiritfingers1]

To 100yrsable.

That makes a lot of sense because most of the Bau/Somosomo/Lau Chiefs were and still are related by blood to the Tongan royal family.

My Grandfather was Bauan from Tui Kaba clan, and he was a cousin to Queen Salote, so my family claim our heritage from Tonga also and Tui Cakau/Somosomo people usually ask my family to help with the big Soqo. Also when my family go to Bau we have to take someone from Somosomo to be our mata ni vanua.

[100yrsable]

@spiritfingers1 if you go into the Royal Tongan geneology online...you will see all the names of RATU's &ADI's...mainly from Bau..Lalagavesi & Lau chiefly household being added ..becoz of intermarriage in the old days

[madenew000]

@22871987 malie malie!!!

[HaaNgata]

Bula Vinaka

Lovin the Lakalaka. Peace out from the clan of the Lakepa Island.

[rockdalefijians]

io malo haaNgata