Tavuni Hill Fort, Sigatoka

A clan of Tongans arrive and settle atop the hill for its natural defences and commanding views. They were led by Maile Latamai Finau who left Tonga after a dispute in the reigning Tuipelehake family. He sailed to Fiji with an entourage of priests, warriors, carpenters, craftsmen and fishermen. Oral histories say that he stopped in Kadavu, Serua, Korotogo, Yanuca and Cuvu before settling at Tavuni.

Finau married two women from the district of Conua. His first wife was from Narata and died after giving birth to a daughter called Salote Tupou. He then remarried to a woman from Nadrala and had a son called Orisi Moala. According to local tour guide Laneita Nainoca, “Salote’s descendants today live at the foot of Tavuni Hill Fort. They are called the Mataqali Henibua while Orisi Moala’s descendants now reside at Nawamagi Village further up the hill from Tavuni. Their mataqali or clan is called the Matanisiga.”

Today there is evidence of a chief’s bure at the highest point of the fort, stone walls, lovo pits (earth ovens), and nearly 60 house mounds. The ground is littered with shells which the inhabitants presumably brought from the river to eat and discarded when finished.  The descendants of the original Tongan settlers are called the “Noitoga”.

During the Colo Wars (1875-1876), the indigenous people of the interior of Viti Levu resisted British colonial rule. The Colonial Administration assembled a native constabulary of over 1000 men to pacify the kai Colo. In 1876 during the reign of Noitoga chief Kunatui, Tavuni was stormed and destroyed by government troops. Kunatui later died of battle wounds. The hill fort was never resettled afterwards.

The village of Naroro at the foot of the hill began work to restore the Tavuni Hill Fort. It has cleared paths and runs regular tours for visitors. There are many descendants of the Tongans living in Sigatoka today as a result of intermarriage and adaptation. The descendants of Finau and his followers now can be found in the villages of Naroro, Korotogo, Nawamagi, Malevu, Cuvu and Nadrala in Nadroga; Waicoba in Navosa; and Vatutu and Waqadamu in Nadi.