Lakeba

Lakeba is a high island in the southern Lau group of eastern Fiji. Its position made it a meeting place for Fijians and Tongans, who crossed the sea to exchange goods and establish ties of marriage. The island became the centre of a chiefly power associated with the title Tui Nayau, whose influence reached other islands of southern Lau. Tongan visitors sought the valuable vesi timber of the Lau Islands, useful for building canoes, and Tongan connections became an important part of Lakeba’s history. In 1830 the first Christian missionaries reached the island but were expelled. The older relationships between chiefs, island communities and visitors from Tonga continued to shape the politics of the group.