Thikombia

Thikombia belongs to the island world around Vanua Levu in Fiji. Cikobia-i-Ra, also known as Thikombia, lies north of Vanua Levu; reefs and open passages separate it from neighbouring islands. Canoes carried people and goods between shores, linking small islands to the wider communities of northern Fiji.

Across northern Fiji, kinship and chiefly relationships linked communities on different islands. Gardens and marine resources supported daily life, while exchange and travel depended on knowledge of reefs, winds and sea routes. In the wider Vanua Levu region, sandalwood traders arrived around the beginning of the nineteenth century, entering a world of island connections that already existed.