Kanacea (pronounced ) (Kanathea) is a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

island with seven peaks in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

's Lau

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

. It is 15 km west of

Vanua Balavu Vanua Balavu (pronounced ) is the third largest island in Fiji's Lau archipelago, and the main island of the Northern Lau Group. Geography and infrastructure This coral and volcanic island has a land area of . Its maximum elevation is . The isl ...

. Covering an area of , it has a maximum elevation of 259 meters. The island features a

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

plantation and many streams, and is circled by great beaches and fringing reefs with a boat opening and a large lagoon on the northeastern side. Plantation buildings and a school remain. Kanacea is privately owned. Its main economic activity was centered on

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

and sugarcane, and it retains a coconut plantation.

Controversy

In 1991, when the island of Kanacea, which the paramount chief of Cakaudrove, the

Tui Cakau The ''Tui Cakau'' () is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealan ...

, had originally sold to a European settler in 1868, was sold by an Australian company, Carpenters (Fiji) Ltd., to an American company, the government persuaded Carpenters to pay compensation to the island's original landowners, Kanacea people, who had been relocated to the island of

Taveuni Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated east of Vanua ...

at the time of the original sale. However, to the outrage of both the chief of Kanacea and the Tui Cakau, a number of Kanacea commoners demanded that the island be returned to its original landowners because the original sale by the Tui Cakau had been invalid. In response to the populist attack of Kanacea people's consultant Francis Waqa Sokonibogi on the Tui Cakau for having sold his people's land, the government and chiefs of Cakaudrove pressured the chiefs and people of Kanacea to distance themselves from Sokonibogi. As reported in the Fiji Times, the

Bauan Bauan, officially the Municipality of Bauan (), is a municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 90,819 people. Etymology Bauan derived its name from the following Tagalog wor ...

chief

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to r ...

William Toganivalu William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

, who was minister for lands in the interim government, said that the Tui Cakau, Ratu Golea, had sold the island of Kanacea because Kanacea people had sided with

Tongans Tongans or Tongan people are a Polynesian ethnic group native to Tonga, a Polynesian archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. Tongans represent more than 98% of the inhabitants of Tonga. The rest are European (the majority are British), mixed Europe ...

in a war between the people of Cakaudrove and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

saying, “The Tui Cakau at that time owned all the land because he was the ‘Head Chief’ and for that reason he did not need the permission from anybody to sell the land" Ratu William reportedly said "Sale of Kanacea ls Legal: Minister" ''Fiji Times'', 17 February 1991 The government rejected Waqa's demand, and the government, chiefs of Kanacea, and Carpenters agreed that out of the F$6, 000,000 for which the island was sold, Carpenters would pay the sum of F$1,000,000 as compensation to the people of Kanacea.

Controversy

References

Further reading