Roi Mata (or Roy Mata, Roymata) was a chiefly title in the central islands of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. It was borne by a long

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

of chiefs, from the 11th to the

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

. Bessis (2023), pp.56-57, 88-90. Among the bearers of the ''Roi Mata'' title, the most famous is the last one, a man believed to have lived around year

1600 In the Gregorian calendar, it was the first century leap year and the last until the year 2000. Events January–March * January 1 – Scotland adopts January 1 as New Year's Day instead of March 25. * January 20 – Hugh O'Neill, Earl of ...

. ''Chief Roi Mata's domain'' (UNESCO report). That chief is often designated as "Roi Mata", with no formal distinction from its predecessors — a source of potential confusion. In 2008, three sites associated with Roi Mata, on the islands of

Efate Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third larg ...

, Lelepa and

Eretoka Eretoka (also Hat Island, Érétoka, Retoka, Artok) is a small uninhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. The island lies off the western coast of Efate Island. There is a lighthouse built in the 1960s. Geography Eret ...

, were made

UNESCO World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

, including Roi Mata’s residence, the site of his death and Roi Mata’s mass burial site."Chief Roi Mata’s Domain"

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Roi Mata's grave

Roi Mata's elaborate grave, containing the bodies of over 25 members of his retinue, was discovered by French

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

in 1967 and inscribed on the

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2008. Garanger was able to locate the grave on

island by analyzing local folklore. According to legend, when Roi Mata conquered the land, his first goal was to unite the tribes to form an army. His reign is reputed to have been a peaceful one. Roi Mata was fatally poisoned by his brother. His body was not buried in his homeland and his name was not used in

future generations Future generations are Cohort (statistics), cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The Moral agenc ...

because the locals feared his spirit.

Gallery

Chief_Roimata's_grave_(08_Jan_2017).jpg, Chief Roi mata's grave (Eratoka Island, 8 January 2017) Roimata's_wives_graves.jpg, Grave markers of Chief Roi mata's wives (Eratoka Island, 8 January 2017)

Notes and references

Notes

References

* *{{cite book, language= , title=Souvenir des ancêtres et histoire orale au Vanuatu. Les récits de chefferies anciennes aux îles Shepherd , first1=Sandrine , last1=Bessis , type=PhD dissertation in linguistics , url=https://ens.hal.science/THESES-ENS/tel-04582785 , date=2023 , place=Univ. Sorbonne, Paris , pp=1027 , ref=bessis

External links

"Roy Mata"

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

History of Vanuatu Vanuatuan chiefs Deaths by poisoning People murdered in Vanuatu Vanuatuan murder victims World Heritage Sites in Vanuatu Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 16th-century monarchs