Burebasaga is the largest of the three confederacies that make up Fiji's House of Chiefs, to which some of the Fijian Ratu belong.
Composition of Burebasaga
It consists of the provinces of
Rewa Province, Nadroga,
Serua Province,
Kadavu Province off the coast of
Suva, and parts of
Ba Province and Namosi. Burebasaga covers the southern and western parts of the island of
Viti Levu. The Western Division and the southern part of the Central Division belong to Burebasaga.
Lomanikoro, in Rewa Province, is the capital of this confederacy.
Chiefly titles
The Roko Tui Dreketi is the Paramount Chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy. Unlike the
Kubuna and
Tovata confederacies, Burebasaga does not require its paramount chief to be a male. The present
Roko Tui Dreketi is
Teimumu Kepa, who succeeded her late sister,
Lala Mara, a former First Lady of Fiji, in 2004. Kepa was also Minister of Education in the Fijian Cabinet from 2000 to 2006.
Another prominent Burebasaga chief is the Tui Vuda. The most recent holder of this title was Josefa Iloilo, who was the President of Fiji from 2000 to 2009, apart from a 29-day hiatus (5 December 2006 to 4 January 2007) after he was deposed in a military coup. The military returned the presidency to Iloilo. Former Prime Minister Tevita Momoedonu is also a Burebasaga chief.
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Apologies To Thucydides: Understanding History as Culture and Vice Versa - Page 59, Page 286, by Marshall David Sahlins, reference to Title of Roko Tui Dreketi and Burebasaga
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International Studies - Page 22, by Indian School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University School of International Studies - 1959, reference to Burebasaga as a Confederacy
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When Is the Nation?: Towards an Understanding of Theories of Nationalism - Page 202, by Atsuko Ichijo, Gordana Uzelac - 2005, reference to Burebasaga Confederacy and its composition
External links
Sources:
Maori News (Fiji Supplement);
Roko Tui Dreketi
