always ask and it shall be given ,innocent victim are always targets of self-indulgence

Parents and guardians have again been urged to be more responsible with their children while on excursions following the drowning of a 16 year old student from Ratu Nemasi Memorial School during their field trip to Saweilau cave in Yasawa on the 21^st of November.

Amelia Cabenalawa is believed to have drowned after she wandered alone inside the cave while the rest of the students were swimming on the beach on Monday.

When the students were having lunch it was then that they realized that Ms Cabenalawa was missing.

So a group of men near the shore were told to search for Amelia whereabouts and they finally found her trapped beneath the rocks.

They managed to remove her from the gaps and rushed her to the Nacula Health Centre where a doctor pronounced her dead.

The body was then transferred to the Lautoka Hospital to await a post-mortem examination.

Police spokesman Josaia Weicavu identified Cabenalawa as a happy little girl who always respects her parent’s decision since she was originally from Vahavu in Nadroga where Mr. Weicavu also hails from.

Head man of the village,Kamenieli Momo expressed sadness on hearing of the death saying that the cave is prohibited to school children as they should have seek permission first from the cave keeper before entering the cave.

His sympathy goes out to the family during their time of loss for it’s a real tragedy.

Mr. Momo added that the owner of the cave must have been angry for the school’s act of transgression in trying to push their way forward in exploring the cave without their approval.

It was believed that Josese Draya the cave keeper did not know the field trip of the school for he gives the approval to anyone who wants to explore the cave saying that every cave has a snake god.

A lot of people believe the site was the resting grounds of the legendary 10 headed god, Ulutini. Each chamber of the caves was supposed to represent each of the god's nine snake heads. The 10th resembled a human head. We put that tiny snake in a bottle and took it to the island but Just before we reached the island, the snake died in the bottle.

Rebecca Stock well, 27, of Blenheim, was on a honeymoon with her husband at Matamanoa Resort, in the Mamanuca Group.

Corporal Weicavu said police were still waiting for a report from the Marine Department into that accident before charges were considered.

A casual laborer of the resort was identified as having caused the accident but no charges have been laid.

Ms Stockwell's family set up a trust fund in her memory called Forever26.

The family said the fund was established to "increase water safety and general safety awareness" in Fiji "and in part to make accountable those who, through their negligence, have caused such a senseless death to occur."

In December last year, a newly-married New Zealand tourist died after she was run over by an aluminum boat while snorkeling.

Give it a go.....

Students from Rakiraki Public High school in the Ra Province made a visit to the ancient site at the Narara village where 12 stones sit hidden in the dense jungles of the range of mountains overlooking the cave that make up Nakauvadra in Ra.

The visit was made by the Geography students of Form five, six and seven on the 29th of October to which the students really enjoyed.

Caves with drawings sit below it which remains a mystery for the people of Narara Village.

They stand as monolithic reminders of an era the people of Narara are struggling to understand.

It takes about six hours on foot to get to these ancient monuments at the top of the range of mountains that make up Nakauvadra.

The stones sit in a rough circular formation on the very top of a steep mountain.

The dense jungle has overwhelmed the stones, blocking out the rays of the sun, and allowing a thick blanket of green lichen to coat them.

The students wants to discover the fact that one of the stones which stand like a Stonehenge shelters unusual drawings on the wall which looks unusual.

History depicts that Kemueli Penisoni, 60, was one of four men hunting for pigs who discovered the caves about 30 years ago.

One of the caves had unusual writing on the wall. Monuments and drawings are important for the people of the country. It captured my imagination especially the fact that they were not scratched on the wall but appeared to be chiseled into it.The significance of the east for the ancient people is that it is the front of the Earth where the day and night begin, and also it depicts the rising of the sun and moon.While Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the world - earthworks surrounding a circles of large standing stones at the centre of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds - the stones of Narara are a mystery.

The cave faces the 12 stones hidden high up in the mountains thus the Narara site is believed to be an ancient worship plateau dedicated to the oldest religion in the world, which is the worship of nature by the ancient Gods.

The indigenous inhabitants probably chose the site for its height, with its panoramic view of their world, especially the eastern seaboard.

The Narara cult would have been prominent in its day as the mount of the gods. Its seclusion, non-accessibility and panoramic view denote its role as the place from which the gods bless the whole of Fiji.

At the foot of the mountain would probably reside the various social groups that define their culture in terms of the cults.

Visiting worshippers from the whole of Fiji would probably present their gifts at that point, so Narara would have been a very busy commercial centre with travelers coming from faraway places.

The discovery of the cult is a cultural heritage of immense importance as it ridicules history enforced from colonial times. What about Fiji's hidden history waiting to be discovered?

Alita Silimi,aged 17 a form six student at the school said that the cave have been overtly reminded by our cannibal and war past, but Narara speaks to us of another rich and undiscovered culture that time can no longer hold in bondage.

It wants to be heard and speak to this generation. We can learn from Narara as time is not yet up.

The students found out that the 12 stones arranged in a circular formation depicts the 12 complete cycles of the full moon from one harvest to the next.

Usually, upon the completion of the 12 full moons, the harvest had not been reached probably by a week, days or hours and the normal practice was to add on another moon, the 13th.

Through the students reaserach and findings they found out that Stonehenge was erected around 2500 BC, and new archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project indicates that Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings.

The dating of cremated remains found on the Narara cave site shows that burials took place there as early as 3000 BC, when the initial ditch and bank were first dug.

 For now, the stones and caves sit silently as reminders of an ancient past.The students find that at the mouth of the cave, a little streams flow by it and remains of cooking spot are found at the opening of the cave which shows that humans have been living in the cave for the past thousand years.

humans bones and skulls discovered by a digger in the cave............

So amazing was the discovery of human skeletons and bones at the Wailotua caves which urges  academics at USP to research more on ancient history that is available which could be more useful in areas of studies within the school and most important in the local education system.

A digger discovered these bones while digging for entrance around the cave and the Fiji Museum team after hearing that information rushed off to the scene to get a glimpse of what is truly happening on Monday.

Villagers said the discovery raised questions of how the bones came to be in the cave which was sealed off with a stone slab.

Recent studies by an academic from USP,Dr  Mark Stephens indicated that the formation of the caves and the living of humans in the caves was believed to be  around 15 million years ago.

Also the limestone that is presented at the bottom of the skulls and bones resulted from a coral reef and is huge, 610 metres in thickness, although much of it is hidden underground since hardened and was lifted above sea level because of underground tectonic forces

Since limestone dissolves relatively easily in contact with water, the Wailotua caves subsequently form within limestone because of natural processes over thousands and millions of years.

Village headman Taitusi Tamani an employee of Standard Concrete Industries was in the hills behind the village digging stones to be taken to the quarry on the Wainibuka stretch of the upgraded Kings Road.

After the driver dug through the slab of stone he saw an opening towards to which he managed to get through.

He got off the digger to investigate when he saw skulls and bones neatly piled in a corner of the cave, as if it had been put there by someone.

The machine operator went to the village and told the villagers which gave the Wailotua villagers an urge to flock into the cave to see the bones.

Mr. Tamani said in the old days, the bodies were not buried but taken to a cave meant to be their final resting place.

In the Pacific, as elsewhere in the world, caves have long been regarded as mysterious places and are linked with the after-life, as such caves have long been used for human burial. Wailotua caves provided vital information on long-term climate change and natural climatic cycles. The aim of these is to protect ancient archaeological remains from stream erosion caused by deforestation. However footpaths had been installed using local materials and these would provide a sustainable future for the eco-tourism of the cave.

Tthe bones was given a proper burial on Friday with help from Standard Concrete which provides two caskets for the bones and food and yaqona for the traditional ceremonies.

Rock digging at the site has been halted as a second cave has also been found nearby with more human bones but no one has been able to enter the cave as the opening is too small. Eleven skulls were found on Monday and one was seen in the second cave.

 

The cave where the bones were found is called Naqaranibolo and according to elders it was the old village site within the village area at Wailotua. 

THE VALLEY OF ONO AND THE SLEEPING SIX HEADED SNAKE...

The University of the South pacific history students went for the second time this year for another one day research at the Wailotua caves,which is  23 km of Korovou town on Saturday, 15th of October from nine o’clock in the morning till five in the afternoon.

The postgraduate students went on the first occassions on the 4th of June and then now the history students from the school of social sciences are going for the second time to further their reasearch inside the Wailotua Caves.

The idea of Wailotua cave seem to be a brilliant consideration for research due to the physical geography of the cave, early missionisation, and the early relationship of the sacred cave with oral tales meaning stories foretold by ancestral descendants of cave owners and protection of this cave.
The official name of the village is Wailotua ,while the locals refer to it as”Ono”-not Wailotua.

'Ono' means six which symbolizes the six-headed snake inside the cave who is the keeper and the owner of the cave and according to elders in the village, the snake is protecting gold and diamonds inside the cave.

Besides that research days are done to target people including those outside USP who are interested in raising community awareness about key issues, and exhibiting USP’s expertise in fields that are relevant to the people of the Pacific Islands region.

The research trip was a memorable one since I managed to get into a cave that was not only geographically spectacular, but also rich in tradition and historical significance.While the cave is also of immense local significance because different rooms in the cave accommodate different Gods as they say when they decide to have a rest before they continue with their journey around Fiji.If we go inside the cave we will see where they used to kill prisoners, as blood and fat remains stuck on the wall thus lying close to the area was the traditional war club that they used to crush the POW’s heads.

Anthropologists, Dr Lynda Newland who is also coordinating the excursion said that from past experience Wailotua ,is divided into three parts,’WAI’ meaning water or river,’LOTU’-which means Christianity or Religion and ‘A’ as a common expression of surprise or excitement which the students and staff going on the trip would be deeply researching about.
The name of the village reflects the fact that predecessors crossed a river and stumbled upon Christianity which ended war, cannibalism and other traditional practices involved in worshipping the Kalou-Vu (ancestral gods).
Dr Newland said that people of Wailotua today were part of the Kaunitoni migration which started from Vuda and ended in Verata.
On their way down they settled in Nasautoka (10 minutes from Wailotua), but the population grew to the extent that it forced them to look for other places to settle.
So when they came to present-day Wailotua, they found people from Verata there and these people hunted the Verata people down giving the migrants opportunity to settle there and claim it as their own.
Additionally, Dr Christine Weir, from the department of History  furthered her research on whether myths varied according to speaker’s memory to the audience reaction since there is no fixed original reliance memory over years.
The cave was used as a safe house for women and children during tribal wars while men would bring prisoners of war (POW) inside the cave and slaughter them to eat.
There was also research done on how remains of coral, shell and algal fragments in the lime stones at Wailotua which Dr Stephens was concerned about.
Dr Weir mentioned that during Sir Arthur Gordon’s visit to Fiji, her cousin Linda wrote a book about him conducting a Sevusevu (welcoming ceremony) ceremony at the middle of the cave but managed to write a book about it without stating the name of the cave