Beqa

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Beqa
Beqa lagoon
Beqa lagoon
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Viti Levu Group , Fiji
Geographical location 18 ° 23 '28 "  S , 178 ° 7' 45"  O Coordinates: 18 ° 23 '28 "  S , 178 ° 7' 45"  O
Beqa (Fiji)
Beqa
length 8.9 km
width 6.8 km
surface 36 km²
Highest elevation Korolevu
462  m
Residents 3000 (February 25, 2006)
83 inhabitants / km²
main place Dakuibeqa
Fiji
Fiji

Beqa ( IPA : [ ˈmbeŋga ], spelling also Bega, Mbengga, Mbenga) is an island of the island state of Fiji of the Viti Levu group in the southern Pacific Ocean . Administratively it belongs to the Central Division and there to the province of Rewa . Beqa is known as a tourist attraction and for the cult of fire walking .

geography

Beqa is of volcanic origin and is connected below the sea surface by the "Vatulele-Beqa Saddle" ( Vatulele-Beqa Ridge ) with the southwestern Vatulele (volcanically active) and the island of Yanuca . The island is 10 kilometers south of Viti Levu ; Beqa Strait runs in between .

The main island has an area of ​​36 km² and reaches a height of up to 462 m above sea level. The eastern part with the mountain Vunikaukauloa and the place Soliyanga (also Suliyanga) is separated by the Malumu Bay (Malumu Bay) and connected in the southeast area by a narrow isthmus . The highest mountain is the Korolevu with a height of 462 meters. Together with other inhabited islands, including Ugaga (Unggangga, also Steward Island), Beqa is surrounded by a barrier reef . The lagoon measures around 390 km², the sea depth in front of the reef is 2000 meters.

The island's climate is tropical and humid with temperatures between 16 and 32 ° C. Hurricanes occur in the summer months with more precipitation (November – April) . There is a risk of tsunamis due to seismic activity . The tidal wave of the Suva earthquake (1953) reached a height of 1.4 meters on Beqa.

population

As a tribal district ( Tikina ), Beqa belongs to the Rewa tribe in the province of the same name. The population of Beqa is divided into the sub-tribes ( Yavusa ) of the Sawau (with the main town Dakuibeqa and the villages Dakuni , Soliyaga , Naceva and Rukua , including three villages adopted by the tribe) and the Raviravi (villages Raviravi, Nawaisomo and Lalati ). The titles of the chiefs are Nacurumoce na Turaga na Tui Sawau and Turaga na Tui Raviravi . The head of the tribe, the Tui Sawau, resides in Suva. The official language is Fijian , which is one of the Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian languages . Beqaic is one of the eastern dialects of Fijian.

History, culture

More recent finds from the Lapita culture (sherds and obsidian originating from the Bismarck Archipelago), which were made in Kulu Bay in the south of Beqa and on Ugaga, allow conclusions to be drawn about an initial settlement around 3,000 years ago.

The more recent settlement history than that of the Rewa tribe is handed down in the oral tradition (written in Bau-language ):

“A neitou Vu ko tobacco analagi, a watina ko Likuvono. Era lako mai Rewa na neitou qase, ka ra mai biu tū e sō mai Beqa, e dua na kena iwasewase era lako ki Kadavu, ka ra sa tiko mai Tavuki e na gauna oqō. "

“Our origins come from Tabakanalagi, his wife is Likuvono. Our ancestors came from Rewa, and they left some on Beqa, some went to Kadavu, and they stayed in Tavuki at the time. "

- Capell / Lester: Kinship in Fiji, 1946

The first sighting is attributed to Captain Christopher Bentley in 1799 with the American ship Ann and Hope on the return voyage from Australia, who also sighted Kadavu .

Dumont d'Urville had a hydrographic map made by Vincendon Dumoulin on his second Pacific voyage in 1838, but he mistakenly relocated Beqa to the place of the island of Ono-i-Kadavu further south. This was corrected by re-measurements of the Viti-Levu passage by the HMS Alacrity , which was first published in 1878 under the map number 167. A first reliable mention of Beqa in written sources can be found in the report of the United States Exploring Expedition led by Charles Wilkes :

“The island of Mbenga, five miles south of Viti-levui, is five miles long and three wide; the land rises boldly on all sides towards the interior, terminating in two prominent basaltic peaks thirteen hundred feet above the sea level. "

“The island of Mbenga, located five miles south of Viti-levui, is five miles long and three [miles] wide; the land rises boldly from all sides towards the interior and culminates in two basaltic peaks that can be seen from afar, one thousand three hundred feet above the sea. "

- Voyage of the US exploring squadron 1840

“Mbenga is nearly divided into two by the harbor of Sawau, which faces to the north, and is about two miles deep. The entrance is narrow, being only a quarter of a mile from headland to headland, but it immediately opens out to a mile in width, and contains from four to ten fathoms of water. There are several small villages lying around the harbor, each imbosomed in its pleasant grove of tropical fruit-trees. "

“By the port of Sawau, which lies to the north and is about two miles deep, Mbenga is almost divided in half. The entrance is narrow, only a quarter of a mile from headland to headland, but immediately widens to a mile wide, with depths of four to ten fathoms of water. Several small villages are located around the harbor, each surrounded by its own pleasant grove with tropical fruit trees. "

- Voyage of the US exploring squadron 1840

Beqa still belongs to the sphere of influence of the Wesleyan Methodists , who spread to Suva under the missionary John Hunt (1812–1848). Hunt reported 14 villages on Beqa in one of his notes. The time of the British Crown Colony of Fiji seems to have left little accounts of Beqa. Before visiting the archipelago by Charles Wilkes of the then ruler of Rewa reports on a punitive expedition, as the Beqa people stranded Rewaer, after normal use, cannibalistic ate. Cannibalistic outgrowths, such as on the mainland, are not known. Beqa then became part of the land compensation that Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau (Thakombau) had to pay for a crime against the crew of an American ship, the head of the Beqa appealed by letter because they knew nothing of the new owners and asked for support from the Tongan nobleman Enele Ma'afu , who at the time had built his own empire in Fiji and was also belligerent against Rewa. The proximity to Suva never made Beqa a supply island for provisions, water or coal, this was reserved for the Kadavu further south with the Galoa Habour.

The German businessman and naturalist Theodor Kleinschmidt reported on one of his collecting trips for the Godeffroy Museum only from a short stopover on the small island of Yanuca, located within the lagoon, and was able to observe several large whales within the Beqa reef there in 1876. In 1892, Basil Thompson reported from an informant from the island of Beqa about the Kaunitoni myth , which subsequently sparked controversy and turned out to be a modern creation.

Beqa gained importance for Fiji in 1900, when a leprosy quarantine station for the whole of Fiji, which at the time numbered around 1000 lepers, was built in the south of the island , which was only closed in 1915.

Archaeological research began in 1945, from 1986 to 1987 a longer excursion took place, which Andrew Crosby reported. He found remains of 40 fortifications of various types on Beqa, including 14 circular moat fortifications near the coast and 26 on the upper hill points inland.

Firewalk

Firewalkers from Beqa during the New Zealand International Exhibition of Arts and Industries in Christchurch, December 1906, the first foreign display

The Na Vilavilairevo Ceremony: The end of the 19th century marks the time when Beqa also came into the interest of anthropologists and the Fijian administration, in particular due to the fire running , which is only performed on Beqa by members of a certain tribe, the Sawau becomes. So already 26 fire walkers appeared at the New Zealand International Exhibition of Arts and Industries in Christchurch, New Zealand 1906-1907 in a "Fiji Camp". The origin of the firewalk has been the subject of various comparative studies. Fire priests lead this ritual, in which participation is an award and a test for the elect. The last field research on the fire walkers took place in 2007 by Guido Carlo Pigliasco, who published his results under the title The Custodians of the Gift: Intangible Cultural Property and Commodification of the Fijian Firewalking Ceremony .

Economy, infrastructure

Beqa's main source of income today is tourism . Well-known hotel complexes are the resorts Lawaki Beach House , Beqa Lagoon Resort , Kulu Bay Resort , Lalati Resort and the Royal Davui Resort on Ugaga . The "Shark Reef Marine Preserve" and several underwater gardens, e.g. B. in the Beqa lagoon, are characterized by high stocks of shark and attract diving tourists. The importance of agriculture is negligible as it is largely based on subsistence farming . The geographical basis of the island did not result in any appreciable opportunities for cotton, sugar or coconut plantations, as were common in other parts of Fiji, and a landing trip for air traffic was not possible. There is still no well-developed road network, so that village-to-village traffic is generally carried out by boat. The closest port on the mainland is Navua in the south of Viti Levu.

Due to the unaffordable prices for the operation of previous diesel engines for the population , planning for the energy supply began in 2007, with the decision to use solar energy instead of a submarine cable from Viti Levu. In 2012, the first systems were installed in the village of Rukua with the help of engineer units from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF).

literature

Web links

Commons : Beqa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b UNEP Islands
  2. ↑ Other sources also name a height of 480 m, cf. Atholl Anderson, Geoffrey Clark: Fieldwork in southern Viti Levu and Beqa Island. (PDF; 4.2 MB) Canberra, 2009, p. 87ff.
  3. ^ Pacific Disaster Center. Summary of Earthquakes and Tsunamis Affecting Fiji 1850-2004 . Tsunami Awareness Kit, p. 4 ( Memento of the original dated February 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 861 kB), English, accessed on December 14, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pdc.org
  4. ↑ Clayton Fredericksen: The maritime distribution of Bismarck Archipelago obsidian and island Melanesian prehistory , In: The Journal of the Polynesian Society , Auckland, 1997, Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 375-394, here p. 378 ( online at JPS )
  5. ^ Atholl Anderson, Geoffrey Clark: Fieldwork in southern Viti Levu and Beqa Island. (PDF; 4.2 MB) Canberra, 2009, p. 87ff.
  6. ^ A. Capell, RH Lester: Kinship in Fiji. In: Oceania. Volume 16, No. 4, 1946, pp. 297-318, here: p. 308. ( JSTOR 40328104 ), accessed December 25, 2012.
  7. ↑ Ann and hope logbooks and related papers on a return voyage from Providence to Canton, 1798–1799 , materials in the State Library, New South Wales.
  8. ↑ Beqa Passage and lagoon. British Admiralty, May 20, 1878, Hydrographical chart No. 167.
  9. ^ John S. Jenkins: Voyage of the US exploring squadron, commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes, of the United States Navy, in 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, and 1842. Detroit 1853, p. 328 ( archive.org ).
  10. ↑ John S. Jenkins: Voyage of the US exploring squadron, commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes, of the United States Navy, in 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, and 1842. Detroit 1853, pp. 332–333 ( archive.org ) .
  11. ↑ Margaret Cargill: Memoirs of Mrs. Margaret Cargill, wife of the Rev. David Cargill, AM, Wesleyan Missionay; including Notices of the progress of Christianity in Tonga and Feejee. Mason, London 1841, pp. 142ff.
  12. ↑ Theodor Kleinschmidt's travels on the Viti Islands, processed according to the correspondence. In: Journal of the Museum Godeffroy. Volume 5, Issue 14, 1879, p. 273 ( archive.org PDF; 28.6 MB).
  13. ^ Basil Thompson: The land of our origin (Viti. Or Fiji.) In: Journal of the Polynesian Society. Volume 1, No. 3, 1892, pp. 143-146 ( jps.auckland.ac.nz , English, Fijian), accessed December 15, 2012.
  14. ↑ For criticism, compare: Peter France: The Kaunitoni Migration: Notes on the Genesis of a Fijian Tradition. In: Journal of Pacific History. Vol. 1, 1966, pp. 107-113. ( JSTOR 25167866 ). Retrieved December 25, 2012.
  15. ^ Andrew Crosby: Beqa: archeology, structure and history in Fiji. University of Auckland 1988, pp. 31-35.
  16. ↑ Paula Tagivetaua: Fire Walkers of Beqa. In: The Fiji Times Online , June 17, 2011 ( Memento of the original from June 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in English, accessed December 25, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fijitimes.com
  17. ^ Ewan Johnston: Reinventing Fiji at 19th-Century and Early 20th-Century Exhibitions. In: Journal of Pacific History. Volume 40, 2005, No. 1, p. 36. ( JSTOR 25169728 ) ISSN  0022-3344 , accessed December 25, 2012.
  18. ↑ James Cowan : Official record of the New Zealand International Exhibition of Arts and Industries held at Christchurch, 1906–7. A descriptive and historical account by J. Cowan. Wellington 1910. Section XII, The Ethnological Section (PDF; 9.7 MB), pp. 362–372. English, accessed December 27, 2012.
  19. ↑ Brahmin Eye-Witness: Fire-walking in Fiji, Japan, India, and Mauritius. In: Journal of the Polynesian Society. Volume 8, No. 3, 1899, pp. 188–196, here: pp. 189–190: The Legend of the Beqa Fire-walking ceremony. ( JSTOR 20701543 ), accessed December 25, 2012.
  20. ↑ Thorolf Lipp: Myths of the South Seas (2/5) - Divine Gifts  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.phoenix.de   , Film, phoenix.de
  21. ↑ Map of the lagoon  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.south-seas-adventures.com  
  22. ↑ Online at Academia.edu , free download after registration, as of 2012. There you will also find further material on the Sawau project.