Photos courtesy Fiji Government.
King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau'u attended the installation of the Tui Nayau, Ratu Tevita Lutunauga Kapaiwai Uluilakeba Mara, as the Tui Lau and Sau ni Vanua o Lau on 10 July, at Lau, Fiji.
The chiefly status was left vacant for 21 years following the death of his late father Ratu Sir Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara.
The King and Queen of Tonga are accompanied by HRH Crown Princess Sinaitakala Tuku'aho, HRH Princess Pilolevu, and Lord Tuita. The King and Queen will return to Tonga on Saturday 12, July.
The King and Queen were welcomed at Tubou Lakeba ahead of the installation, with a traditional royal welcoming by the villagers, both men and women.
In the afternoon, the new paramount chief was installed. Ratu Tevita's installation began with a church service at Tubou Village, where leaders from the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma and the Roman Catholic Church in Fiji officiated, preceding the full traditional installation ceremony that took place on the village's rara, or green.
Ratu Tevita Mara swore an oath in church, pledging to serve the people of Lau wisely, and to continue to promote unity and prosperity in the province
Hundreds of people gathered in Tubou Lakeba, for the ceremony, which included a traditional kava ceremony. Also attending was the Māori Queen - Te Arikinui Kuini, Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō from New Zealand.
Tubou is a village on the Fijian island of Lakeba, with a population of about 2,000. One of eight villages on Lakeba, it is considered the capital of the Lau Islands, being the seat of the Vuanirewa clan, a powerful chiefly family.
The Tongan-Fijian warlord Enele Ma'afu, who conquered much of eastern and northern Fiji in the mid-19th century, is buried in Tubou, as are Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna (1888–1958), Fiji's first modern statesman, and Fiji's longtime Prime Minister and President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Many early Christian missionaries are also buried in Tubou.
