Lau Islands

Around 1855, the renegade Tongan prince Enele Ma'afu with the help of Tui Nayau’s army, conquered the region and established a unified administration.

The title Tui Lau was left vacant from his uncle, Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, in 1958 as referenced in Mara, The Pacific Way Paper.

The Northern Lau Islands, which extended as far south as Tuvuca, were under the overlordship of Taveuni and paid tribute to the Tui Cakau (Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove).

In 1855, however, Ma'afu & Tui Nayau gained sovereignty over Northern Lau, establishing Lomaloma, on Vanua Balavu, as Ma”afu’s capital.

Since they lie between Melanesian Fiji and Polynesian Tonga, the Lau Islands are a meeting point of the two cultural spheres.

[4] Historically, the Minerva Reefs have been part of the fishing grounds belonging to the people of Ono-i-Lau, an island in the Lau Group.

Cricket is the most popular team sport in Lau, unlike the rest of the country where Rugby and Association Football are preferred.

Other noted Lauans include Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna (1898-1958), who forged embryonic constitutional institutions for Fiji in the years that preceded independence.