Nataleira Invests in Traditional Dances

The people of Nataleira Vil­lage in Dawasamu, Tailevu North, are now investing on their traditional dances (meke).

Village spokesperson Sanaila Rokotuivuna said they had two traditional dances – a sitting dance for women known as “Meke ni Ta Waqa” and for the men’s it’s known as the “Vaka Ra”.

Mr Rokotuivuna said they were performing the two traditional dances at hotels and other places where they were invited.

The money they earned for their services he said went towards re­pairing the village church that was damaged during Tropical Cyclone Winston in February 2016.

He said there were other village projects also funded by the money they earned from the meke.

The men’s dance, according to Mr Rokotuivuna, is about the fish called the red snapper (damu).

“We eat this fish and it is also the fish Nataleira is known for,” he said.

He said this meke had been passed on from their elders and now they were passing it on to their children.

Most of the children he said were included in the meke when it’s performed for people visiting the village or for tourists.

Mr Rokotuivuna said they were ap­proached by the Min­istry of the iTaukei Affairs to perform at the celebration of the International Year of Indig­enous Languages at Ratu Sukuna Park, Suva.

Mr Rokotuivuna said they sup­ported the event and they were happy to be part of the celebration.

“The children are now learning and performing the meke because they will take over from us in the future,” he said.

“We firmly believe that our meke will not die out naturally because our children will pass this on to their children and so on.”

For the women’s dance he said two Global Vision International (GVI) workers from Australia working at the village were also performing.

One of them is 20-year-old Caitlin Riley, who learned the dance in just two days.

Ms Riley said she looked forward to performing together with the women of Nataleira.

She was at the village helping out on a project, but returns to Canber­ra, Australia, today.

She said she loved the people of Natelaira and described them as “..very friendly and helpful”.

Edited by Percy King

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