The people of Rotuma are currently on a mission to protect and maintain their so-called preserved chants and dances.

This follows the research findings conducted by Rotuman Academia Makereta Mua on the descendants of the pearl divers on Torres Strait in the 1870s, where 14 lost chants and dances of Rotuma were identified.

Mua says there is a strong similarity between Rotuman’s chants and those of the Mari islanders in the Torres Strait.

“There were 14 Rotuman chants and dances that the Rotuman in Fiji have lost, and they are kept and preserved by the Mari Islanders like anything I’ve ever seen.”

Mua says that though the lyrics are not recognizable after more than 170 years, the dances and movements could still be known by the Rotuman elders.

“Im happy to say that every single Rotuman elder that I showed it to confirmed without any doubt that it was Rotuman.”

Following this finding, Rako Pasifika is working with Mua to have the 14 lost Rotuma chants and dances produced and brought to life as a part of theater production for future Rotuma generations.

“The reason for us to do that is so that all of this knowledge and stories of our elders do not remain on shelves, and while they may have been forgotten, they are not lost.”

Though the work may have taken a longer process, Rotumans are willing to have it produced and even presented it to the Torres Islands with the thought of a healthy exchange for this bit of history they hold dearly.