The ‘old school’ way
THE traditional drua and the camakau in Fiji reflect the complexity of voyages and the sturdy ability that Fijian people have for sailing and their ancestral traditional craftsmanship skills.
For many Fijians, the beautifully well-structured drua and camakau symbolises their heritage and what they stand for, voyagers of the wide Pacific Ocean, connecting their way of life, their vanua and with their Pacific brothers and sisters.
Keeping or maintaining this traditional knowledge of sailing and craftsmanship can be a tough undertaking, seeing how this traditional knowledge is slowly slipping away from modern Fijian societies.
To be able to sail in open ocean space, one must have the zeal and love of sailing on traditional canoes.
Traditional drua and camakau craftsman and sailor, Setareki Domonisere said keeping the traditional knowledge alive was hard if people did not have the heart for it.
Setareki of Naividamu Village in Fulaga, Lau comes from a long line of craftsmen who have kept the traditional boat making skill alive with the unbroken chain of knowledge being unbroken spanning for more than 3000 years.
“I used to learn from my father who had learned the skill from his father and it was simply about watching him carve traditional canoes out from trees and to shape it meticulously — that fascinated me as a young boy,” he said.
“I slowly followed in his footsteps, making sure I picked up on all the skills he had of craftsmanship and being observant was one of my good qualities growing up.
“There was also the sailing part which was just exhilarating in the sense that I felt completely in love with it.
“I attended Ratu Sukuna Memorial School and in 1986 completed high school. I had the urge to go back to the village and develop my knowledge of traditional boat making.”
He said when he was in Naividamu he started making camakau and drua structures with the assistance of village elders who taught him a few things or two about the skill.
“The first boat I built was in 1987 and I remember quite clearly the feeling of having built my own boat and having completed it. It was the best feeling a craftsman and a traditional sailor could ever have,” he said.
“My first boat was 30 feet long and it was a camakau. The last canoe I built in the village was called Pito, my nephew thought it was a fun name to give the canoe.
“I had used it to sail from Fulaga to Lakeba and after returning it sank at Fulaga.
“In 1992, I returned to Suva and I was fortunate to have a few elders in the village who shared their knowledge with me and I was always keen to learn more about these traditional boats because there isn’t a lot of a knowledgeable persons who still know and share this skill.”
Setareki’s works on traditional canoes have been displayed around the world.
Canoes he worked on with other craftsmen have been featured at COP23 in Bonn, Germany, in Los Angeles, the Adi Yeta drua (double hull canoe) at the National Maritime Museum in London, England and also in Berlin.
He said it was important to share the traditional knowledge as much as possible before it dies out.