Sawau Tribe
By Zakiyyah
I’m going to share a folktale from an island in Fiji called Banga. The story tells of a warrior named Tuandelite. He goes out to sea, hunting and gathering, as people did in those days. While he is there, he finds an eel named Hevelli. In Fijian mythology, many gods take the form of animals — there are shark gods, octopus gods, and in this case, an eel. Tuandelite is about to catch and kill the eel, but the eel speaks to him and asks for a bargain. It tells him to spare its life, and in return, it will give him something. The warrior is about to strike, but he decides not to. He lowers his spear and asks what the eel will give him. The eel tells him that it will give him the gift of fire. To test this, the people in the village prepare hot stones with a fire burning underneath. They walk over the stones, and they do not get burned.
This story is hundreds of years old, and it is connected to the Sawau tribe. There are several villages on this island, and to this day, fire walking remains a well-known practice. It is also a popular activity shown in resorts, where people from this tribe walk over hot stones without being burned. It is also believed that members of this tribe have healing abilities. If someone from outside the tribe gets burned, people from the village can come, pray over them, and touch them, helping the burn to heal. For example, my mother once got burned while cooking. Someone connected her with a person from the village. He came, touched her, and within a couple of days, the burn healed completely.
