The Fijian myth of the greedy god - Raiana McKinney and Esther Wozniak
With his appetite for conquest
and knack for combat,
the shark god Dakuwaqa was determined
to vanquish all his rivals.
Long ago, the ancestral gods of Fiji,
known as kalou vu or simply vu,
settled on the Pacific archipelago,
each establishing a village
in a different area.
Eventually, they metamorphosed
into various forms.
Dakuwaqa settled
on resource-rich Cakaudrove
and transformed into a shark.
But he was unsatisfied.
He became proud and greedy,
and wanted to challenge every vu,
establish himself as the mightiest,
and dominate all of Fiji’s islands.
In his quest for power, Dakuwaqa sped
through the waters toward Rewa,
where a quick and cunning eel-shaped vu
tried to stop him in the mouth of a river.
Soon, the two were tumbling
through the water, locked in combat.
The brawling vu created towering waves,
stretching the river further inshore
and flooding nearby coastal communities.
In the end, the eel was no match
for Dakuwaqa’s ferocity.
After the fight, the Rewa River became
the longest and widest in Fiji,
which made nearby communities
especially prone to flooding.
But Dakuwaqa didn’t care
what damage he caused,
so long as he remained undefeated.
Dakuwaqa continued on his rampage,
later vanquishing Masilaca,
the small, mischievous shark vu
that lived near Beqa Island.
Despite their rocky start,
the two became friends.
But one day, Masilaca— perhaps growing
tired of Dakuwaqa’s proud, selfish ways
and the chaos he’d caused
across the archipelago—
presented a challenge he knew
Dakuwaqa couldn’t resist.
Masilaca spoke about a fierce vu
called Rokobakaniceva,
who guarded the outer island of Kadavu,
and teased that,
until Dakuwaqa defeated them,
he couldn’t claim the title
of strongest vu.
Before Masilaca could even finish
describing Rokobakaniceva,
Dakuwaqa was jetting through the water
in the direction of Kadavu.
As he came close,
Dakuwaqa saw a giant octopus
hovering at the entrance to a reef.
The octopus vu, Rokobakaniceva,
cared greatly for the people of Kadavu
and asked Dakuwaqa politely to stay away
and not intimidate the villagers.
Dakuwaqa was only emboldened
by the request.
He showed his imposing teeth
and lunged forward to attack.
But Rokobakaniceva was prepared.
With four tentacles, the octopus vu
remained rooted to a rock on the seafloor
and with the remaining four,
captured Dakuwaqa’s body
and flipped him over.
In this position, his breathing slowed
and his muscles relaxed.
He was paralyzed and powerless in a
mysterious state called tonic immobility
that some sharks assume when flipped over
or when the sensitive pores
of their snout are stimulated.
Dakuwaqa was stuck upside down
and struggling to breathe,
and Rokobakaniceva’s tentacles wrapped
tighter and tighter around his body.
Though still shocked,
Dakuwaqa realized the battle was lost
for the first time in his life.
In exchange for Rokobakaniceva’s mercy,
he promised that he would change his ways.
Instead of menacing the villagers
and other vu,
he vowed to protect Fijian fishers
from Kadavu and beyond.
Pleased with the pact,
Rokobakaniceva agreed and freed Dakuwaqa.
He stayed true to his word—
no longer bragging about dueling vu,
conquering coastlines,
and taking tributes.
Instead, he began finding satisfaction
in guiding lost people back to their homes
and warning local fishers of bad weather
and sinister sea creatures.
In return, some of Fiji’s people would
pay homage to Dakuwaqa
by pouring a traditional drink— yaqona,
also known as kava— into the ocean.
And upon returning safely from fishing
trips with an abundance of catch,
they’d throw fish heads back
into the ocean for the sharks—
gestures of mutual care to elicit luck
and protection from Dakuwaqa himself.
