Nakausabaria the Twin
Fijian · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Entered as a deity (an ancestral war-cycle god). Descent from Degei is recorded as 'grandson' in the prevailing saga (variants say son, or name the Tui Nubulevu as father); because the father is unregistered and 'grandsons' is dominant, parentIds is left empty and the Degei link is carried by the cited 'enemy' relation plus parentRoles, rather than misstating Degei as his direct parent. Orthography of the twin's name varies (Cirinakaumoli / Nacirikaumoli / Thirikaumoli).
Domains
- war
- canoe building
Powers
- rebels against Degei and brings on the first great war
- patron of the canoe-builders
- shoots Degei's sacred cock Turukawa and provokes the first war
Relations
- twin sibling: Cirinakaumoli the TwinThe two are an inseparable twin pair in the Nakauvadra cycle.Geraghty, Paul (ed.). Degei's Descendants (ANU Press), on the Nakauvadra twins Nakausabaria and Cirinakaumoli (secondary)
- enemy: Serpent CreatorThe twins (his grandsons in the prevailing tradition) rebel against and make war on Degei after the killing of his cock Turukawa.Fison, Lorimer. 'Ancestor Worship Among the Fijians', Popular Science Monthly 47 (1895) (secondary)
Sources
- Nakausabaria is one of the twin grandsons of the supreme god Degei in the Nakauvadra cycle; with his twin Cirinakaumoli he killed Degei's prize cock Turukawa, provoking the great founding war of Fiji and the dispersal of its peoples, and the two are honoured as patron deities of canoe-building and are figured on Fiji's coat of arms.: Fison, Lorimer. 'Ancestor Worship Among the Fijians', Popular Science Monthly 47 (1895) (secondary); Fison, Lorimer. Tales from Old Fiji (1904) (secondary); Geraghty, Paul (ed.). Degei's Descendants: Spirits, Place and People in Pre-Cession Fiji (ANU Press) (secondary)