Hello to those who are following our Discussion with the professor Paul geraghty. From the University of the South Pacific We will be continuing a discussion on his academic conclusions that the word Pulotu from Polynesia is the equivalent of Burotu in Fiji and we will be discussing why Pulotu is derived from Burotu and not vice versa.

and this word is one of the evidence of the Fijian origin of the Polynesians.

Let's listen to Professor Geraghty’s explanation. Remember that there was two settlements of the Polynesian islands full stop one was 3000 years ago by the lapita people and there is archaeological evidence of the lapita pottery. The second sacrament of Polynesia was recent about 1000 years ago and it is this settlement that is associated with the word Pulotu.

And why do I say that pulotu originates from the Fijian word burotu. Firstly because Burotu is a name for places in Fiji. Example matuku used to be called Burotukula, There's a Burotu in Ba, One in Nadroga, one in Serua. On the other hand Pulotu is not a name of a place in Polynesia. It is the place where the spirits of the Chiefs return when they die.

In places like Wallis and futuna Samoa Tonga they believe that the spirit of the Chiefs return to the west to Pulotu. So this belief is common in Southern Polynesia but it is not found in northern Polynesia.This is because Southern Polynesia was populated from Fiji they were close to Fiji and this beliefs were held.

In northern Polynesia they lost this belief but they believe that they were from Savaii in Samoa. So Northern Polynesia believe that they are from Calgary the same for the Cook Islands and New Zealand. the Maori of New Zealand believe that they are from Hawaiiki which is the same word as Savaii in Samoan.

So many believe that the Polynesians from Northern Polynesia Marcus is Tahiti Hawaii Cook Islands New Zealand all come from Samoa.

But the people from Savaii in Samoa believe that they are from Pulotu, The name of Hawaii also originates from the Samoan word Savaii. Is that true?

Yes that’s correct. THey believed only the chiefs returned to Pulotu, Not the commoners.


Why are you confident that the Pulotu comes from Burotu to in Fijian and not vice versa.

If the word in Tonga and Samoa contain the letter p then in the Lau group in Fiji the p is preserved. Also in Tunuloa and Taveuni also keep the p in words that come from Tongan and Samoan words For example the word puaka is not a Fijian word. The Fijian word for pig is vore, qo, na mamai. The Tongans treated raising pigs as honorable a high status. Fijians started to raise pigs as well as a status thing learning from the Tongan and so they took on the word puaka. So interview in northern Fiji the p was preserved but instead of puaka it was pua’a.

In Lomaiviti Rewa Bau Because there was no p so it was replaced with v and so became vuaka.
That's how we know that pulotu originated from Fiji because if we had borrowed pulotu into Fiji or it would become Vurotu in some parts of Fiji and remain as pulotu in the Lau Group and northern Fiji.

Another example is the Tongan Polynesian word palangi, we borrowed that word and became valagi.in some parts fo Fiji and Palagi and Lau and Taveuni.

So we can conclude that pulotu is derived from burotu a Fijian word.

In your journal article you wrote about Road in Tonga in Tonga tapu the road was called hala-ki-Pulotu.

Yes I think it's in Tongatapu or Hapai. VIP road is at the Western end of the island and points West towards Fiji. And that's because the Chiefly family from Tonga from Fiji and the same for Samoa and futuna.

Also in Samoa there's also a place at the Western end of the Island where the spirits of the Chiefs are believed to Jump off to return to Fiji.

Have you heard of the Fijian saying sa “lai tei tarawau”. I have heard it in the past but I don’t know the meaning.

It means someone has died. Why does it mean that? Tarawau is a tree from Vanuatu. So it means that someone who dies has returned to their origins -Vanuatu. There are not many Tarawau trees in Fiji. Some areas of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu have some trees.

Tarawau only came from Vanuatu quite late - a few hundred years ago.

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