... The water of the kava, however, has a different symbolic provenance. The classic Cakaudrove kava chant, performed at the Lau installation rites, refers to it as sacred rain water from the heavens... This male and chiefly water (semen) in the womb of a kava bowl whose feet are called 'breasts' (sucu),

(pictures from Lindqvist showing very old Chinese cooking vessels)

and from the front of which, tied to the upper part of an inverted triangle, a sacred cord stretches out toward the chief ... 

The cord is decorated with small white cowries, not only a sign of chieftainship but by name, buli leka, a continuation of the metaphor of birth - buli, 'to form', refers in Fijian procreation theory to the conceptual acception of the male in the body of the woman. The sacrificed child of the people will thus give birth to the chief ...

... I pass over the preliminary installation of the chief as Tui Nayau at Nayau Island, though its significance will be taken into account. The ensuing investiture of the Tui Nayau as paramount of Lau consciously follows the legend of an original odyssey, which brought the ancestral holder of the title into power at Lakeba, ruling island of the Lau Group. The chief thus makes his appearance at Lakeba from the sea, as a stranger to the land. Disembarking at the capital village of Tubou, he is led first to the chiefly house (vale levu) and next day to the central ceremonial ground (raaraa) of the island. 

At both stages of this progression, the pretender is led along a path of barkcloth by local chieftains of the land. In Lau, this barkcloth is prescriptively a type considered foreign by origin, Tongan barkcloth. Later, at the kava ceremony constituting the main ritual of investiture, a native chieftain will bind a piece of white Fijian tapa about the paramount's arm. The sequence of barkcloths, together with the sequence of movements to the central ceremonial ground, recapitulate the correlated legendary passages of Tui Nayau from foreign to domestic, sea to land, and periphery to center.  

The Fijian barkcloth that in the end captures the chief represents his capture of the land: upon installation, he is said to hold the 'barkcloth of the land' (masi ni vanua). The barkcloth thus has deeper significance. In general ritual usage, barkcloth serves as 'the path of the god'. Hanging from the rafters at the rear, sacred end of the ancient temple, it is the avenue by which the god descends to enter the priest ...

The tree which on T. was called miro, Thespesia populnea. Van Tilburg.

Makoikoi, kidney T. Churchill.

1. Wood, stick; also (probably improperly) used for 'tree': miro tahiti, a tree from Tahiti (Melia azedarach); miro huru iti, shrub. 2. Wooden vessel (canoe, boat); today pahú (a Tahitian word) is more used, especially when speaking of modern boats. 3. Name of the tribe, of royal blood, descended from Ariki Hotu Matu'a. Vanaga.

Miro-oone, model boat made of earth in which the 'boat festivals' used to be celebrated. Vanaga. ... on the first day of the year the natives dress in navy uniforms and performs exercises which imitate the maneuvers of ships' crews ... Métraux.

Tree, plant, wood, plank, ship, building; miro hokuhoku, bush, thicket; miro takataka, bush; miro tupu, tree; miro vavau, switch. Miroahi, firebrand. Mimiro, compass, to roll one over another, to turn in a circle. P Pau.: miro, to rope. Churchill.

1. Wood. 2. Ship (Ko te rua o te raa i tu'i ai te miro ki Rikitea tupuaki ki Magareva = On the second day the boat arrived at Rikitea which is close to Mangareva. He patu mai i te puaka mo ma'u ki ruga ki te miro = They corralled the cattle in order to carry them on to the boat.) Krupa.

T. 1. The tree Thespesia populnea. ... a fine tree with bright-green heart-shaped leaves and a yellow flower resembling that of the fau, but not opening wide. The fruit is hemispherical and about twice the size of a walnut, consisting of brittle shell in which are several septa, each containing a single seed. The wood resembles rosewood and is of much the same texture. Formerly, this tree was held sacred. Henry. 2. Rock. (To'a-te-miro = Long-standing-rock.) Henry.

1. Ina kai; verbal negation (but not used with the imperative); ina kai kai matou, we have not eaten. 2. To eat; meal. 3. Fruits or produces of the land, vegetables, edible plants. 4. Figuratively: he-kai ite rogorogo, to recite the inscriptions kohau rogorogo (as spiritual food). 5. Eclipse: ku-kai-á te raá, te mahina, the sun, the moon has been eaten (eclipsed). Vanaga.

1. Negative; kai rogo, to fast; kai oho, to forego; kai maa, to be ignorant, to doubt; vave kai kohe, inaccessible; ina kai, see ina 1. Ta.: ai, no. 2. To undergo, to suffer. 3. Sharp, cutting. T Mgv.: koi, koikoi, pointed, sharp, adapted for cutting; kokoi, prickly, stinging, irritating. Mq.: koi, sharp, cutting. Ta.: oi, sharp, keen. Since this is the only language which has kai in this sense the possibility of typographical error should not be overlooked. The form koi outside of Southeast Polynesia is found in Maori, Rarotonga and Hawaii. 4. To eat, to feed, to feast; food, meat, a meal, repast; kai nui, provision, intemperate, voracious; kai no iti, sober, temperate; hue ki te kai, to victual; kai taria te kai, abundance, to abound; hakapee no kai hoao, abundance, to abound. Kaia, eaten. P Pau.: kai, food, to eat. Mgv.: kai, food, nourishment, to eat. Mq.: kai, ai, food, to eat. Ta.: ai, to eat. 5. Hakakai, to take, to attack. Mgv.: kai, to receive. Mq.: ai, to catch some one, to seek to surprise. Ta.: ai, to receive, to get possession of, to become master of. Churchill.

Kaihue, a heap of food. Kaikino, selfish, avaricious, faithless, ingrate, miserly, rascal. Mq.: kaikino, selfish, stingy, avaricious. Kaipurua, issue, outlet, egress. Kaitagata, cannibal; paoa kaitagata, cannibal, savage.  Kaiu, nursling, suckling. Pau.: kaiu, a child at the breast. Mq.: kaiu, child at the breast, unweaned, suckling, young of animals. Ta.: aiu, nursling. Churchill.

Pau.: Fakakai, earring. Ta.: faaai, ear ornament. Mq.: hakakai, id. Ma.: whakakai, id. Kaikaia, a league, a plot. Mgv.: kaia, cruel, cannibal. Ta.: aiaa, fault, sin. Mq.: kaia, quarrelsome. Ma.: kaia, to steal. Kaito, brave, robust. Ta.: aito, brave. Ma.: kaitoa, a brave man. Kaitoa, well and good! Ta.: aitoa, good! Ma.: kaitoa, id. Kaitura, bravery, manhood. Ta.: turatura, honored, exalted. Churchill.

Mgv.: Kaiota, raw food. Ta.: aiota, raw, ill cooked. Ma.: kaiota, id. Churchill.

Ta.: Ai, a bet, a wager, a game. Mq.: kai, to throw lots, to lose a game. Sa.: 'ai, a count toward the score of a game. Ma.: kai, a puzzling toy. Aihamu, to eat leavings. Mq.: kaihamu, id. Churchill.

Mq.: Kaiheehee, to go from place to place to enjoy feasts. Sa.: 'aisee, to beg food at feasts. Kaihue, thief. Ha.: aihue, to steal. Kaika, a meal, feast. Sa.: 'aiga, meal. Ha.: aina, id. Kaioto, a sort of hemorrhage, piles. Sa.: 'ailoto, a cancerous ulcer. Kaitu, to perfume oneself during a tabu period when it was forbidden. Ha.: aiku, to break a tabu. Churchill.