Sawana is separated from the main village of Lomaloma only by a large ditch.[2] As the population is predominantly of Tongan origin, church services are conducted in Tongan, as well as Fijian.[2][3]
The nomination for the title of the Tui Lau comes from the Tongan community in Sawana[4][5] and is then handed to the Vuanirewa clan on the island of Lakeba for a final decision[6]
^ abThe People of the Sea: Environment, Identity, And History in Oceania, By Paul D'Arcy, University of Hawaii Press
^ abVillage of the Conquerors, Sawana: a Tongan Village in Fiji, By Alexander Philip Lessin, Phyllis June Lessin - 1970.
^Lau Islands, Fiji By A.M Hocart and Bernice P. Bishop - Museum Bulletin 62, Publication Date: June 1969, Publisher: Kraus Intl Pubns, ISBN978-0-527-02168-9
^Mara, Ratu Sir Kamisese: "The Pacific Way: A Memoir", University of Hawaii Press, 1997
^Village of the Conquerors, Sawana: a Tongan Village in Fiji, By Alexander Philip Lessin, Phyllis June Lessin 1970.
^Mara, Ratu Sir Kamisese, The Pacific Way: A Memoir, University of Hawaii Press, 1997
Why these unions were important was due to the Vasu connection that brought different tribes together following are examples documenting the Importance of the Vasu connection or maternal lineage in Fiji: as outlined in this Book ‘Matanitu’ the struggle for power in early Fiji by David Routledge 1985,published by the Institute of Pacific studies and the University of the South PacificFiji, Chapter 1 page 36, also see the Book Fiji and the Fijians By Thomas Williams, James Calvert, Ch 2 page 33,34
Lau Islands, Fiji By A.M Hocart and Bernice P. Bishop - Museum Bulletin 62 p226, Publication Date: June 1969, Publisher: Kraus Intl Pubns, ISBN978-0-527-02168-9 this book Documents in detail the Rasau and Ratu Keni
Fijian Heralds and Envoys., A. M. Hocart, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 43, Jan. - Jun., 1913 (Jan. - Jun., 1913), pp. 109–118, doi:10.2307/2843163, Arthur Maurice Hocart does a comparative study on two chiefs and their heralds and envoys one being the Rasau of Lomaloma.
20th Century Fiji, edited by Stewart Firth & Daryl Tarte - 2001 - ISBN982-01-0421-1, this book has a very detailed reference to Ratu Edward and Ratu Mara acknowledges their mothers