Ratu sukuna family tree

Born Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, May 6, 1920, in Lomaloma, Fiji; died from complications of a stroke, April 18, 2004, in Suva, Fiji. Politician. As a tribal chief of the Lau Islands of eastern Fiji, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara led his people to independence from Britain, becoming Fiji's first prime minister in 1970. During the Cold War he was an important ally of the United States, Australia, and New Zealand in the South Pacific. Considered Fiji's "founding father," Mara is credited with uniting the islands' feuding tribes toward the common goal of independence. "His leadership was marked by discipline, vision, and a keen and penetrating intellect," observed the sitting prime minister at the time of his death, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Belonging to an indigenous noble family in a British colonial society, Mara grew up in Vanuabalavu in the archipelago of Lau. Fiji consists of some 300 islands, its populace generally divided between Melanesian Kamisese Mara - Academic Kids.