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The Fijians: A Study of the Decay of Custom

2. Ketenialewa (The woman's womb)

page 373

2. Ketenialewa (The woman's womb)

This is land seized as a punishment for adultery.

As soon as the offence became known, the friends of the injured man planted reeds (sau) on the land of the offender, or of his family, as a token of forfeiture. Reeds so planted were called ai-wau-tu-i-vu-ni-vundi (the club set in the banana patch). The family of the offender knew that they must either abandon the land or fight for it, but when by lapse of time the offence was forgotten, the land could be redeemed by vakalutu.