"The Fijian double canoe (wangga ndrua) was the largest and finest sea-going vessel ever designed and built by natives of Oceania before contact with Europeans."
Druas were large, up to 100 feet (30 m) long, and could carry over 200 people. Despite being called canoes, they were not dugouts, but plank-built ships. Today, Fiji druas are still a symbol of Fiji, and Fiji's telephone booths are decorated with the characteristic mast-tops of druas, the tagaga.
The model shown here is a scaled down version of the Ratu Finau War Canoe in the Fiji Museum of Suva. A photo stream showing the gradual construction of this very special and difficult to build model, can be viewed on Flickr.
Commissioned year end of 2012, this 17 3/4" long model was shipped to its Taiwanese collector in March 2013.
"The Fijian double canoe (wangga ndrua) was the largest and finest sea-going vessel ever designed and built by natives of Oceania before contact with Europeans."
Druas were large, up to 100 feet (30 m) long, and could carry over 200 people. Despite being called canoes, they were not dugouts, but plank-built ships. Today, Fiji druas are still a symbol of Fiji, and Fiji's telephone booths are decorated with the characteristic mast-tops of druas, the tagaga.
The model shown here is a scaled down version of the Ratu Finau War Canoe in the Fiji Museum of Suva. A photo stream showing the gradual construction of this very special and difficult to build model, can be viewed on Flickr.
Commissioned year end of 2012, this 17 3/4" long model was shipped to its Taiwanese collector in March 2013.
FIJI DRUA
This 36 inch long model was built in 2016 and his on display at the POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER, Lai'e, Hawaii.