Chief Roi Mata

Who is Chief Roi Mata?

Chief Roi Mata (also spelled Roy Mata) is remembered in ni-Vanuatu oral tradition and archaeology as one of the most powerful unifying leaders in the pre-colonial history of central Vanuatu, ruling over Efate and neighbouring islands including Lelepa and Artok. Oral traditions recount that Roi Mata ended a period of destructive inter-clan warfare and blood feuding by imposing new social and political structures, including elements of the chiefly title system that still influences kastom governance in the region today. He is said to have died from poison administered by a jealous relative, and, following custom, was buried on the small island of Artok (Hat Island) together with dozens of members of his household in a large collective burial ceremony, a practice not repeated after his death. The burial site was excavated by French archaeologist Jose Garanger in 1967, whose findings closely matched the surrounding oral traditions, making it a rare case where archaeology and oral history converge. In 2008, Chief Roi Mata's Domain, encompassing his former residence, his place of death, and his burial site, was inscribed as Vanuatu's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sources: Jose Garanger, "Archaeology and Oral Tradition: A Study of Two Types of History from Vanuatu", Antiquity (1972) · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, "Chief Roi Mata's Domain" listing (2008)