This contemporary drua (double-hulled sailing canoe) was commissioned as a heritage project in Fiji to encourage the retention of canoe-building skills. Joji Marau Misaele managed the project in Fiji with the drua building team—carvers and mat-sail-makers—originally from the islands of Ogea and Vulaga in the Lau region. The team harvested trees from the forests on Ogea and completed the canoe, which has no metal components, using traditional tools, fiber lashings, and shells. The sail is composed of six sections of hand-woven pandanus-leaf matting, which prevents tearing of the entire sail. Without a fixed bow or stern, drua can sail in either direction. In the nineteenth century, large double-hulled canoes provided effective open-ocean transportation and carried troops in times of war.

Photo (left to right): Back: Joji Marau Misaele, Kitione Caji, Misaele Tovolea, Matai Tomasi, Cama Vasa, Setareki Domonisere; front: Litiana Capetu, Luisa Vereivalu Marau, and Losalini Tayaco