Dakuwaqa

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Deity in Fijian mythology

title: "Dakuwaqa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["fijian-deities", "sea-and-river-gods", "mythological-shapeshifters", "animal-gods", "culture-of-fiji", "religion-in-fiji", "shark-gods"] description: "Deity in Fijian mythology" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakuwaqa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Deity in Fijian mythology ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Dakuwaqa-71.1969.51.25-DSC00435-black.jpg" caption="Wooden figure of Dakuwaqa from the [[Solomon Islands]], on display at the [[Louvre]] gallery"] ::

In Fijian mythology, Dakuwaqa (Dakuwanga) is a shark deity and often appears as a fierce sea monster, guarding the islands. He was greatly respected by fishermen because he protected them from any danger at sea and its denizens.

Background

In one creation myth, the god was planning inland to conquer Kadavu Island through the river when the goddess Rokobakaniceva challenged him in the form of an octopus. After a great battle, the octopus won by pulling out his teeth with her eight arms which enabled her to hold off the massive attack of Dakuwaqa, forcing Dakuwaqa to promise to never attack Kadavu again. That is how Dakuwaqa became the god and protector of Kadavu.

Dakuwaqa can also change shape into anything, but his real form is that of a muscular Fijian man with the upper torso of a shark. In the book Pacific Irishman, the Anglican priest Charles William Whonsbon-Aston records in Chapter 1, Creation:

The crew, instantly awake and concerned, followed the ancient pattern, pouring a strong libation of kava into the sea, which, it would seem, was just the right idea for placating fish-gods; the monster slowly submerged, the breeze gradually gathered the cutter away, its keel dragging along the monster's back, making the skin pale.

To the Fijian crew this was the "Dakuwaqa"--in the twentieth century; what must have been the effect in the tenth?}}

Media

Jeff VanderMeer wrote the story The Third Bear about Dakuwaqa.
Dakuwaqa is the father of the supervillain King Shark in the DC Universe.
One episode of the History Channel series Beast Legends is about Dakuwaqa.
Dakuwanga is an Atlantean Bio-weapon in the Earth Prime setting of the Mutants & Masterminds roleplaying game.
Dakuwanga is the official pet in the "Quidditch World Cup Argentina 2014" in the Harry Potter universe.
Dakuwaqa's vest is a fictional artifact mentioned in the 2017 film Sharknado 5: Global Swarming as the item used to prevent sharknados in the past.
The merged tribe in Survivor 45 was named after Dakuwaqa.

References

''Fijian Medicinal Plants'' by RC Cambie, J Ash
''Bed the turtle softly: legends of the South Pacific'' by Mary Edith Branham and Joel S. Branham. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_mSBAAAAMAAJ&q=Dakuwaqa+wife "Many are the stories about the shark-god Dakuwaqa]."
''Deuba: A Study of a Fijian Village'' by William Robert Geddes
''The People of the Sea: Environment, Identity, And History in Oceania''. Author: Paul D'Arcy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Sp1zroD_ccMC&dq=Dakuwaqa&pg=PA42 Please see this page]. "His Fijian crew addressed the creature as Dakuwaqa, and promised it ''kava'' if it did not harm them. Dakuwaqa had a history of fierce retribution against seafarers who did not respect him, but had rescued his worshippers from trouble at sea."
''[https://books.google.com/books?id=l2p-8nZIkNsC&dq=Dakuwaqa+octopus&pg=PA216 Fiji]'' by Dean Starnes, Nana Luckham.
''She is everywhere! : an anthology of writings in womanist/feminist spirituality'' by [[Mary Saracino]]. According to Mary Saracino, the great octopus was a goddess.
[http://www.tropicalfiji.com/about_fiji/culture/legends.asp#shark_g Dakuwaqa The Shark God.] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-01-28 "One of the best known gods in Fijian legends is the fierce sea-monster Dakuwaqa. He was the guardian of the reef entrance of the islands, fearless, headstrong and jealous. He frequently changed himself into the form of a shark and travelled around the islands fighting all the other reef guardians.")
"The Fierce Sea God".
"Pacific Irishman: William Floyd, by C. W. Whonsbon-Aston (1970)".
(2010). "The Third Bear".

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