{{Short description|Melanesian chief}} {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | WHS = Chief Roi Mata’s Domain | image = Fele's Cave.jpg | image_upright = 1.2 | caption = Fels Cave on Lelepa Island | location = Vanuatu | criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(iii)(v)(vi)}}(iii)(v)(vi) | ID = 1280 | coordinates = {{coord|17|37|41.05|S|168|10|39.79|E|type:landmark|display=title, inline|format=dms}} | year = 2008 | area = {{convert|886.31|ha|acre|abbr=on}} | buffer_zone = {{convert|1,275.42|ha|acre|abbr=on}} | locmapin = Vanuatu#Oceania | map_caption = }} '''Roi Mata''' (or '''Roy Mata''', '''Roymata''') was a chiefly title in the central islands of Vanuatu. It was borne by a long dynasty of chiefs, from the 11th to the 17th century.<ref name="Sorbonne">Bessis (2023), pp.56-57, 88-90.</ref>
Among the bearers of the ''Roi Mata'' title, the most famous is the last one, a man believed to have lived around year 1600.<ref name="unesco">''Chief Roi Mata's domain'' (UNESCO report).</ref> That chief is often designated as "Roi Mata", with no formal distinction from its predecessors — a source of potential confusion.<ref>Bessis (2023), p.64.</ref>
In 2008, three sites associated with Roi Mata, on the islands of Efate, Lelepa and Eretoka, were made UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Roi Mata’s residence, the site of his death and Roi Mata’s mass burial site.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1280/ "Chief Roi Mata’s Domain"], UNESCO.</ref><ref name="RNZI_40819">{{cite news |url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=40819 |title=World Heritage Status set to ensure protection of Vanuatu's Roi Mata domain |date=July 9, 2008 |work=Radio New Zealand International |accessdate=November 6, 2011}}</ref>
==Roi Mata's grave== Roi Mata's elaborate grave, containing the bodies of over 25 members of his retinue, was discovered by French archaeologist {{ill|José Garanger|fr}} in 1967 and inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2008. Garanger was able to locate the grave on Eretoka island by analyzing local folklore. According to legend, when Roi Mata conquered the land, his first goal was to unite the tribes to form an army.
His reign is reputed to have been a peaceful one. Roi Mata was fatally poisoned by his brother. His body was not buried in his homeland and his name was not used in future generations because the locals feared his spirit.
thumb|200px|upright=2.1|none|Map of Chief Roi Mata's domain
==Gallery== <gallery> Chief_Roimata's_grave_(08_Jan_2017).jpg|Chief Roi mata's grave (Eratoka Island, 8 January 2017) Roimata's_wives_graves.jpg|Grave markers of Chief Roi mata's wives (Eratoka Island, 8 January 2017) </gallery>
==Notes and references== ===Notes=== {{reflist}}
===References=== * {{cite book |language=en|author1=Chris Ballard|author2=Meredith Wilson|title=Chief Roi Mata's Domain|type=Nomination by the Republic of Vanuatu for Inscription on the World Heritage List|date=2008|url=http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1280.pdf |ref=unescopdf}} *{{cite book|language= |title=Souvenir des ancêtres et histoire orale au Vanuatu. Les récits de chefferies anciennes aux îles Shepherd |first1=Sandrine |last1=Bessis |type=PhD dissertation in linguistics |url=https://ens.hal.science/THESES-ENS/tel-04582785 |date=2023 |place=Univ. Sorbonne, Paris |pages=1027 |ref=bessis }}
===External links=== *[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roy-Mata "Roy Mata"], Encyclopædia Britannica
Category:History of Vanuatu Category:Vanuatuan chiefs Category:Deaths by poisoning Category:People murdered in Vanuatu Category:Vanuatuan murder victims Category:World Heritage Sites in Vanuatu Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Year of death unknown Category:16th-century monarchs