The Lovoni people, being an independent kingdom with several strategic tributaries, ensured their role as mercenaries of war in the central Fijian province of Lomaiviti, which at the time of European contact, was undergoing a major power struggle between the Noble Houses of Verata and their ally and kin the House of the Roko Tui Bau and the rising power of the Vunivalu of Bau.
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The founding ancestor of the Lovoni is popularly referred to as Rakavono, nephew to the mythical founder of the Bureta people, Bui Savulu, daughter of Lutunasobasoba.