Meanwhile, Sukuna's father had died in 1920, and he had to return to Fiji to take his place as head of the mataqali, or clan. He brought with him a tailored isulu, a skirt worn by men, which became Fiji's national dress. He became a chief assistant in the Native Lands Commission in 1922, and a decade later he was stationed in Lomaloma, and also on the island of Lakeba in the Lau Islands, as a district and provincial commissioner. The same year, he was appointed to the Legislative Council to represent the Fijian people. (At that time, non-European members were appointed, rather than elected). In this capacity, Sukuna attended the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London in 1937.