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The Methodist Mission and Fiji's Indians: 1879-1920*

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The Methodist Mission and Fiji's Indians: 1879-1920* The Methodist Mission and Fiji's Indians: 1879-1920* DURING the forty years following the arrival of the Methodist mission- aries in Fiji in 1835, the Fijians responded to Christianity in a manner similar to that of the Maoris of New Zealand — hostile resistance for the first decade followed by large numbers of conversions over the next five to ten years. But in 1879 the missionary vision of a 'Kingdom of God on Earth' received a severe setback with the arrival in Fiji of the emigrant ship, Leonidas, carrying 463 indentured Indian labourers. It was to be the first of many such ships. Sir Arthur Gordon, Fiji's first Governor, was opposed to the employment of indigenous labour for the expanding sugar, copra and cotton industries. Wishing to preserve the Fijian social structure from the less welcome effects of westerniza- tion, he introduced a scheme of foreign labour which had already proved successful in British colonies such as Mauritius and British Guiana. In the space of forty years, over 60,000 Indians emigrated from their home country to work as indentured labourers and (in the majority of cases) subsequently to settle in Fiji.1 The Methodist missionaries viewed this influx of predominantly non- Christian Indians with dismay and even alarm.2 The efforts of five decades appeared to be threatened. One of the missionaries wrote: Possibilities of the gravest danger lie in the fact that many hundreds of heathen men, differing in colour, in capabilities, in taste, in language, in aspirations, in beliefs, are flowing constantly into Fiji and are being brought into daily relationship with an aboriginal race, which has itself only recently stepped out of a cruel and barbarous heathenism.3 Moreover, as the Fiji Methodist District Synod claimed in 1891, the heathen Indians were having a baneful influence on the natives. The commencement of evangelization among the Indians was therefore a matter of urgency, not only for their salvation but also for the preser- vation of the Fijian work. Missionaries were adamant about the extreme * This article is based on my M.A. thesis, 'The Methodist Mission and the Indians in Fiji, 1900-1920', University of Auckland, 1973. 137 138 ANDREW THORNLEY peril to which their native converts were being exposed by coming into daily contact with the 'superstition, immorality and vice of a shrewd, vigorous and ingenious foreign population'. There were reports of de- clining numbers and of low moral and spiritual tone among the Fijians, all attributable to the influx of outsiders.4 Exactly how much and in what way the Indians influenced the Fijian church and society is impossible to estimate. Though invariably fore- casting harm the missionaries spoke in general and conjectural terms. For instance the Reverend H. Worrall, who as Superintendent of the Rewa area from 1891 to 1896 was closely linked with the early Indian work, referred to vices and diseases which the Indian had brought to Fiji and asserted that they were affecting the religious, social and even physical life of the Fijian: The vast majority of Fiji's foreign population come into the country with- out their womenfolk. There are between four and five thousand less female than male Fijians! Let any man who knows anything of the native races couple these last two facts together and he will find that in them lies a dreadful significance.5 Of further concern to the Mission was the fact that the Fijian popu- lation was declining while the Indian growth-rate gave little hint of receding. Evangelization of the new immigrants was therefore impera- tive in order to save the native church from 'one of the most serious perils by which it has ever been menaced'.0 Suva and the Rewa river area served as the centres of mission out- reach in its initial stages. But the early years were a mixture of en- thusiastic effort and half-hearted support. From 1892 to 1894 an Indian catechist, John Williams, ministered to both the 'free' Indians in Suva and the indentured Indians working in the proximity of present-day Nausori. He was considered a most capable and energetic preacher, achieving a greater degree of success among the Indians of Suva than within the larger indentured population.7 As with later mission workers, Williams had great difficulty in gaining access to the labour 'lines'. Employers of indentured Indians were, it seems, loath to allow the preaching of the Gospel; they informed at least one missionary that 'the field mules were a more suitable object for Christian effort' and claimed that 'if coolies were educated they would be spoilt as labour'.8 Apart from problems of access to sections of the Indian population, Williams lacked both the materials and the moral support which should have been forthcoming from the European missionaries helping to supervise the Indian work. They were slow to answer his requests and even less willing to visit him despite the fact that his wife had to return to India in 1893, leaving her husband to complete his contract alone. If anything failed in the young catechist's ministry it was the experiment THE METHODIST MISSION AND FIJI'S INDIANS 139 rather than the man. He came at a time of crisis when the growing numbers of Indian immigrants were causing grave concern to the Methodists. By the time of his departure he had established a network of preaching places associated with the Indian work and had the satis- faction of seeing large congregations attending public services. But in 1894 the success achieved by Williams was allowed to lapse. Not until 1897 did Suva once again become the focus for the efforts of another mission worker, this time a European, Miss Hannah Dudley. In 1896, the Fiji Synod, attempting to place the Indian Mission on a sounder basis had adopted a scheme, propounded by Worrall, for 'christianising the thousands of Indian coolies living in the Group'.9 Even though details of this plan are unknown it is clear that the Synod was still thinking in terms of large-scale conversion, a project which demanded a generous increase in mission staff. But the Methodist Mission Board in Australia, which was responsible for the Fiji District, remained unmoved. After Miss Dudley there was no further appoint- ment to the fndian work for another four years. Miss Dudley focussed her work upon the three main Indian settle- ments clustered around Suva. Whereas the Methodist Synod had ex- pected concentration on direct evangelization, the activities of the missionary sister reflected concern for the needs of a neglected com- munity. She commenced a day school for children and, at the request of a number of Indian men, opened a night school for adults. On most Sundays she visited the gaol and the hospital taking separate men's and women's services at each place. She made regular visitations of Indian homes and, with her fluent knowledge of Hindustani, achieved a marked influence among the women. 'She was called "Mai" (Mother) by the greater majority of them and was loved and revered by all'.10 However, difficulties beset her work. Fluctuating school attendances highlighted the basic one — a deep distrust felt by many Indians towards Europeans and their religion. Miss Dudley could not fail to notice this suspicion. She commented that many of her pupils did not remain in school very long because the parents were frightened that the children's affections would be won from them and the children induced to become Christians, an outcome which for most Indians was 'exceedingly con- temptible'.11 Throughout these early years, there was violent opposition from sections of the Indian community to her ministry. According to one of her converts, the Hindus spoke secretly against her, saying 'she eats meat'. On hearing this, she turned vegetarian and lived on a strict Indian diet which gradually undermined her health.12 The achievements of Miss Dudley in educational and social areas of work directly influenced the course of mission policy up to and beyond 1920, though she herself left Fiji in 19 f2. But her efforts, although of significance in Suva, affected only a small proportion of Indians in Fiji. Their numbers were increasing rapidly during these years, notably on 140 ANDREW THORNLEY the western side of Viti Levu where the European missionaries in the Fijian work could do little outside of their sphere. In 1899 the Synod once again warned their Mission Board in Australia of the serious danger to which the Fijian Church was exposed and concluded that the time had now come when the Methodists should enter on Indian Mission work 'on a scale sufficiently large to make success at least probable'.13 Following this appeal and the visit of a deputation from the Australian Head Office, the Indian Mission was established in 1901 as a separate administrative section under the superintendence of the District Chair- man. In one important respect the break was not complete. Control of the Indian Mission within Fiji still lay in the hands of the District Chairman, whose largest responsibility was for the Fijian Church. From 1900 to 1920 this position was held by the Reverend A. J. Small, who had been a missionary to the Fijians since 1879. In exercising his duties he brought to bear on the Indian Mission diplomacy and leadership, interlaced with the authoritarianism that had come to characterize European domination of the Fijian Methodist Church. In addition to its change in status, the Indian Mission benefited by an increase in staff numbers. Two European missionaries were appointed, the Reverends C. Bavin and J. W. Burton, as were a number of mission- ary sisters, while a recruitment campaign brought catechists from India.
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