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Rotuman Life Experiences 1890–1960 Compiled and Edited by Alan Howard and Jan Rensel

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Rotuman Life Experiences 1890–1960 Compiled and Edited by Alan Howard and Jan Rensel Rotuman Life Experiences 1890–1960 Compiled and edited by Alan Howard and Jan Rensel Text copyright 2020 by the authors. Photo credits: All photos taken on Rotuma. Dedication page photo of Elizabeth Inia by François Deschamps, 2001; reproduced with permission. Title page and section title page photos by Alan Howard, 1960. We dedicate this book to Elisapeti Kafonika Makarita Inia (1925–2009) whose wisdom, generosity, humility, and dedication to the preservation of the Rotuman language and culture was a great gift to all of us who were taught by her and who learned by her example what it means to be Rotuman Table of Contents Foreword 1 Part 1: Life Stories from Rotuma 1: Men Born before 1900 10 2: Women Born before 1900 35 3: Men Born in the First Decade of the Twentieth Century 45 4: Women Born in the First Decade of the Twentieth Century 68 5: Men Born in the 1910s 72 6: Women Born in the 1910s 78 7: Men Born in the 1920s 91 8: Women Born in the 1920s 146 9: Men Born in the 1930s 168 10: Women Born in the 1930s 202 11: Men Birthyear Unknown 212 12: Women Birthyear Unknown 217 Part 2: Life Stages on Rotuma, 1890–1960 13: Childhood 232 14: Schooling 246 Appendix: Responses to Teacher Questionnaire 265 15: Adolescence, Courtship, and Paths to Marriage 288 16: Marriage 304 17: Parenting 325 18: Work 339 19: Leadership 354 20: Experiences Abroad 374 21: Illness, Old Age, and Death 385 Afterword 398 Rotuman Life Experiences, 1890–1960 Foreword The inspiration for Rotuman Life Experiences 1890–1960 arose from the process of archiving field notes from my 1960 doctoral research on Rotuma. Reading over my notes and journals from that year brought back vivid memories of my experiences, which in retrospect were quite magical and transformative. I returned from my time on the island a different person with a different set of values. Rotumans had taught me that what mattered most in life was the quality of one’s relationships, and that ambitions that threatened valued relationships were not worth pursuing. I learned to be patient, to cherish a slower pace of life than I had been used to, and to appreciate the moments I spent in the company of others, even when nothing was said or transpired between us. Although it took a little while, I experienced a very real reduction in stress levels as I fell into a routine informed by Rotuman cultural values. Indeed, the only time in my life that I’ve experienced “culture shock” was when I first returned from Rotuma to an urban environment (Suva). I found myself physically shaking while trying to cope with the sheer quantity of information that one is bombarded with requiring quick and decisive action. Needless to say, subsequent technology has accelerated the amount of information one must cope with, but my continued Rotuman research and engagement with the now worldwide Rotuman community have provided a comfortable haven from a world gone mad. It occurred to me when sorting through my notes from 1960 that although I have written or coauthored some fifty publications about Rotuman culture and the history of the Rotuman people, I have not really endeavoured to convey how life was experienced by Rotumans over the years prior to my visit. It’s not that I lacked the information necessary to Rotuman Life Experiences, 1890–1960 do so. In going through my 1960 field notes I came across 71 life histories, 50 interviews with mothers regarding their child-rearing practices, and responses from 15 school teachers to a questionnaire regarding their teaching methods. These were in addition to less formal accounts conveyed during casual conversations and what I learned by participating in the ongoing life of the community. The life story accounts were particularly provocative. They were obtained through structured interviews by myself and my two young Rotuman assistants, Amai Sakimi and Rejieli Mejieli, who conducted them in Rotuman and translated them into English. In preparation for publication, they have been edited lightly for spelling, grammar, and clarity, while trying to retain the flavour of Rotuman expressions. While many of the narratives are quite short, consisting of only a page or two, they nevertheless contain remarkably candid expressions of attitudes, emotions, and perceptions experienced during successive life stages. Specifically, the interviews began by asking about memories of early childhood (treatment by parents, relationships with siblings), then school, adolescence (peer relations, courtship), and adult life (marriage, current life circumstances). Because the grant supporting my research from the National Institute for Mental Health concerned grieving, individuals were also asked about their responses to the deaths of significant others. This work is divided into two parts, which can be read in either order. Part 1 consists of the life story accounts organized by age. The first two chapters in this section include the autobiographies of men and women who were 60 years of age or older at the time of the interview; the following chapters include men and women in their 50s, 40s, 30s, and 20s successively, plus two chapters on people whose birthyears were unknown.1 The rationale for grouping the life histories by age is that the 2 Rotuman Life Experiences, 1890–1960 older folks experienced Rotuma as it was around the turn of the last century and endured the institutional and cultural changes that took place over the years till 1960, while the younger ones grew up in somewhat different circumstances. To cite just one example, schooling in Rotuma at the beginning of the twentieth century was limited to primary levels, with little opportunity to progress by going abroad, while in post–World War II years not only had secondary education been introduced in Rotuma, but opportunities for advanced education abroad, in places like New Zealand as well as Fiji, were also more readily available. After considerable thought and consultation with Rotuman colleagues, I was tempted to use the actual names of people based on the assumption that their living descendants would like to know as much as possible about their specific ancestors’ lives despite the possibility that some of the accounts may be a source of embarrassment for a few. On the plus side, I believed that for the great majority of contemporary Rotumans it would enrich their appreciation of their genealogical roots and cultural heritage. However, after further reflection, I decided that even a small risk of causing embarrassment was not worth it. As demonstrated in the custom known as tē samuga, which involves associating individuals with amusing incidents, Rotumans love to tease one another regarding their ancestors’ foibles and misadventures. While this is mostly done in a light- hearted, good-natured way, the embarrassment can nevertheless be painful sometimes. Therefore, people’s names and many of the specific places they mentioned have been omitted from their accounts, as well as some other information that would have facilitated their identification. Names are, however, provided for the teacher questionnaires. Part 2 consists of chapters dealing with successive life stages drawn from the life stories. To provide context for these life experiences I include 3 Rotuman Life Experiences, 1890–1960 information regarding social structural variables and customs that provided parameters for experience. As much as possible I have tried to give voice to Rotuman commentators on these matters. So, for example, I rely mainly on the mother interviews for information regarding child- rearing methods, on the teachers’ questionnaires for teaching strategies, and on Elizabeth Inia’s 1998 book Fäeag ‘es Fūaga regarding Rotuman sayings about various aspects of Rotuman culture.2 Only when necessary do I resort to my own observations and ethnographic accounts of others. Readers who want historical background may decide to read part 2 first; others may choose to plunge into the life stories and explore the context later. To put my goal in producing this book succinctly, whereas in previously publications I have written about such aspects of Rotuman life as childhood (1970), adolescence (1970, 1998), leadership (1996, 1997), and reactions to death (1965), those publications have been primarily from the standpoint of cultural norms, with minimal attention to variations among individuals.3 This book, in contrast, is concerned primarily with intracultural variability—with how individual Rotumans responded to the challenges posed by the particular circumstances confronting them as they lived their lives during the period between 1890 and 1960. Data from my 1960 island-wide census and the 1903–1960 registry information that I collected and collated regarding births, deaths, and marriages provide a broader view of variations in such matters as household size, marriage patterns, and residential histories. This work has been edited by my wife, Jan Rensel, who has also conducted research on Rotuma and within Rotuman communities around the world since 1987. Thus while I refer in the text to myself in the first 4 Rotuman Life Experiences, 1890–1960 person singular as “I” or “my,” the words “we” and “our” refer to Jan and me together. Note regarding Translation of Rotuman Terms Before turning to the life stories, it is necessary to address some translation issues, starting with the words that have been glossed here as “love” and “hate.” The Rotuman term hanisi, which is generally translated as “love,” refers less to an inferred emotional state than to a supportive pattern of behaviour. In this cultural context, kind and generous actions are the measures of love rather than the degree to which emotions of affection are expressed. So, as we shall see, statements about love in the life stories are frequently followed by descriptions of material support, of the loving person providing for someone’s necessities and wants in a consistent manner.
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