Customs of Respect: the Traditional Basis of Fijian Communal Politics John Nation Customs of Respect
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AF DSC m. No. 11 1978 NAT The Ausrrolion Development Studies Centre Norionol Universiry Monograph no.14 Customs of respect: the traditional basis of Fijian communal politics John Nation Customs of respect Development Studies Centre Monograph no.14 Customs of respect: the traditional basis of Fijian communal politics John Nation Series editor RJShand The AustralianNotional University Canberra ma © John Nation 1978 This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of priv<!te study, research, criticism or review, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-publication entry Nation, John. Customs of respect. (Australian National University, Canberra. Development Studies Centre. Monograph; no. 14) ISBN 0 7081 0494 0 1. Community organization. 2. Fiji - Politics and government. I. Title. (Series) 323.1'9611 Printed and manufactured in Australia by The Australian National University Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 7&74980 Summary The unity of the Fij ian community is the central fact of polit ical life in Fij i. This s&.:udy analyses the cultural , social and political forces wh ich sustain Fij ian unity . It draws upon an examinat ion of the activities of the Fij ian administration , particularly the Provincial Councils as reformed and democratized in 1967 . Communalism at the national level, not surprisingly , is built upon parochialism at the local level . But Fij ian parochialism has a number of distinctive features , which shed light on Fij ian political unity within the nat ional polity . At the levels of province, district and village , relat ions between parochial units are governed by a concern for unity, within which there has been in creas ing resort to traditional organizat ion. Chiefs are being invited back into Fij ian polit ics because their office has a vital role to play within the 'customs of respect ' which are the basis of Fij ian political activity. v Contents Acknowledgments ix A note on th e trans lation and pronuncia tion of the xi Fij ian language Gloss ary of Fij ian words xiii In troduct ion: community and communalism xvii Chapter 1 The chiefs and the people 1 Chap ter 2 cThe land grumb les ': changes in 43 Fij ian adminis tration Chap ter 3 Serving the people: democratic 67 Provincial Councils Chapter 4 Cus toms of respect: Fij ian coI!lDlunal 104 poli tics Chap ter 5 Leadership and unity: the Fijian 147 connnunity Ap pendix Ex tract from Visi to rs ' Book 159 References 160 Figures 1 Fij i, showing provincial boundaries 13 2 The New and Old Tikinas of the Central 32 Division vii Acknowledgments This book is a revision of a master 's thesis presented to Mon ash University in 1976 . Full-time research for the thesis was carried out in 1971 and 1974 with the assistance of a Monash Graduate Scholarship . A primary deb t of gratitude is also due to Professor Herbert Feith with wh ose encourage ment and administrat ive as sistance I spent two years (19 72-3) working in Fij i before commencing full-time fieldwo rk . The opporttmity that this afforde� to acquire a knowledge of places and people , in addition to learning to speak Fij ian , proved to be invaluable . I also wish to acknowledge the as sistance of Dr John Dalton , my supervisor. In Fij i I received assistance from a very large number of individuals. Government officials at all levels were obliging and often personally generous . A complete list of names , or even generalized official position s, would be far too long here . The Roko Tuis and their Assistants gave generously of their time (both personally and officially) and of the in format ion at their disposal . As indicated in the text, their records and personal knowledge have been of crucial value to this study . I am particularly grateful to Ratu Qoro Latianara, Roko Tui Naitasiri. The many references to Naitasiri Provincial Office records indicate the depth and scope of the records maintained during his eight years as Roko Tui Naitasiri. I am also especially indebted to my father-in-law, Ratu Livai Volavola, whose long involvement in public life afforded me invaluable assistance in many different ways . Others whose assistance I should not fail to acknowledge in dividually are : Ratu Manasa Kub uab ola, Mr Meli Ramacake , Ratu Jape R. Kikau , Ratu Jone Tabaiwalu, Ratu Inoke Seru, Ratu Alipate Veikoso , Mr Varea Driti, Mr Vi liame Takalaiyale , Ratu Kitione Kubuabola. In 1974 I benefited greatly from discussions with Tim Macnaught , whose doctoral studies on the Fij ian administration between 1898 and 1940 had tmc.overed many themes which I fotmd familiar within the Provincial Councils of the 1970s . Finally I would like to thank my wife, Litia, for the years of support and for answering endless questions . ix A note on the translat ion and pronunciation of the Fij ian language Translat ions from Fij ian to En glish are often very difficult to make , frequen tly necessitating extensive para phrasing. Generally speaking, I have attemp ted to produce translations wh ich , as far as possible , app�ar natural in En glish . In a number of cases I have quoted from notes made in En glish from Fij ian speech . A Fij ian anthropologist on ce expressed puzzlement at translat ions provided by an American anthropologist ; he could not imagine how they would have been said in Fij ian , a result perhaps of the fact that he leaTited Fij ian before En glish . To cater for the reader in this position I have often felt a need to include the original Fij ian alongside the translation . With the exception of a few quotations from other writ ers, Fij ian words in this book are rendered in the official Fij ian system of orthography . This system employs twenty-three out of the twenty-six lett ers of the En glish alphabet and , with the exception of five letters , the sound of Fij ian consonants app=oximates the English. An approximation of the Fijian sounds for the five exceptional consonants can-be found in the following rules : b is pronounced mb as in number; c is pronounced th as in that ; d is pronounced nd as in candy; g is pronounced ng as in singer; q is proncunced ng as in finger. The pronounciat ion of the five vowels approximates the sounds of Spanish or Church Latin . Almost all Provincial Council Records are in Fij ian , and I have drawn heavily on these and other Fij ian sources for this book. Ex cerpts from these sources have been translated into En glish. xi Glossary of Fij ian words Bose vakavanua Literally 'tradit ional council ', that is the chiefs of a traditional polity such as a vanua or a mata:nitu . BuU A Fij ian administration official in charge of a Tikina. Burua A feast held after a ftmeral . Gone tu.raga A person of chiefly rank. Kai Literally 'memb er of '; placed before place names so that a Kai Viti is a Fij ian , Kai Idia is an In dian or a Kai Toga is a Tongan . The word Taukei (owner or native) is also used to mean Fij ian. Kai seems to have political overtones and applies to men rather than women or children . Gone ni (child of) or Lewe ni (member of) are used more frequently in general conversation to describe Provincial or district membership . Kakase. Go ssip . Ka vakavanua Literally 'thing in the way of the land'; that is a traditional event. Kudrukudru Grumbling . Liuliu (sometimes spelt i Ziu'liu) The general word for leader, usually used to mean chairman . The general word for representat ive . A matanivanua is the tradit ional spokesman for a chief . Without qualificat ion in the context of this book it refers to members of Provincial Cotlllcils . frbta:nitu A large traditional polity formed by a federation of vanua . Mata:nitu is now used to me an government . Mataqa'li A patrilineal group . xiii xiv Mata turaga Chiefly representat ive. Within a Pro vincial Collllcil this refers to memb ers ap pointed by the Secretary for Fij ian Affairs . Within a Tikina Council it refers to members chosen because of chiefly status . Qaranivaiu Title of the paramount chief of Naitasiri . Roko Tui The head of a Province . Also the title of the chief s of some areas (see Tui below) . Roko Tuis and Assistant Roko Tuis are of ten ref erred to simply as Rokos. Tabua A polished wh ale 's tooth used in ceremonial presentat ions . Ta lai An abbreviated form of Ta Zai ni Kvvana (literally Conuni ssioner of the Governor), the term applied to the Minister for Fij ian Affairs and his colonial prede cessors . Ta lai veivuke or Assistant Talai is one of the powers held by District Commissioners . Tikina Literally it means 'part ' or 'element '. With a capital 'T' it is the name of the unit of administration that is a sub divi sion of a Province . It is sometimes regarded as meaning, in general terms, 'district '. The Old Tikina (Tikina Makawa) refers to the administrative unit abolished in 1944 . Tokatoka (sometimes spelt i tokatoka) A patri lineal group, smaller than mataqali and yavusas and known hy a variety of names throughout Fij i. Tui A title of chiefly office, the ruler of a vanua or matanitu. Now used in Fij ian as an equivalent of 'King '. Precise titles vary from place to place. For examp le the paramo\lllt chief of Rewa is the Roko Tui Dreketi , not Tui Rewa.