Suki and tobacco use among the iTaukei people of Fiji 2019 Suki and tobacco use among the iTaukei people of Fiji Citation: Correspondence to: Centre of Research Excellence: Professor Marewa Glover Indigenous Sovereignty and Smoking. Centre of Research Excellence: (2019). Suki and tobacco use among Indigenous Sovereignty & Smoking the iTaukei people of Fiji. New Zealand: Centre of Research Excellence: P.O. Box 89186 Indigenous Sovereignty Torbay, Auckland 0742 & Smoking. New Zealand ISBN: 978-0-473-48538-2 Email:
[email protected] ISBN: 978-0-473-48539-9 (online) www.coreiss.com Contents Ngā mihi / Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 9 About Fiji 13 iTaukei Health 17 Suki and Tobacco in Fiji 23 Kava 35 What has been done to stop smoking? 39 Conclusion 43 Endnotes 47 Appendix A: Research Method 53 Ngā mihi / Acknowledgements We would like to thank the many people who shared their time and knowledge with us. We especially want to thank Ms Ana Maria Naimasi and Mr Alusio Setariki. Mr Setariki is an expert in his own right about the history of tobacco use in Fiji and the introduction of suki from India. This report is partly his story. Thanks also to Mr Shivnay Naidu, Head Researcher of the National Research Unit at the Fiji Ministry of Health for insights into the state of the statistics on smoking in Fiji. In New Zealand, we are grateful to Andrew Chappell at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) for conducting tests on the samples of tobacco we gathered from Fiji and India. We also want to thank the experts that joined our India study group – Atakan Befrits and Samrat Chowdery, and locals who helped guide and translate for us – Bala Gopalan of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Rapper AJ RWB and our Banyan Tour Guides Vasanth Rajan and Rari from Chennai.