02/18/12 Suva Fiji

Bula! That’s “Hello” in Fijian. What a fascinating island group—cannibalism, polygamy, a culture still steeped in villages and chiefs and a very unstable government—what more could you want! Top it off with unbelievable beauty (first 2 pictures) and you realize you could visit here a while. There are 333 Fijian islands, but only about 1/3 are populated.

Fiji was discovered as part of the great Polynesian migration from SE Asia and Indonesia. We saw models of the double-hulled canoes that carried up to 200 of the migrating Polynesians at the Fiji Museum. The first European to sight Fiji was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman (of Australian island fame).  He was followed by Captain Cook (who was EVERYWHERE in the South Pacific) and Captain Bligh after the Bounty mutiny. Fiji was independent until 1874, when they didn’t have enough money to repay a $40,000 debt to the United States and gave themselves to Queen Victoria, who paid their debt, and they became part of the Commonwealth.

More current history goes something like this:

1)   1987 military coup

2)   1990 Civilian rule reinstated

3)   1997 rejoins Commonwealth

4)   2006 military coup

5)   2009 Court of Appeals declares government illegal

6)   Currently expelled from Pacific Islands Forum and Commonwealth for refusal to hold elections

Not the greatest place for democracy these days, although all seems peaceful and people are great.

We did a little touring around Suva, the capital, today. As part of that we visited the Fiji Museum and were fascinated with what we learned. The 3^rd picture shows an exhibit about the Reverend Thomas Baker, a Methodist Missionary, who visited Fiji in the 19^th century. He hiked into a village uninvited and touched the chief’s head—bad move. He was clubbed to death and roasted for dinner—yes, cannibalism was practiced here until the last half of the 19^th century. But it was a “good” kind of cannibalism—they just didn’t eat for fun. They ate as part of battle to try to absorb the qualities of the person…. The implements to the right of picture 3 show a bowl and a fork that were used for cannibalism.

We also were fascinated with costumes. The 4^th picture is a band welcoming us to Fiji. Skirts worn by men are very common—we saw them on guards and on regular people walking around town. Our guide wore a similar one, without the points on the bottom. They are wrap skirts with 2 large pockets on either side. I had one just like it in the 70s!!!

The last picture is a traditional wedding dress. In fact, our guide’s cousin will be wearing one just like it for her wedding in the near future. He will wear his skirt and a “Hawaiian” shirt. What is interesting about the dress is that it is not made of woven fabric, but is mulberry bark pounded until it is pliable and then hand painted with traditional designs. Pretty neat.