Final Blog Post

'Vinaka' the air steward said as I exited the Air Pacific plane. Probably the last Fijian I would hear for a while . Jia Kai and I had arrived at Hong Kong International Airport. I definitely felt a mild form of culture shock...... and agreed with Hoopers argument that Asia and the Pacific are really different and incomparable. After painstakingly learning to walk like a Fijian, we were back in a big city and being overtaken by everyone! We joked before hopping onto our prompt airport shuttle train - Goodbye Fiji Time. 


Continuing in the spirit of the course and in order to commemorate leaving Fiji, I wrote one last corny but genuine acrostic poem on the way to Nadi;


Good experiences 
Of your people and culture
Of your heat and water
Development? (an in-course joke) 
Bye bye Fiji, 
You'll be missed,
Everyday was intense. 


Found some of myself
In these islands.
Just want to see more,
I am grateful. 


Well, I guess that's it - the final blog post. Now I just have to process the experience and continue to build on all the aspects of Fiji and Oceania I've learned and seen in the last 3 and a half weeks, some of which are detailed on this blog. Thank you so much for the experience and to anyone else who followed the adventure here. 

You wouldn't steal a car ...

  I am currently writing this in an Indo-Fijian internet cafe surrounded by pirated Bollywood DVDs.  It seems that in Fiji, (like at my university) illegal file-sharing and downloading of music, movies and computer games is rife. We all know that copyright infringement is illegal. However, back at home in Australia, I understood and empathised with the view that current intellectual property laws are restrictive, impractical and backward. The conflict between these laws and everyday realities is explored really thoroughly by the Canadian activist and film-maker Brett Gaylor in the documentary RiP!: A remix manifesto (available to watch online for free and legally here!). 


   This issue has come up again and again here. Most recently, before starting the interview with the Chief of Vagadaci in Levuka about the village's history, he questioned what government department we were with and clarified that we wouldn't sell the village's stories. Ownership of stories and knowledge is traditionally upheld and protected in Fijian society. For example, during interviews, we were frequently told stories with the caveat 'but don't include that because you have to ask permission from the owners of that story.' Sharing the story or knowledge of someone else is  frowned upon with the sharer being liable to bad luck.


  Today, this protection is not formalized in the law. Knowledge can be used and appropriated for profit by people other than the rightful owners. We didn't encounter this, but the potential for abuse seemed to be on many of the people we encountered minds. Professor Vilsoni Hereniko spoke about a trip that representatives from Disney made to Fiji and the University of South Pacific and the importance of caution in regards to giving valuable information away for free. Similarly, the Fijian Voyaging Society made a decision to not translate any of their information gathered amongst traditional boat and canoe builders, so others wouldn't be able to take advantage of the knowledge without permission.  


 In conclusion, the trip has totally turned my original conceptions regarding intellectual property laws on their head. After being exposed to the rich cultural knowledge of people in the region during work, I believe that intellectual property laws are vital for their protection. I understand the need for flexibility in the Western context. But, as a law student I understand that laws need to be consistent in order to work. SO, for now, I'm erring on the side of caution. 

Beachouse Brooding

Photo I took of the beachouse. 

So, last weekend we were kicked out of the Colonial Lodge, our accommodation in Suva, as it was fully booked. We instead spent the weekend at the Beachouse, a backpackers beach resort on the Coral Coast. After 2 weeks of work in the city, our stay provided some much needed respite. There were hammocks and swings and a pool! 


However, the experience felt detached from any of the others we had had in Fiji. Suddenly, we were in a perfect paradise where racial tension, coups and rubbish did not exist. In fact, a paradise where the only Fijians were serving burgers and piña coladas. Then, I thought, this experience of Fiji was't any different to experiences I have had with my family on holiday elsewhere in the world. Most tourists, want a sanitised version of the country they visit, with a limited amount of culture, appropriate to their palates. In fact, the Beachouse provided 'traditional weaving classes' in the afternoon. Earlier in the week, as part of the Living Human Treasures project, we interviewed Aliti Wiliame, an expert Rotuman mat weaver, dancer, composer and singer. She explained that the art of mat weaving was complex with many different techniques and patterns. Weaving, I thought to myself, wasn't something that could just be picked up on a lazy day at the beach.

But, tourism is profitable - the Beachouse exists because it fulfills a demand! As Cattermole writes, this tourism is economically good for the state so selective portrait of Fiji as a tourism destination is broadcast to the world; 




And, this type of advertising works! One of my friends recently sent me an email saying 'you're going to be so tanned and relaxed!' Somehow, I don't think he would have said the same had I been doing an intensive internship anywhere else in the world. This phenomenon isn't unique to Fiji - Australia doesn't advertise its questionable treatment of the human rights of refugees or indigenous population. Nevertheless I think it is particularly inaccurate here - this ad really could have been for anywhere in the world. 




While Epeli Hau'ofa envisaged the Pacific as a 'Sea of Islands,' I was starting to feel like the various peoples of Fiji inhabited several isolated islands and spoke mutually unintelligible languages. The tourists were on one island, indigenous Fijians on another and Indo-Fijians on yet another island. In my mind, these islands scarcely interacted meaningfully with each other. As far as I could see, each only had a superficial understanding of the other. 

Beachouse - the morning after!

But, on our second day at the Beachouse, I was snapped out of this negative perception. A group of about 20 Fijians (including both indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijian men and women) arrived for their work Christmas party. They were staying the night and, like the rest of the international clientele, took advantage of all the facilities the Beachouse had to offer. I was guilty of belittling Fiji by not even considering the possibility of Fijians coming to and staying at the Beachouse.  Demand for hostels and hotels can also be domestic! The fact that there were no Fijian patrons there when we were arrived was totally random and I had over-analysed the place from an indignant perspective.

I guess I was judging the tourists and their shallow experience of Fiji -a complicated country that I am learning more and about everyday. But, the Fijians came and I realised that the concept of escapism is universal - everyone needs a break, some time. On our last night, we were invited to the work group's bonfire. With backpackers, hostel staff, indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians in hammocks and on the sand around a fire with familiar Fijian tunes in the background, I felt much more at ease. The isolated islands were a fiction of my imagination, I had gone (coco)nuts. 

X-files in the Pacific

  Last week, before heading off on a two day trip to the West of Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island, we bowed our heads in prayer. After a few minutes of Christian prayer in Fijian, our voyage was blessed and we were ready to leave. Throughout the trip we would say grace before any sit-down meal. Similarly, we would pray before and after interviewing the potential living human treasures we were visiting. While my family sings grace in Samoan before dinner, this worship was more integrated in day-to-day life than I had ever experienced.

The only remaining pre-Christian 'temple' on Bau.

  Indigenous Fijians, like our colleagues on the trip, are very religious. When we visited the chiefly island of Bau, we learned about Fiji's first missionaries. Once they converted the powerful warlord Seru Epinisa Cokobau, the rest of Fiji followed suit. Cokobau was so taken with the new religion that he had all the ‘heathen temples’ on Bau island destroyed. Only one remains and is used as a meetinghouse.The island’s first Minister was the only person allowed to live on land above Cokobau’s house. This represented the Minister’s higher status, as a man of god, than the chief. 

  After this full-hearted adoption of Christianity, religion now influences almost all aspects of indigenous Fijian’s lives. Expression of faith can be very overt, like the grace before all meals we experienced and an almost universal attendance of church. It can also be subtler, for example, it influences acceptable dress-codes for women. One of our group recently overheard two indigenous Fijian women criticising another about her increasingly promiscuous outfits - she was wearing fitted clothing and exposing her shoulders. This stemmed from the missionaries promoting their version of modesty on indigenous Fijians that wouldn't have worn much clothing. 

  Something I find really interesting is the comfortable co-existence of this Christianity alongside pre-Christian myths and legends. On the trip to the West, we interviewed Fereti Mario, a 70 year old from Kalvaka in Rotuma. He told us about his visit to a portal to the underworld while fishing off the coast of his village. The room listening intently and we recorded his story and will archive it with the Fijian National Trust. Master Masi, the man who organised and translated the interviews, dubbed this ‘the real X-files of the Pacific’ and taught us more superstitions and beliefs. For example, in Polynesian cultures, spirits of the dead leave their islands by the western side and remain in the ocean. 

  

  The indigenous Fijians we have interacted with, like Master Masi, are devout Christians that seamlessly combine their faith with beliefs that are native to Fiji. I initially questioned this but, then thought that this could reflect the ‘indigenisation’ of Christianity in the Pacific (Wednt). That is, how Pacific Islanders have embraced and made the religion their own. Christianity is not viewed here as a negative infiltration of indigenous Fijian society, but truly part of the fabric of life. I think that this ownership might be the reason that certain traditional beliefs can co-exist in this harmonious way. 

Apology

I have a confession to make. I have mistakenly been using the term ‘Fijian.’ While it refers to anyone with citizenship of Fiji, I have been using it to refer to indigenous Fijians, i-taukei. Thus, excluding almost half of the Fijians that do not belong to this group. I came to this realisation after reading Cattermole’s and Teaiwa’s readings which elaborated on the important role of Indo-Fijians in Fiji. Many arrived in the late 1800s and early 1900s; today they make up 37% of the population. My lesson has been learned and I will be more conscious from now on – Sorry!

Te Mana O Te Moana

On our second day of work, the Fiji Arts Council interns attended a Mataisau Talanoa at University of the South Pacific. Mataisau means ‘chief’s carpenter’ in Fijian, these men are responsible for ship and canoe building. A talanoa 'is a cross-cultural process of storytelling derived from Pacific islands traditions.' The session was organised by the Fijian Voyaging Society, which consists of Fijian sailors leading the revival of traditional ship an canoe building.

The Society is part of a great revival of Oceanic traditional shipbuilding. They recently crewed one of 7 ships that emulated a journey the first Pacific Islanders, their ancestors, would have taken – a 22,000 mile sail from New Zealand to Tahiti. This was all done in semi-traditional ships designed by a Cook Islander. Here is the trailer for a film that will be released about the journey.

 

After this experience, the Fijian Voyaging Society were inspired to connect further with their Fiji itself. In the past, the country was famous for its huge double-hulled canoes that could easily hold 150 men. They were extremely durable and fast, in fact, Captain Cook said he felt like he was anchored when confronted with the speed of the Fijian double-hulled canoes. However, unfrotunately this practice is (literally) dying out, a drua (the ship) has not been built for over a hundred years. Many Mataisaus getting old are are not passing on their traditional canoe and ship building knowledge to younger Fijians.

The Fijian Voyaging Society aims to build and sail a drua.  

Model of a drua from the Fijian Arts Council

However, as none of the society have the skills to do this, they have begun to undertake reseach projects all over Fiji with Mataisaus to preserve and use these skills. The event we were at collected Mataisaus from the area of Lau, previously famous for its shipbuilding, to chat and share with the Voyaging Society. It was an honour to be at the meeting as it was the first of its kind - very productive with hopefully many more to come!

We were involved as the Fijian Arts Council runs two highly related UNESCO programmes: 'Education for Sustainable Development' and 'Living Human Treasures.' The session and the work of the Fijian Voyaging Society is really important for sustainble development as it provides an efficient alternative to ships powered by fossil fuels. This is an issue crucial in Oceania, where sailing is a day-to-day reality for many. For example, one of my Fijian friends took a boat to her Primary school everyday. The voyaging society are encouraging the Mataisaus to build more canoes and pass on their knowledge. Similarly, through their own plan, they are educating younger Fijians and people all over the world about environmental issues facing Oceania.

A Mataisau and potential living human treasure drinking Kava

The 'Living Human Treasures' project aims to preserve intangible cultural heritage - Defined by UNESCO as 'the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.' For example, traditional craftmanship, dance or theatre. The knowledge of the Mataisaus needs to be safeguarded in order to be transmitted on. 

What struck me the most was how these issues were all so interconnected and interdependent - the Mataisau's knowledge needs to be gathered to perserve it before it is lost, enabling younger Fijians to be more in touch with their culture and past. This simultaneously provides a much-needed sustainable means of transport for the region. The journey the Fijian crew undertook with other Pacific Voyaging Societies was named 'Te Mana O Te Moana,' meaning Spirit of the Sea. The work that the Fijian Voyaging Society truly embodies this slogan, preserving traditional culture and the environment that is so important in Oceania.

Credit for the definition I used for Talanoa: (http://www.buildingglobaldemocracy.org/content/pacific). Also, thank you Selai Yabaki, my boss for the photos from the session.

Culture and the Art$

   So, for those of you not in Fiji, before we started working here, we were officially welcomed to the country by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Arts at the Fiji Museum. This was very formal - our group sat crossed-legged in two rows in silence for the ceremony on ibe, Fijian woven mats. The morning began with speeches followed by  the most elaborate form of kava ceremony: 

Making Kava

Nikki, our tutor, accepting Kava on our behalf

  and a traditional meke (Fijian dance):

Meke

 Both were performed by students from the Fijian conservatorium of Music. Throughout the trip they'll be our buddies showing us around us around Suva. It was a great honour to be welcomed so elaborately. 


   Felipe Bole, Minister of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Arts mentioned in his welcoming speech that the students from the conservatorium were a great asset to the country, both as representatives of the country and financially. The next day at work, I was reading material about various projects that my workplace, the Fijian Arts Council has been involved in. I found a really relevant essay by Teresia Teaiwa entitled 'Ways of seeing' which was in the exhibition 'VASU, Pacific Women of Power.' She focuses on female artists, but many of her arguments are relevant in a broader discussion of this issue.


    I recognize that commodification of culture is a consequence of socio-economic reality and makes the arts a realistic life choice for Fijians like the conservatorium's students. Similarly, it can also lead to the acknowledgement of individual artists, who more commonly go unrecognized worldwide due to what Teaiwa terms the 'fetishism' of Pacific art. This is a phenomenon where art (especially any traditional art) is displayed and collected as an example of a region's handicrafts with no credit going to the person who produced the art itself. Thus, commercialising and placing a monetary value on art places importance on the producers i.e. the artists, potentially leading to their increased visibility.

Tapa cloth and mats in Suva's flea market - no credit to the artists who made them.

   However, I agree with Teaiwa that there are many disadvantages to this process. Firstly, it alienates artists from 'organic collective environments where they learnt their crafts' and their communities where they find meaning in being well-rounded people. In addition, a process of cultural commodification requires an initial set-up investment. This capital carries with it the expectation that there will be returns creating a pressure to produce only commercially viable dance, music and goods. This is dictated by the market which, in Fiji, consists largely of tourists. Artists can subsequently become 'mere workers and commodities in the global capitalist economy,' limiting their creative output to producing souvenirs that appeal to visitors.


  I know that this was a very shallow overview of pros and cons of this issue, but we're just my initial thoughts. I think that blogs give freedom to flesh out thoughts and discussions without necessarily coming to any hard conclusion ;) For now, I'll conclude that there are both advantages and disadvantages to the commercialising of a culture and I can't decide which outweighs the other. Hopefully, Fiji and Oceania will  somehow be able to negotiate the best of both worlds.


ALSO, credit to Hester Li who took the photos on this blog post.

Homage to Hau'ofa

Epeli Hau’ofa is an influential Tongan* Pacific Studies academic. He pioneered a conception of the region that radically countered the prevailing view amongst government officials, international agencies, aid donors and academics that due to our isolation from the rest of the world and small size, Pacific nations are will always be disadvantaged and of no importance in the international sphere. I regularly encounter this in Australia; some of my friends have coined my Pacific Studies courses ‘coconut class.’ While tongue-in-cheek, this reflects the genuine derogatory attitude of some students towards the region.

As the pilot announced we were descending into Fiji, I looked out of the window and looked out at the Pacific Ocean. I couldn’t help but think of Hau’ofa, who I have studied before, and his views. He emphasized the important distinction between seeing the Pacific as a ‘sea of islands’ rather than the aforementioned isolated ‘islands in the far sea.’

(The Pacific Ocean - part of not separating Oceania)

He argues that the description of a ‘sea of islands’ more accurately describes the region. It acknowledges the traditional relationship that Pacific States have had with each other and the sea. In a previous post, I mentioned Lapita pottery – remnants from some of the first people ever in the Pacific. They travelled on canoes across huge distances and gradually settled the islands. Historians view their settlement of the islands as one of the greatest feats of humankind.

The Pacific Ocean didn’t separate tiny islands, instead, it acted as a highway, connecting communities that intermarried, battled and communicated with each other. The water was not only a mode of transportation, but also where people played, and got their sustenance (through fishing) and their livelihoods. Hau’ofa argued that this holistic view of the region is relevant today as arbitrary national boundaries have little influence in the movement of ordinary Pacific Islanders.

I definitely saw evidence of this on the plane flying from Hong Kong to Nadi. The man sitting next to me was returning to his village for his brother’s wedding from his current posting with the army in the UK. He and other Fijians in his division had served all over the world, in destinations like Afghanistan, Norway and Northern Ireland.

Throughout this blog, I will view our experiences through the prism of Hau’ofa’s perspective. ‘Fiji’ is not limited to its geographical area, rather it expands to include Fijians throughout the Pacific and the world, such as my new friend on the plane, that have interdependent relationships with their family back in Fiji.

Personally, Hau’ofa’s perspective gave me as both a Pacific Studies student and a Pacific Islander (I am half-Samoan) a lot of hope! Official documentation of a failing, small and insignificant region doesn’t accurately reflect the position of Oceania in the world and I don’t want to contribute to that here.


*This was changed from Samoan to Tongan on the 8th of January. Thank you for the correction.