fiji - My Great Love E-Book

Momo Pete

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 320

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The book is a love letter to Fiji and its unique people. It presents the ancient culture and history of the indigenous Itaukei from a different perspective than that found in the usual travel guides or even in the official history books of Fiji. It is a very personal "Talanoa" (story) of Fiji, told from the admittedly limited perspective of a "pale-face" in love. It is full of descriptions of historical events and brings to light unexpected life lines of historical figures that have been forgotten or deliberately disappeared from public discourse. The word Talanoa has a prominent meaning in the Itaukei culture. The Fijian culture had no writing or standardized records until the arrival of the first missionaries in 1835. Everything was passed down orally or presented in the form of a narrative dance (Meke) . The oceanic beauty of the Pacific has carried and accompanied all these fascinating and harrowing stories of its inhabitants on its waves. It has given people direction, protected their lives or driven them into exile or to their deaths. The individual chapters describe in detail the ancient spirituality of the Itaukei, the arrival of missionaries and Europeans in the mid-19th century, the effects of 100 years of colonization, and the consequences of shipping tens of thousands of cheap Indian contract labourers (girmits) to Fiji. The book looks back into the past and at the same time remains in the modern present, following developments in Fiji from independence to the present day. It is by no means a travel guide. But every white person visiting the South Sea islands should read it in preparation. Because Fiji should be experienced with heart and sensuality by its guests.

Leseprobe

fiji

My Great Love

momo pete

The book

Is a love letter to the Fiji islands and their unique inhabitants. It presents the ancient culture and history of the indigenous Itaukei from a different perspective than that found in the usual travel guides or even in the official history books of Fiji. The book describes in detail the ancient spirituality of the Itaukei and the incursion of missionaries and Europeans in the mid-19th century (with a German-born settler family right in the middle of it all), the effects of 100 years of colonisation and the consequences of shipping tens of thousands of cheap Indian contract labourers (Girmits) to Fiji. It tells of diverse friendships with the indigenous Itaukei, the Indian-born descendants of the Girmits, Chinese immigrants, Polynesian friends and the European pale-faces who have found a home here. Amidst all these lifelines, political upheavals, dramas and revolutions, the author's unwavering love and devoted respect for this fascinating and unique country, which he calls “Vanua” (home) flourishes.

The author

Momo Pete has been visiting Fiji regularly since the mid-1990s, and over time it has become his real home. From 2017 until the end of 2022, he lived continuously on various South Sea islands and worked as an entrepreneur in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Since early childhood, the South Seas have mysteriously captivated him, and their people and islands have left a lasting impression in all of his books.

The South Pacific, a paradisiacal, theatrical and sometimes dramatic muse that repeatedly permeates his writing as his greatest inspiration. Momo Pete is his Fijian name, given to him by his indigenous Itaukei friends who took him into their family. Momo means brother of the mother or chief, Pete is the abbreviation of his European name.

Dedicated to the people of Fiji-Islands

and

their visitors.

Translated from German by Momo Pete with support

of

artificial intelligence.

Content

Acknowledgement 

Introduction 

Chapter 1 

Fiji and the ancient indigenous 

Itaukei culture 

Fijian Deities and their mythological places 

Spirituality–Rituals–Symbols 

The history of the German Hennings family 

Chapter 2 

The tragic path to colonialism 

The Tuka Movement and the Viti Kabani 

Girmits and Blackbirding 

Marama 

The three-legged stool–The colonial era 

Chapter 3 

Taveuni–Tagimoucia 

The Pacific Way 

Mutinies by the military 

Chapter 4 

Suva–a love story (un)real 

Fiji Time 

Fruit Salad 

Appendix 

Glossary 

Sources 

Booklist (English Editions) 

Imprint 

Acknowledgement

Vinaka vakalevu! My greatest thanks go to Turaga Dau Loloma Vunirarama, who pervades every line of this book with His Graceful Inspiration and Mana.  

I thank my Fijian friends who welcomed me into their family and told me countless Talanoa, without whose support this book would not have been come to light: Mark Komaitai Fitzalan Howard, Petero Waqairapoa (Waqa), Aman Kumar, Narend Prasad (John), Aisake Cakacaka, Josaia Bosewaqa (Josh), Toga Toulagata, Timoci Saumaki, Solo Finau, Rob Rickman, Sheryl Lal, Robert Glowatzki, John Yuang-Chinese Medicine and to my daughter Sonnja Naitauba, who enriched my writing by immersing herself in Fijian culture and providing information. 

Special thanks go to the many institutions, scholars and writers whose research and information made this book possible and whose books are listed in the appendix: Martha Kaplan, Hermann Mückler, Deryck Scarr, Robert E. Nicole, Daryl Tarte, Fiji Times, Fiji-Museum/Suva, Peter Thomson, Steve Ratuva, Ona Hill, Peter France, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, John Dunham Kelly, Philipp Snow, Pasific Island Monthy Magazine, The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam. 

Na Rarama Dina

–

The True Heart

Na rarama dina

e sau galala.

E galala na utonqu

kei ma nomu vakasama.

Ogo na kena yalodina

sala dodonu.

Serui totoka qai cecere

Dau Loloma.

The True Heart

Is Free.

Free of all illusions

of the body-mind.

Radical devotion

Is the Way!

Perfect Knowledge

Da.

Introduction

„Voulagi—the spirit that comes from the horizon“ 

Koro Matua—the ancient village. My view sweeps over the expanse of a heat-soaked South Sea lagoon. I am sitting in the warm sand on the beach in one of the most remote places in the world – on the lonely island of “Naitauba” in the Lau group, the southeastern archipelago of the Fiji Islands. The sky is a brilliant blue, the lagoon rests in itself in an indescribable turquoise, gently whispering in the sea waves, which will slowly disappear at some point into the deep blue, beyond the rushing reef, out into the infinity of the Pacific Ocean.

Tropical clouds are piling up over the sea on the distant horizon. A feeling of home flows through my soul. Before my eyes on the horizon lies the mountainous island of Kanacea. Far behind it, in the haze of the distance, the island of “Mago” (pronounced: Mango) can be seen. A little to the right, many nautical miles away, the island of “Vatuvara” can be spotted, which rises mightily out of the Pacific in the form of a rocky hat, is designated a nature reserve and will belong to an American billionaire in 2025. Next to it is the island of “Yacata”, and in front of it, in the shadow of this island, if the observer knows it, the small island of “Kaibu”, a high-end luxury resort, which is also in the hands of a billionaire American investor. On the far left of my field of vision, the elongated island chain of “Vanua Balavu” stretches out. On the far left, also in the haze, is the island of “Avea”. And directly in front of me, perhaps half an hour away by motorboat, is the small, very flat island of “Malima”. And in between—the boundless beauty of the deep blue South Pacific.

The ancient village of the indigenous Itaukei, Koro Matua, has long since ceased to exist. It was located directly on the coast of my island, on a wide, high promontory that drops steeply into the sea, framed by black lava rock. Behind me, a mighty, vertical cliff that runs like a protective rock wall close to the sea and is covered with tall trees. In front of the steep face, an impenetrable jungle extends to a wide sandy coastal strip. One afternoon, I sit in the shade of a mighty Vutu tree, whose old branches reach deep and heavy into the beach, surrounded by bizarre, rugged, light brown volcanic stone formations. My feet dig into the warm sand, the waves of the low tide bring only the playful sounds of the warm ocean to the shore. In these forgotten places, nothing happens except Being-itself. This is how my daughter would put it: the beauty is so overwhelming that you forget everything and just are present as beauty itself. Without even the slightest hint of an impulse to do something, or that something needs to be done, or that anything is really important, except for the mere being in the here and now. “Fiji Time”—THE catchphrase in the Fiji Islands.

With each wave that ebbs away at the shore, the sea seems to breathe out symphonically. The crystal-clear water reverberates, the sea breathes in again almost silently, only to throw itself playfully and sonorously onto the beach with the next exhalation. In these moments, there is no tension, no stress, no impulse. A person misses nothing, he or she has forgotten himself or herself. Simply being. Many of these remote islands in the South Pacific are still untouched. The insatiable Western consumer frenzy has not yet fully taken hold of them, despite their history. Or the islands and their inhabitants have, as if by magic, freed themselves from the juggernaut of Western civilization and its ideologies.

Can anyone today still imagine that just ten nautical miles away (one nautical mile is 1.85 kilometers), in the middle of nowhere, so to speak, was once the commercial center of the Fiji Islands? For many decades, it was the “anchorage” of the trading world in the South Pacific. And that this trading center was founded by a family of German origin?

In the now sleepy village of Lomoloma on Vanua Balavu, the South Sea trade was “invented” between 1840 and 1850 and the first currency was brought into circulation by a merchant family from Bremen (Germany). More than 150 years ago, countless merchant ships from all over the world were moored in the harbor of the small village, transporting coconuts, cotton, sandalwood, copra (dried coconut flesh) and sea cucumbers around the globe. Decades before colonization, long before Levuka on Ovalau was declared the capital of Fiji and slowly developed into a commercial center, and long before the English colonial rulers chose the historic village of Suva on Viti Levu, the largest island of Fiji, as the new capital in 1875. The enormous upheavals and distortions for the indigenous Itaukei and their land, which they call Vanua, began in the southeastern Fiji islands of the Lau Group, which I am now looking at. Within a few decades, its abruptly changed their culture and their traditional way of life, which for a thousand years had consisted mainly of a warrior culture that the islanders had enthusiastically embraced. Warriors feared throughout the Pacific for their large, fast boats and deadly weapons.

The oceanic beauty of the Pacific has carried all these fascinating and harrowing stories of the past on its waves and accompanied them. It has given people direction, protected their lives or led them into exile or to their deaths. From this place under the ancient Vutu tree, with a view of the infinity of the Korosea, I will tell the story of the Fiji Islands and their inhabitants. And I will always return to this unique Talanoa-place in this secluded paradisiacal lagoon.

The word “Talanoa” (telling stories) has a prominent meaning in the Itaukei culture. Until the arrival of the first missionaries in 1835, the Fijian culture had no writing or standardized records. Everything was passed down orally or presented in the form of a narrative dance (meke). The first Fijian dictionary was not written until between 1850 and 1860 by a Christian missionary. Until then, all legends, stories and teachings of the indigenous Itaukei people were only passed down orally. This tradition has been preserved to this day and is also maintained by subsequent generations. It is important to note that there is no single Talanoa for an event or historical occurrence. There are usually many different stories about a specific event, depending on the perspective, point of view or political direction from which the events are viewed. Even in today's Fijian newspapers and magazines, it is repeatedly pointed out that when legends and historical events are described in the magazines, this account is only one of many possible narratives and that other interpretations and perspectives are equally valid. To Western ears, this understanding of history may sound very strange, since there is no single interpretation that is valid for everyone. However, this is everyday life in Fiji. Contradictions can and must remain side by side and are a frequent cause for controversial discussions, even after decades.

As I gaze across the lagoon, the same paradox of earthly existence blows towards me with the cooling sea breeze. If I were to dive a few meters deeper into the lagoon and the coral reef, I would encounter countless hunting reef sharks and barracudas. Predators that move skillfully through the underwater world of colorful coral reefs, always on the lookout for prey in a sea of shoals of fish, huge open clams or leisurely floating sea turtles that search for food in the waves of swaying sea grass. It is not easy to keep an overview or, rather, clarity and unambiguity in the Talanoa world of the Itaukei. The missionary work from 1835 onwards has also contributed to the fact that many old myths and legends of the Itaukei have been “European-Christianized”. They often do not stand up to scientific or historically verifiable scrutiny and often sound absurd to Western ears. Nevertheless, these stories are now an integral part of Fijian culture, religion and politics, and they are mixed with the ancient stories of the indigenous Itaukei. They are vehemently defended by large sections of the population and regarded as absolute historical truths. Some of these stories are told in the individual chapters.

This book was written primarily for us pale-faces, who in Fiji are all just called “Europeans”, whether we come from Australia, New Zealand, America or actually from Europe. Another Fijian term for stranger is the word “Voulagi” (pronounced: Vulangi). In the past, it was often used for the population of Indian origin and developed into a kind of insult to divide the Fijians. But the word has a very deep and wise meaning. It is composed of the words “vou” and “lagi” (pronounced “langi”), which means “the spirit or soul that comes from the horizon”. The indigenous Itaukei saw in the strangers who reached their islands by boat not just a person or an individual, but their essence, their deities, their spirituality, the “Vou” that they brought with them. What a wonderful description, which unfortunately has lost its deep meaning in the modern age. I wrote this book for and about this encounter of so much Vou from all parts of the world.

During my first visit in 1997, I quickly realized that we Europeans have only superficial knowledge of the Fijian culture and are still characterized by a white supremacy, often unintentionally or consciously flaunting this arrogance—especially on a religious and economic level—and that many Fijians simply accept this without contradiction. It was deeply painful for me to experience myself in this role and to see the reactions of my Fijian friends to this behavior. This book, written in the humble form of a Voulagi, is intended to help readers better understand and engage with the feelings and ancient, very rich spirituality of the people of Fiji. It does not claim to be a scientific treatise or to gather all the facts of history.

I have deliberately avoided footnotes to allow for an emotional flow of reading, although a great many facts are listed. I think we need to perceive and understand Fiji very emotionally and with our hearts to get a sense of the unique culture and history we are immersed in. William Shakespeare would have truly enjoyed the Fijian legends, dramas and true episodes. His “Scottish Play” could easily have been written here and found a “worthy” home in the South Sea Islands of Fiji—just like his “Midsummer Night's Dream”.

To put it in a nutshell, the real reason I wrote this book is my unbridled love for this incomparable country and its people. The fascinating world of the indigenous Itaukei, Indo-Fijians, Chinese, Polynesian, Micronesian, Melanesian or European inhabitants—all united as Fijians—with their very different cultures, has captivated me and never let go.

I can't imagine a more beautiful place to live. It is inspiration, confrontation, devotion and vision.

Fiji is a blessing and an inexhaustible source of creativity, a place of true love and a revelation for the heart.

May this gift be bestowed on many people around the world.

Momo Pete, in spring 2025 in Freiburg im Breisgau – Germany

Chapter 1

Fiji and the ancient indigenous

Itaukei culture

„Talanoa—storytelling“ 

I rise from the beach in my thoughts and wander in my memory into the tropical forest that rises a hundred meters or more below the enormous cliff and stretches for miles behind the beach along the coast. My Fijian friend and “brother” Tacingu accompanies me to a very small cave near Koro Matua at the foot of the cliff. The cave is secluded and untouched at the end of a very sharp climb through a dense forest. Above the cave, the rocks rise up steeply, almost overhanging. To the left and right of the cave, old trees with huge roots jutting out over the rocks tower imposingly and mightily into the sky. We can hear the surf of the reef from the lagoon. An ancient, archaic feeling rises in us as we pass a deep black charred rock next to the cave. The cave is not particularly large, perhaps five meters in diameter. The height of the room is probably in the same order of magnitude, while in the middle a whitish stalactite towers majestically and as tall as a man as the center of the room. Next to it lies a large stone on the rocky, earthy floor with a semicircular indentation and an obviously chiseled-out drain. At the top left of the cave wall is an almost circular hole that offers a view of the sky. Everything is reminiscent of an ancient, almost forgotten place of worship. We stand in silence between the rugged rock formations surrounding us at the entrance to the cave and look through the tropical forest to the ocean. In front of the cave, on a rocky outcrop, there are two elongated indentations carved into the wall, in the middle of which stands a kind of stone throne. My Fijian friend, who knows the ancient traditions and history of the Itaukei well, explained to me that this elevated place was reserved for the Tui (king or supreme chief), with his wives sitting to the right and left, as poligamy was common in the ancient culture. The black charred area under the rocky outcrop was the Lovo (earth oven) where the human sacrifices were prepared and eaten.

The place lies there quietly, as if preserving and contemplating its own past. Obviously, no one has been here for a long time who could “read” this place, know its history and talk about it. The Fijians living on the island today, whose ancestors were missionized by the Methodists a long time ago, are embarrassed by such places and rarely talk about them with pale-faced people.

There are various theories about when the first people came to Fiji. One says that the first people (Austronesians) migrated to Fiji 5,000 years ago via New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. These settlers are called “Manahune”. A further wave of colonization began with the “Ariki”, which started around the year zero to the 5th century AD. It is assumed that these people migrated via Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Traces of human settlement can be traced back up to 2500 years, as evidenced by finds from the so-called “Lapita pottery culture”. The Lapita culture is characterized by a special, richly decorated pottery that can be found throughout the South Pacific region. In two caves on the Fiji Islands, ancient characters similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics were found on the walls, but have not yet been deciphered. Here in Fiji, the Melanesian culture has mixed with the Polynesian and Micronesian cultures. In the oral traditions, the Talanoas, of the Fijians, various myths and legends in many forms and colors about the origin of the indigenous Itaukei have been handed down, some of which I would like to reproduce in the following chapters.

The currently most popular Talanoa, which is firmly anchored in the very devout population of Fiji, but has hardly any historical or scientific evidence, is the myth of “Lutunasobasoba”. It first emerged at the end of the 19th century and is still passionately told, defended and passed on today. This Talanoa is seen, especially in the Christian evangelical communities, as a creation story of the Fijians, which is supposed to provide historical evidence of the origin myth of the Itaukei ancestors, although this Lutunasobasoba legend only began to spread throughout Fiji around 1892 and has its origins on a small island near the harbour and capital Suva.

The mythological figure of Lutunasobasoba is said to have sailed from Africa to Fiji in his mythical canoe “Kaunitoni”. Off the north coast of Viti Levu near the village of Viseisei, now called “Vuda Point”, he made the first step onto the Fiji Islands and later retreated to the Nakauvadra Mountains. Lutunasobasoba and the ancient serpent deity “Degei” associated with him from the sacred Nakauvadra Mountains are said to be deities originating from Lake Tanganyika in Africa. This developed into a Christian Talanoa, which is very much alive in Fiji today. This Talanoa exists in different variations, for example that the first inhabitants of Fiji came from Egypt and Thebes and were descended from one of the Israelite tribes. In an extension of this creation story, it is reported that Lutunasobasoba was caught in a storm on his arrival off the coast of Viti Levu near the Mamanuca Islands and lost a valuable casket of writings—Katonimana—in the sea. Degei, the deity of the Nakauvadra Mountains, is also said to have been unsuccessful in her later search for the casket. However, she found a diamond during her search and then transformed herself into a snake with a diamond on her forehead. She found her abode in the caves of Sawa-i-Lau on the Yasawa Islands, although in the old myths the deity inhabited a cave in the Nakauvadra Mountains on the main island of Viti Levu and her form was only symbolized by a simple stone. Even Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, the Prime Minister of Fiji in 2025, believes that the Itaukei are descended from one of the ten tribes of Israel and that the casket Katonimana—a kind of “Ark of the Covenant”—actually exists, contains many sacred objects and is buried somewhere on Mana Island. All these stories and their variations, which appeared out of nowhere at the end of the 19th century, are imbued with the Christian ideas of the first missionaries. They only appear in this form from around 1892 and were obviously deliberately intended to convey to the population that the Christian faith and its religion had been part of the old Fijian Itaukei culture from the very beginning. The Itaukei prophets and resistance fighters against the colonial government who appeared later turned these adapted creation stories around again. They claimed that Jehovah and Jesus were originally two Fijian deities under different names who had lived in the Nakauvadra Mountains, which makes the matter even more confusing and diverse, but more on this in the chapter “The Tuka Movement”.

As I have come across this legend of Lutunasobasoba very often in Fiji and even my well educated Fijian friends believe it to be historically true, I would like to take a closer look at the background to this legend here. The story of Lutunasobasoba shows us what cultural acquisition and erasure of ancient myths actually means when it is systematically carried out in the name of a proselytizing religion and colonial rule. And how this deliberate manipulation continues to have an impact today and extends into the political and family sphere.

In 1865, the first attempt was made by Christian missionaries to collect and organize the oral traditions of the Itaukei. The missionary Jesse Carey called on all indigenous teachers who had converted to Christianity to write down the Fijian legends. The result was over 200 handwritten pages in various dialects, which are still preserved today in the Mitchell Library in Sydney. This extensive collection of Fijian myths records the Talanoas and events of 300 deities and ancestors. There is no reference to an immigration movement, no mention of Lutunasobasoba and no canoe named Kaunitoni.

It was not until twenty years later that another collection of oral traditions was compiled by Edward O'Brien Heffernan, a farmer and lawyer for the indigenous Itaukei, at the Land Claims Commission. He traveled to Fiji and compiled a collection of records and Talanoas, known as the Stanmore Papers, which are held at the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. This collection contains over 50 myths and traditional songs from many different regions of Fiji, but not a single reference to the legend of the Kaunitoni migration and Lutunasobasoba.

Despite this extensive field research into the diverse history and spirituality of the ancient Itaukei culture, the legend of the deity Degei and Lutunasobasoba has prevailed in large parts of the population as a supposedly ancient creation story that applies to all 333 islands of Fiji.

However, the legend of Lutunasobasoba and his legendary canoe Kaunitoni only emerged in 1895. In an article in the “Journal of the Anthropological Institute”, an amateur anthropologist, Basil Thompson, described the story of an indigenous Itaukei from the island of Beqa, according to which the ancestors of the Fijians were stranded on the north coast of Viti Levu. This was the first record of the legend of Lutunasobasoba and the migration of the Kaunitoni. This story was later published in the widely read book “The Fijians” by Basil Thompson.

As early as the end of the 19th century, Christian missionaries taught the Fijians in their mission schools about the different races that populated the various regions of the world. Many missionary teachers told their pupils clearly and unambiguously that the origins of the Fijian race lay in Africa. The missionary Jesse Carvey, who found no evidence of migration from Africa to Fiji in the records of the ancient Talanoas, now established indisputable links between Fiji and Africa (Tanganyika) in his book. He found linguistic parallels to the Fijian Itaukei, as there were settlements on the shores of Lake Tanganyika that bore the names of Fijian villages. He compared the customs of the Fijians with those of the city of Thebes and came to the conclusion that the ancestors of the Itaukei had grown up in this center of ancient civilization.

In 1892, the Fijian newspaper “Na Mata” announced a competition to find a definitive version of the original Itaukei creation story. The winning entry, “The Legend of Lutunasobasoba and his Canoe Kaunitoni”, was published in seventeen monthly installments starting in September 1892. It tells of the departure of the ancestors from their hometown of Thebes, their journey up the Nile and their settlement on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the ensuing dispute with the neighboring tribes and the great crossing from Africa to Fiji—led by the chief Lutunasobasoba in his canoe—the landing in the village of Vuda on Viti Levu and the founding of a settlement in the Nakauvadra Mountains.

In 1908, the year in which the book “The Fijians” was published, the last Christian accolade was given to this missionary story. In a speech to the Fijian Society, David Wilkinson, advisor and interpreter to the colonial government, quoted the legend of Lutunasobasoba and claimed, without providing any lasting proof, that this story was widely known and recognized by all Fijians as their myth of origin. At this point at the latest, all listeners should have immediately become suspicious, because it is almost impossible for all Fijian tribes to agree!

The thoroughly externally determined production of this myth about the origin of an indigenous people shows impressively how history is written and manipulated by the white supremacy of religions and their colonial masters and does not even stop at the creation myth of an indigenous people in order to establish an all-powerful Christian world view in people's minds.

But times have changed. Thanks to today's educational opportunities and global networking, young people in the South Pacific can now make up their own minds and come to their own conclusions about their traditions and ancestors. Or as one of my young Fijian friends succinctly put it: “There had been smoke over the mountains of Viti Levu for a long time when the missionary legend of Lutunasobasoba and his canoe washed ashore in Fiji”.

I returned with my friend through the tropical silence of the forest to the beach of the lonely turquoise lagoon, accompanied by the eternal breakers of the reef. Tacingu brought me a freshly caught, fried fish from his Fijian village for lunch today, along with Dalo and Kasava, two typical root vegetables that are grown all over the islands. Everything looks delicious and is drenched in a spicy coconut milk sauce. We spread the delicacies out on banana leaves in front of us, take our fingers and enjoy the wonderful catch in the shade of a palm tree right on the beach. My Fijian friend and brother Tacingu comes from a very respected chieftain family on Vanua Levu. His mother, who unfortunately died young, was the sister of the chief. This gave him the status of a “Vasu”, which gives him a special position and privileges within the Mataqali/Yavasu compared to his uncle, who was also a chief. These Itaukei privileges were granted to him despite the fact that his biological father is of Scottish descent and he is therefore referred to as a “Kailoma”, a half-breed. The advantages, e.g. in house building and land allocation, remain with the whole family despite marrying a non-Itaukei. His mother's aristocratic title “Adi” (pronounced “andi”) was also passed on to his sisters.

The kinship relationships between Fijian families, villages and islands are very complex, difficult to understand and often based on centuries-old friendships, marriages or irreconcilable enmities. When I once visited a traditional village on the island of Taveuni and mentioned the name of one of the most respected Tui in Fijian history over dinner, I was told that this person did not exist for the village—it was better not to mention his name here. While less than two kilometers away, in another village, this man is still revered and celebrated as one of Fiji's greatest heroes after more than 150 years.

Tacingu, with whom I am still sitting in the sand by the lagoon, now tells me about Vanua Levu, the second largest island, which I will visit later. He tells me about his Mataqali, his mother, who had healing powers, and about Dakuwaqa, the shark deity who is still closely associated with his chief's family and the whole clan. While he is still telling me about his Talanoa, reef sharks suddenly appear in the shallow waters of the lagoon in front of us, stretching their black-spotted fins out of the water.

Whenever I am out with Tacingu on the coast of the island, sharks appear in the lagoon after a short time and accompany us on our long walks along the beaches of the islands. It went so far that on our first visit to the capital Suva, we were sitting on the harbor promenade and suddenly a very large shark appeared right in front of us and swam back and forth. This is nothing unusual for Tacingu, as he is the Totem animal of his clan.

Fiji is full of such stories and experiences, which often seem surreal and magical to us. But we should take them seriously if we want to take a closer look at the spiritual dimension and world perception of the inhabitants and the untouched nature of the tropical island world, which still exists in many parts of the islands and is very much alive.

As people socialized in the West, we can compare the spiritual and religious world of the Fiji Islands with the European goddesses and goddess heavens, which are in no way inferior to them in terms of quarrels, betrayal, love and friendship. The shamanic Bön-religion of the Himalayas with its demons, deities and oracles before the arrival of Buddhism can also be used as a comparison.

There were hundreds of different deities, ancestor gods and demons on the South Sea Islands before the missionaries converted the Fiji Islands to Christianity within 40 years from 1835. Practically every island had its own deities and many clans (Mataqalis) had their own ancestral gods. Basically, it can be said that each Mataqali had its own totem animal and its own taboos. Using the island of Naitauba in the Lau group as an example, I would like to show how the shamanic-spiritual world is structured.

The records in the Fiji government history books indicate that the first settlers of Naitauba came to Naitauba in the early 17th century from Verata, a town on the main island of Viti Levu, which was uninhabited at the time. It should be noted that many Yavasu (communities) and Mataqalis (clans) claim in their Talanoas to be from Verata to express that they were among the very first settlers in Fiji. The first village on Naitauba was called Saliaiwalata. The name of the clan was Vuanimaba (Vu of the ebony or god plum tree) and the first chief was Nasiriva, who had the title “Vuniivalu”.

“Vou” or “Vu” means “source” or “origin”, “ni” means “from” and “valu” is translated as “war”. As the inhabitants of Fiji refer to a warrior culture that is thousands of years old and the Fijians were feared throughout the South Pacific for their dangerous weapons and fast boats, this title is an expression of their history and can still be found in the indigenous Itaukei culture on many islands today. Nasiriva's successor was Todua, who first bore the title “Tui Naitauba”. Tui can be translated as “king” or “great prince”. Until 1860/62, when the island was sold for the first time, a circumstance I will discuss later, this title was passed on to the chiefs or leaders of the clan.

The following characteristics about the spirituality and shamanism of the inhabitants of Naitauba were recorded in the history books.

“Kalou Vou”, the god of the ancestors, was called “Wainiciva” (water of the oyster pearl). “Ika”, the traditional totem fish, is described as Yatu (tuna).

“Kau”, traditionally a totem plant or sacred tree, is called “Vadra” (screw tree plant), and “Beka” (bat or flying fox) is cited as the traditional land animal “Manumanu”.

These totems from the plant and animal world had great significance for the members of the clan and could be assigned all kinds of taboos. In the Fijian language, “Tabu” (pronounced “tambu”) actually means “sacred” and “tabutabu” means “very sacred”. This meant, for example, that this special totem fish could only be eaten at special festivals or was reserved for the priestly caste, the Bete. Or that the beautiful flying foxes were taboo for hunting because they were associated with the ancestral deity. This classification of totem plants and animals with their taboos can still be found in the various Mataqalis today and the associated rules are followed by the members of the clan. Further records by the Wesleyan missionary Rev. D. Hazlewood from 1860 indicate that the traditional name of the island deity on Naitauba was “Tomesaia”. However, this information from the English Methodist should be viewed with caution and questioned.

The island of Naitauba was demonstrably not missionized until 1862. This means that no missionary had access to the island and there are also no reports that a pale-face ever set foot on the island, as it is surrounded by a closed reef. The words and term of the missionary does not exist or cannot be found in the old Fijian language. Normally, the meaning of the deity, which is always associated with nature and the animal world in animistic and shamanic traditions, can be derived very easily from the words or individual syllable fragments. The word “Tomesaia” is probably a missionary intervention or appropriation. It seems rather to have been derived from the English “to messiah” in order to be able to “missionize” the indigenous Itaukei more easily later, as we have already seen in other places through new word and legend creations.

In every Itaukei Koro (village) there was a Kalou bure (the house of the deity or ancestral deities), which the Bete (priests) served. Equally important was the house of the chief. Both leadership positions in the village, Tui and Bete, acted as a unit or in cooperation. Their houses, whose roofs sometimes had pyramid-like shapes, were usually elevated on hills or mounds of stones. When the house of Tui was built, a human being was often buried vertically in the ground beneath the individual poles on which the house rested as a sign of the power of Tui and his Mana (spiritual power). In many respects, human sacrifices were part of everyday life in Fijian warrior culture and indicated the power of a chief. The houses of chiefs and priests had a special status in the village and could only be entered according to certain protocols of reverence.

Even today, the Tui of a village or island passes on his title and position in society to his sons, with the eldest son enjoying privileges. However, the enthronement of a new Tui is embedded in a wide network of Yavasu obligations (clan relationships) that precede the appointment of a new Tui before the approval and lengthy enthronement. Yavusa is the largest social unit in Fiji within the various Mataqali, but at the same time it is more than just a tribe or clan. It means that one goes back to the same Kalou Vou (ancestral deity) and shares this with all other members. This Kalou Vou is connected to the Vanua, the place or land where the original ancestral deity lived. Vanua is therefore of paramount importance for the self-image of the Itaukei (the Yavasu) and for their relationship to the environment and their fellow human beings, which must always be taken into account.

A Yavasu is made up of many different Mataqalis, some of whom take leading positions in the appointment of a Tui and must agree to the appointment. The Mataqalis are in turn made up of the families of the “Tokatokas”, which form the smallest unit of the social structure. If a new Tui is elected, this affects the entire Yavasu and all Mataqalis are involved.

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