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Fiji comprises of over 300 islands, two thirds of which are uninhabited. Most land, 83% in Fiji are native owned
(meaning owned by Fijian landowning units). The rest are crown land or freehold.
Fiji's current capital is Suva, located on the main island of Viti Levu (Great Fiji). The first capital was Levuka,
on the island of Ovalau in the Lomaiviti (Centre of Fiji) Group. Suva became the capital in 1882, a decade after the Deed of Cession in Nasova, Levuka.
The first European to have sailed past Fiji was by Abel Tasman, a Dutch Explorer in 1643. Later in 1774, Captain James Cook who was an English navigator sailed through and later made further explorations in the 18th Century.
In 1789, Captain William Bligh sailed through the group after the mutiny of the Bounty. The area that he sailed through is now called the Bligh Waters, which is between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Simply put, it is through the Lomaiviti Group or central Fiji.
As time went by, there were those Europeans who landed on Fiji and lived among the early Fijians. Some were shipwrecked sailors, sandalwood and beach-de-mer traders, and later followed by the missionaries. The first two Christian missionaries, two Protestant Tahitians arrived at Lakeba in 1830. The first two Wesleyan missionaries, David Cargill and William Cross arrived in 1835, from Tonga. In 1839, they settled on Viwa Island, off the island of Bau.
When the news of Fiji being ceded to Britain began to spread, many Europeans from Australia and New Zealand came through to Fiji to settle. Fiji was then ceded to Britain on 10 October 1874. Fiji became a crown colony, with its capital at Levuka, on Ovalau Island, Lomaiviti Province. The capital later moved to Suva in 1882.
Sir Hercules Robinson was the Queen's representative, who was then Governor or New South Wales, officiated the signing of the Deed. The first British governor was Sir Arthur Gordon. He wanted to revive the economy of Fiji at that time, and growing sugar was one the best way since many other British colonies had done so. Gordon feared that if Fijian men were to be involved on this labor-intensive work, this would disrupt the traditional way of life of Fijians. He then authorized the arrivals of workers from India, which was also a British Colony. The first Indians to arrive was in 1879 under the Indenture system that lasted until 1916. About 2000 laborers arrived each year and many stayed after their contracts expired. Sugar became Fiji's principal industry controlled by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) of Australia. After Fiji's independence on 10 October 1970, the Fiji Government took charge and changed the name to Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC).
(Source: Cartwright, 1978): Fiji: Peoples and Islands
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A total of 60,965 indentured laborers came to Fiji between 1879 when the migration started from India until 1916 when it finally stopped. From this number, 45, 439 were from Northern India. We often wonder as to why Indians came to Fiji in the first place. The basic answer lies on the political context Fiji was placed in after it was ceded to Britain in 1874, under the leadership of Sir Arthur Gordon. The Indian government turned down a few proposals for Indians to come to Fiji, until Gordon invited the Colonial Sugar Refining (CSR), from Australia to operate in Fiji, from 1882 to 1973.
The shortage of labor from indigenous Fijians as well as Pacific islanders prompted Gordon who had previous experience of Indian indentured labor in Trinidad and Mauritius to approach India again. With the approval being granted from the Government of India, Fiji's Emigration Agent in Calcutta began recruiting the indentured laborers in the late 1878. The first group arrived on the boat " Leonidas".
It must be noted that there were later migrations to Fiji from various Indians who mainly came to Fiji for business purposes. Many have called Fiji their home and have contributed greatly to Fiji's economic and political development. Those who ventured into business have made names for themselves, Tapoos, Motibhai, Patel and Hargovind are some household names.
Those who were descendants of the Girmitiyas, (referred to those who came in during and post 1879) have shared the sweat, toil and the struggle many of them had when they arrived in Fiji. Some are still tilling the land their first generation relations have started while some have moved to other professions.
Watch this space when we will be adding more interesting information about our brothers and sisters from India who now has called Fiji their home!
Source: Brij V Lal, Girmitayas: The Origins of the Fiji Indians, 1983.
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Europeans, Chinese and Pacific Islanders in Fiji
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Apart from the early explorers and missionaries, there were lots of traders arriving on our shores in the 1800s. Among them were mariners or sailors. There were also those who were sent to find valuable minerals such as gold. Then came the whalers on whaling ships, which were in search of whales (tavuto). The oil made from the whale was sold at a very good price. Others came as sandalwood traders in search of sandalwood (yasi) and many found yasi along the shores of Vanua Levu, and sold it in China at a high price. Other ships bought pearls and beach-de-mer (dri). Beach-de-mer is seafood that Chinese people like very much. In lots of instances, many of these ships took many local people on these trips so they could either translate or negotiate trading transactions. There were even logbooks of many sailors that mentioned Maori people of New Zealand on these sailing ships traveling through to Fiji. Captain Cook also has Tupaea, a Polynesian navigator from Tahiti, whom he relied on to navigate through the Pacific Ocean. He mentioned the island of Rotuma to Captain Cook, which shows that Tupaea had been traveling from Tahiti to Rotuma years before Captain Cook arrived in the Pacific. The interesting aspect of this particular friendship was that Tupaea used the most traditional method of navigation, which was the use of positioning of the stars at night and the swells during the day. There would be stories of our own family members who have traveled on similar arrangements. If this does apply to you, it will be awesome to share your stories through the forum section!
With trading becoming a common activity during these times, this open the doors to many Europeans who wanted to venture into cotton planting. Cotton trading was popular due to the demand of cotton from all over the world. The climate of Fiji suited the cotton plants, however this changed when the price of cotton slumped, and the demand started to decline, thus affecting the whole industry.
In 1847 a new trade called black birding (a term not encouraged to be used today) started. This involved captains of ships taking men either by force or with a huge promise of money and a safe return home, just to fore these islanders to work on plantations growing not only sugar or cotton but also coffee, cocoa, fruits, rubber and coconuts. Some were taken to Northern Australia, to work on sugar cane farms there, while others were taken to Mexico and Peru in South America to work in the guano mines (Knox, 1970).
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Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
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Many laborers who were brought to Fiji came from the Solomon Island and New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Many look very similar to Fijians, as they have a lot of similar traits that reveals the connection among these islands for over so many thousands of years ago. Many had a hard life when they arrived in Fiji. Even though some of their treatments were tough and their living conditions were miserable particularly when they were away from their family and not sure whether they will return to their homeland again, many were treated kindly. Some later settled in quite quickly, and lived among the Fijians comfortably and have lived in Fiji ever since.
Some settlements that still exist today are:
Wailoku, Tamavua (Suva)
Tamavua-I-wai (Suva)
Caubati (Suva)
Matata , Lami (Suva)
Waidradra , Near Pacific Harbour (Navua)
Kalekana, Lami (Suva)
Newtown (Suva)
Wailailai (Ovalau)
Natakea (Savusavu)
Naviavia (Savusavu)
(Ref: Halapua, 2001)
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The Banaban people of Ocean Island which is part of Kiribati also has stories of how the phosphate mine that was opened on their island, made the islanders to move and be relocated on Rabi Island near Vanua Levu. Rabi was bought to assist in the relocation process. Some other settlement on Naboro and Caqiri in Nasinu, Suva was provided for those I-Kiribati who may have moved to Viti Levu in search of a better life for their families. (Knox, 1970)
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There were also Tuvaluans, in particular from Vaitupu, from the so-called Gilbert and Ellice Islands who left the islands in search of a better life. Some of them moved to Samoa, Tonga and some came to Fiji, and many (now descendants of the people of Vaitupu) are settled on the island of Kioa, Buca Bay near Vanua Levu. Some Tuvalauns were relocated to live in Veisari, many of whom still live there today. (White, 1965)
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Rotuma has been part of the Fiji administration since the Deed of Cession. This made a lot of Rotumans to move to the main islands of Fiji, mainly Viti Levu and Vanua Levu in search of a better life. During the labour trade in the mid 1800s, many Rotumans who came to Fiji settled in Lomaivuna and Vatukoula. Now, many have found jobs at various other places and some have held and are currently in high position in government. Nearly half of the populations of Rotuma now live in Fiji, many also live abroad (Rotuma Split Island, 1977)
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Hundreds of years ago, Tongans came to Fiji, long before the first Europeans arrived on our shores. Many now settle in the Lau Islands. Oral history showed many such migrations from Tonga to the provinces of Cakaudrove, Nadroga, Rewa and Kadavu for instance and many married local Fijians. Henele Ma'afuotu'itonga was a Tongan who became a powerful chief in Fiji in the 1800s. In the case of Samoans, oral history has linked Fiji to Samoa and vice versa. For example, oral history of Waya in Yasawa and also of Rotuma mentioned their traditional links to Samoa, just as in the legend of tattooing that showed that the art of tabooing in Samoa originated from Fiji. In the present day, some Samoans and their descendants have settled in Wailekutu, near Lami in Suva (Tuimaleali'ifano, 1990: 6-9).
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Many pioneer generation Chinese who came to Fiji have different family backgrounds, however their aim of traveling from China to Fiji was to look for a better life. Some came with the impression of Fiji being a gold hill like San Francisco or Sydney, given the Gold rush period at that time. Many had to do menial jobs when they first arrived (in particular those who do not have any family members already established in Fiji). In the case of Chinese in Nausori, the first wave of migration began as early as the early 1900s. Many of them came from Kwangtung Province in South China. Some went back to China and brought back their wives. Through sheer hard work and determination, many have established retail stores or own farms or businesses. (Fong, 1974)
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