Fijian traditions and ceremonies

Fijian tradition and ceremony is a living way of life that has remained intact for millennia, evolving as the Fijian nation has modernised over time, with various external influences from Pacific neighbours, and European and Asian society. The term Fijian in this article refers to "indigenous Fijians" or "I Taukei" as the term Fijian generally includes all citizens of Fiji. This article is a general overview of various aspects of Fijian tradition, social structure and ceremony, much of it from the Bauan Fijian tradition. There are variations from province to province. Many social intricacies depend on one's inherited social position and the occasion one is confronted with: each will have a particular social etiquette. The Fijian terms in this article are most often of the Bauan dialect.

Traditionally, each Fijian villager is born into a certain role in the family unit or Tokatoka. Various heads of the family will administer and lead the family unit within the village community. Each chief of the village will in turn lead the people to fulfill their role to the Vanua.

Each village will have several family units / Tokatoka which are part of one clan or Mataqali. Several Mataqali will make up the larger tribe or Yavusa. Several Yavusa will belong to a certain land mass and comprise thereby the Vanua (confederation of Yavusa) Dr Asesela Ravuvu (1983, p. 76) describes the Vanua as:

The living soul or human manifestation of the physical environment which the members have since claimed to belong to them and to which they also belong. The land is the physical or geographical entity of the people, upon which their survival...as a group depends. Land is thus an extension of the self. Likewise the people are an extension of the land. Land becomes lifeless and useless without the people, and likewise the people are helpless and insecure without land to thrive upon.

The Vanua is headed by a Turaga i taukei, the most prominent chief from the most prominent family. To explain further, a Vanua is the largest collective group of people associated with a particular territory or area of land. A Vanua is divisible into a group of Yavusa / tribes: a Yavusa is a group of Mataqali / clans: a Mataqali is a group of Tokatoka / family units. Within the Mataqali making up one Yavusa one Mataqali will be predominant and head that Yavusa as a whole. Similarly, one Tokatoka will head that Mataqali and one member of that Tokatoka will be Senior Chieftain / Turaga i Taukei of that Vanua.

Matanitu is a confederation of Vanua, not through ancestry or traditional ties, but rather by alliances formed politically or in war and/or united by a common need.

Within the Fijian Bauan belief system, all Fijians fall into one of the two following categories which will indicate their position and role in the community:

The two categories are further divided into subcategories which are indicated by a number. There is Liga ni Magiti, which is category one and is indicated by the number 8 (Walu), which then has two subcategories; first 3, which is Turaga overall, containing the Ratu and the Adi (Fijian Royalty). These are considered born leaders and administrators. Then, secondly, subcategory 5 of Category 1 is the Bete - priests or heralds; these traditionally are the spokesmen, councillors, advisors of the land and the spiritualists.

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