A Racial Study of the Fijians Part 1

A Racial Study of the Fijians.

by Norman E. Gabel.

INTRODUCTION

This paper concerns itself with a physical survey of the native male population of Fiji. The main objective is a description of these people by means of anthropometric procedure.[1] The treatment includes, first, a description of the Fijians as a whole, second, a comparison with neighboring people, and third, regional differences among the Fijians themselves.

THE PROBLEM AND PROCEDURE

The data used in this survey were secured in 1954 during a stay of seven months in Fiji. My plan was to obtain anthropometric samples from several parts of the archipelago; this plan was only slightly altered as time and transportation facilities directed. Each of the three main administrative districts into which the islands are divided were visited and within each district samples were secured from most of the const.i.tuent provinces. The original sample consisted of 880 subjects.

Later, 65 subjects were excluded for various reasons: some were part Samoan or Tongan, a few were Rotumans, and others were immature. The number finally used stands at 815.

A limited amount of comparative material has been included in order to help locate the Fijians in the overall Pacific picture. These data were drawn from W. W. Howells, "Anthropometry and Blood Types in Fiji and the Solomon Islands" in The American Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Papers, volume 33, part 4, 1933, and from L. R.

Sullivan, "A Contribution to Tongan Somatology" based on the field studies of E. W. Gifford and W. C. McKern, in Memoires of the Bernice P.

Bishop Museum, volume 8, number 4, 1922. The latter report provides comparison with what may be termed western Polynesians who are also the nearest Polynesians to the Fijians. The Fijian data in Howell's paper make it possible for me to check some of my own Fijian material, and the Solomon Island data in the same report provide a Melanesian measuring stick.

Since an over-all description of the Fijians is the initial concern of this paper, each physical trait measured or derived from measurement is tabulated according to range, average, and deviation. Traits observed but not measured are presented according to degree of development, e.g., absent, medium, and p.r.o.nounced, and according to percentage of occurrence. Further statistical manipulation is not deemed necessary for the writer's purposes.

It is well established that the Fijians are a mixed people. They are regarded, and with good reason, as a hybrid of, mainly, Melanesian and Polynesian components. Their geographical location, their history, and their physical appearance bear this out.

The proportions of Polynesian and Melanesian elements are, of course, not evenly distributed throughout Fiji. Even superficial observation indicates that the natives range from strongly Melanesian to markedly Polynesian. To demonstrate how this variability follows certain regional trends, the data have been broken down into four geographical areas.

This subdivision rests on several considerations and merits further comment.

One of the subgroups represents the people of the mountainous interior of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji (see accompanying map). This region may be regarded as something of a refuge area. Fijians from this relatively isolated locality might reasonably be expected to exhibit more of the earlier racial elements of the total composition. It should be pointed out, however, that the degree of isolation a.s.sociated with this; interior; group is not extreme. Fiji tradition and history indicate extensive interregional movement. Particularly in early historic times, when the advent of firearms and other Western culture greatly stimulated intergroup warfare and cannibalism, there was much moving about from one region to another. With all this, the interior people still remained, as indeed they are today, more apart from the rest of the population and less subject to outside influence.

The second segment chosen for interregional comparison is in the central Lau Islands and is designated in this paper as the "eastern" group.

Lying as they do, at the eastern end of Fiji, they are closest to Tonga, the nearest Polynesian neighbors. Tongan contact with Fiji in prehistoric as well as more recent times is well established.[2] It is in the Lau Islands that Polynesian cultural affinities are most marked.

Hence, it seems a logical choice for a second and separate glance in the racial history.

The third comparative sample might be termed an intermediate group. It is taken from the coastal villages of eastern Viti Levu, largely from the provinces of Rewa and Tailevu. This area is geographically between the "interior" and "eastern" groups and is referred to in this paper as the "coastal" group.

The final regional division represents the northwestern parts of Viti Levu. This is the place where, according to Fiji tradition, their ancestors first landed after migrating from the west.[3] Fijian legend, which gives this hint of their ancestry, does not include a physical description of these immigrants. Nor does it define the physical appearance of the earlier people whom the newcomers encountered and with whom they mingled. On the rather slim hope that anthropometry might shed a little light on this questionable phase of Fijian history, this area, along with the first three, has received separate treatment.

THE HABITAT

The islands of Fiji are centrally located in the southwest Pacific. Over three hundred islands and islets make up the archipelago, which spreads between lat.i.tudes 15' and 22' south of the equator for 300 miles. The international date line runs through Fiji at the Koro Sea and the Moala Island group.

The total land area of the islands is about the equivalent of the state of Delaware, somewhat over 7,000 square miles. Two great islands account for nearly 95 per cent of the total area: Viti Levu, the largest, is over 4,000 square miles, and Vanua Levu, about half as large. Over 90 per cent of the native population lives on these two islands although nearly a hundred other islands are inhabited.

Most of the islands are made up of volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The largest islands rest on a submerged portion of an ancient land ma.s.s, sometimes called the Melanesian continent, which goes back in time to the Paleozoic and, in its prime, intermittently connected Fiji with southeastern Asia and Australia. Subsequent submergence, followed by cycles of volcanic upbuilding, erosion, and more submergence over eons of time, gave the big islands their upper foundations. The last extensive volcanic activity and land uplift occurred in the Pleistocene and accounts for many of the present mountain ma.s.ses. The final touches to the Fiji profile have been wrought by more recent weathering and erosion. Sedimentation is still going on at river mouths and along the coasts, where deltas are being built and mangrove thickets flourish.

Many of the smaller islands are old limestone ma.s.ses that were pushed up from the sea. Unlike the high craggy volcanic islands, these are lower and flat-topped. Typically, they contain a basin-shaped depressed area that is surrounded by a rim. These depressions are usually fertile and heavily forested.

Coral islands make up the third variety of land forms. These are always small and low. Their small size, thinner soil, and lack of fresh water make them much less suitable for human habitation. But even a thin layer of soil produces a luxurious vegetation.

Fringing and barrier reefs are abundant throughout the archipelago, surrounding nearly every island. The most striking of these formations is the Great Sea Reef, which forms an arc of nearly 300 miles along the western fringe of Fiji and encloses large areas of coral-infested sea.

Moderately high mountains give to the larger islands a generally rugged terrain. The more extensive ranges lie across the path of the prevailing south and easterly winds producing windward and leeward climatic areas.

On the windward side rainfall is heavy and rather evenly distributed over the year. Here the valleys and mountain slopes support a typical dense tropical growth. The leeward side, however, receives much less moisture and has wet and dry seasons. Scattered patches of trees and gra.s.ses cover the ground, whereas heavy stands of forest are confined to valley bottoms and higher mountain slopes. The mountainous interior of Viti Levu contains a number of peaks over 3,000 feet, the highest of which is Mt. Victoria, 4,341 feet.

Surface water is abundant on the bigger islands. Several large and navigable rivers drain Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. The Rewa River, on the east side of Viti Levu is the largest and is navigable for small craft for 70 miles. Smaller rivers and hundreds of streams are important sources of food and drink for the people of the interior.

Great flood plains are formed at the mouths of the larger rivers. These and the fertile flats that run back along the valleys contain the greatest population densities.

The climate is generally pleasant and healthful. Tropical extremes of heat and humidity are moderated by the prevailing trades, which usually supply cool and pleasant breezes from the east. Still, days of uncomfortable heat and oppressive humidity are not unknown; however, such periods are protracted only in the interior. The climate is far from uniform throughout the islands. The windward sides, where rainfall often exceeds a hundred inches, have a more even temperature and sunshine is more moderate. On the leeward sides there is less general cloudiness and more sunshine, especially during the dry season. The smaller islands generally resemble the leeward areas in climate.

Native plant and animal life, like much of the southwest Pacific, is southeastern Asiatic in type and in origin. In the more profuse and varied windward sides there are several general vegetation zones. Along the coasts and in the larger river basins occur alluvial vegetation largely dominated by several kinds of mangrove, which is densest in mud flats washed by the tide. In this zone trees are scattered, and many of them bear useful nuts and fruits. On the slopes and ridges behind the coastal belts are the great tropical rain forests. They make up a dense cover of evergreen trees interwoven with wild creepers and vines. Thick stands of shrubs and smaller trees add to the tropical profusion. Above 2,000 feet the forests thin out and become more heavily coated with moss and lichens, and ferns and orchids attach themselves to the branches.

Beyond 3,000 feet is the cloud belt, and above this trees become stunted and are finally replaced by hardy shrubs that cling to the rocks and crags.

On the leeward sides, patches of rain forest are found only in the moister areas. More typical of this zone are thin-leaved trees interspersed in large expanses of meadow and gra.s.sland.

A number of native plants are very vital to the Fijian livelihood and some have modern economic importance. Several timber trees are essential to house building, canoe construction, and wood carving. The ubiquitous palms, here as elsewhere in the Pacific, are vital sources of food, drink, building, and weaving materials and cordage. The mangrove provides firewood, house poles, fishing fences, and traps, laths for bows and black dye for their hair and tapa. Valuable starch is secured from the sago palm, which is cut just before flowering, and the leaves are a common thatching material. Various reeds, canes, and bamboos and lianas are useful to Fiji economy. In the drier areas reeds and gra.s.ses provide material for house walls, thatch, fish fences, and arrow shafts.

Several kinds of trees yield edible nuts and fruits.

Like other central-Pacific island groups, Fiji is poorly provided with indigenous mammals. A small gray rat is a considerable pest in gardens and homes, and a large nocturnal bat, which is called a flying fox, lives in tree colonies and is often seen at dusk in banana groves or other feeding places. All the economically important animals of Fiji have been introduced, such as pigs, fowl, dogs, cattle, horses, sheep, and goats.

Bird life is diverse and interesting, although in a number of places introduced forms, like mynahs and turtle doves, have forced the native varieties back into the jungle. Several game birds such as doves, pigeons, and ducks are occasionally hunted.

Snakes and lizards are fairly common on the islands; none is poisonous.

Some are eaten, but the practice is not usual. Snakes had a more important place in the former religious and totemic practices.

Much more vital to the native economy is the abundant and varied marine life. This, with gardening, provides the foundation of Fijian subsistence. Turtles, crabs, prawns, eels, to say nothing of scores of fishes, are hunted, trapped, poisoned, speared, and netted. The cycle of the balolo worm has here the same importance as in other Pacific islands.

HISTORY

The first western contact with Fiji was made in 1643 when Captain Abel Tasman entered Fijian waters and sighted several islands and reefs without realizing the nature of his discovery. Over a hundred years later, Captain Cook made a second contact by stopping at one of the southern Lau Islands. Real knowledge of the area began in 1792 when Captain Bligh sailed through the archipelago from the southeast to the northwest, following the famous mutiny of the _Bounty_. Bligh made an attempt to land, was attacked by natives, and continued through the islands with no more landings. He did, however, make a record of most of the islands he pa.s.sed.

In the nineteenth century, commercial contacts began in the form of sandalwood trade. This profitable commodity brought Europeans and Americans first to the Sandalwood Coast on the west side of Vanua Levu.

During this period the first systematic survey of Fijian waters was made by the U.S. Exploring Expedition in 1840. After little more than a decade the sandalwood supply was depleted to the point where trade virtually ceased.

As a result of this initial commercial contact, which was mainly around western Vanua Levu and eastern Viti Levu, some marked changes were effected in Fijian culture. After the sandalwood traders abandoned Fiji for more profitable fields, a number of deserters and ship-wrecked men remained. These beachcombers, along with firearms that had been introduced by trade or salvaged from wrecks, brought about the first striking alterations. Rival chiefs competed for the acquisition of muskets, gunpowder, and beachcombers. The latter in some instances became attached to royal households as dubious advisors and instructors in the use of guns, powder, and shot. Some of these coaches enjoyed a status resembling that of household pets.

The introduction of firearms changed the native political scene and increased the scope and destructiveness of warfare. For a time the rulers of Mbau in eastern Viti nearly monopolized the supply of muskets and white men. This established their political supremacy over rival leaders. Larger and stronger political and military alliances, some resembling small kingdoms, developed for purposes of defense or aggression. As warfare grew more frequent, new diseases entered the islands and trade in liquor advanced.

After the third decade of the nineteenth century better elements began to enter Fiji and ensuing culture contact was not so consistently deplorable. _Beche-de-mer_ traders and whalers began to visit the islands for trade goods and supplies. Some began to settle at the east end of Viti Levu. Missionaries came in the 1830's and the Christianization of Fiji began.

Internal conflict between rival chiefs, attacks on French, British, and American ships, with subsequent reprisals, continued and intensified. By mid-century, rivalry between the local kingdoms of Mbau and Rewa reached a peak. At this time the powerful ruler of Mbau, Thakombau, who dominated a large segment of eastern Viti Levu, had become hard pressed by his Rewa enemies. Thakombau submitted to the missionaries who had been pressing his conversion. With his support of the missionaries, the native struggles became a religious war between Christianity and paganism as well as between nativism and westernism. Thakombau's cause was rescued in 1855 when King George of Tonga brought an army of 2,000 warriors to Fiji and combined his strength with that of the kingdom of Mbau. Thenceforth Thakombau remained the paramount chief in eastern Fiji and for some twenty ensuing years ruled under the dominance of Tongan princes. Another Tongan chief, Ma'afu, arrived in 1848 and set up a political domain that rivaled the kingdom of Thakombau.

Throughout these struggles and particularly with the conversion of Thakombau and the leadership of the already Christianized Tongan chiefs, native religion, including cannibalism, rapidly declined. Meanwhile, English, Australian, and New Zealand settlers were augmenting earlier trade contacts. Plantations and trade centers developed, and in 1857 a British consul was appointed and set up at Levuka on the east coast of Viti Levu. A few years later Thakombau sought relief from the payment of indemnities to foreign powers and from internal hara.s.sments by an offer to cede his dominions to Great Britain. The initial offer was declined and the British consul was recalled in 1860.

The next ten years saw a continuation of political and military turmoil stemming from rival interests of native rulers, Tongan interlopers, and European immigrants. A second appeal to the British government resulted in an unconditional deed of cession on October 10, 1874, which marks the beginning of Fiji's status as a British Crown Colony.

POPULATION