Okay so since arriving on Saturday I have experienced so much Fijian culture and hospitality already! We attended our formal welcome at the Fijian museum on Monday which included the attendance of the minister for department of culture heritage and the arts, the students from the Fiji conservatorium of music and the four organizations that we are all working with; Fiji Arts Council, Department of Culture Heritage and the Arts, the National Trust and the Fiji Museum. The formal welcome started off with a traditional kava ceremony, which none of us had ever experienced. The kava ceremony was so impressive, apparently the formal ceremony is only practiced with guest who are highly respected and honoured and for high chiefs- we were extremely lucky to have experienced it. Then there was a traditional Fijian dance performed by the students of the conservatorium of music. The dance was incredible! I've never seen a traditional Fijian dance before- it involved both men and women and they sung all the music as well, just the whole performance was mesmerizing, completely soaked in tradition, creativity and cultural richness.
After the formal welcome we met our host organizations for the internship. I have been placed at the Fijian Arts Council working with Selai, Ana, Maea, Elle and Patty. We will be working on a project called LHT living human treasures, which is primarily funded by UNESCO. The project involves traveling to the West of Viti Levu and recording and documenting the stories of recognised LHT nominees. The majority of the work that i will be doing will be on Rotuman history. This will involve interviewing, recording, photographing and documenting Rotuman histories of the Underworld, traditional dances, songs, and LHT journeys to the Underworld. Today we will be traveling to the village Vatukoula (which means golden rock) where the first gold was found in Fiji. There we will be interviewing a Rotuman man who claims to have journeyed to the Underworld. (We are still in the office and havn't left yet but I will update you on our journey to Vatukoula and Nadi later.)
Wednesday was our first real day of work at the Fiji Arts Council FAC. We attended a Mataisau Talanoa at USP (the University South Pacific). Mataisau literally translates as chief carpenter: Matai meaning carpenter/builder and sau meaning chief. Talanoa means talk in Fijian and usually consists of grog or kava and everyone coming together to talk and exchange knowledge. It is a very relaxed setting we were in the bure on traditionally woven mats and everyone was sitting around the kava bowl. The talanoa was organised by the Fiji Islands Voyaging Society and USP's Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies to begin the establishment and promotion of sustainable sea-transport not just in Fiji but throughout the entire Pacific. I felt extremely privileged to be able to attend this talanoa, it was the first of its kind in a very long time, where all the Mataisau came together and exchanged knowledge of the building of drua (which are the traditional fijian ships/canoes). There are two types of drua, Tabetebete and Cabakau. The voyaging society sailed from Fiji to Hawai'i to gather knowledge from the islands on drua carpentry the voyage was called Uto ni yalo. The Mataisau traditionally come from Lau mainly from two villages: Fulaga Lau and Moce Lau. The reason for this is because this is the first chiefly village area. The future aims of the voyaging society are to promote the use of sustainable sea-transport due to the increased price of oil, marine damage and environmental issues associated with "western" boats and their affects on the Pacific ocean and its Island populations.
The results of the talanoa were presented in the evening in English. The Fijian Islands Voyaging Society stated that they do not wish to translate the findings into any other language other the the dialect that was spoken throughout the talanoa which was Lauan. I found this statement imperative to my understanding of the entire days proceedings and purpose. One of the speakers also stated that to truly understand a culture one must speak the language; to truly understand the mataisau you must speak Lauan. To translate the findings of the talanoa into a language other than Lauan would be to loose something from the cultural understandings of the canoe building process, part of the very skill of being able to gain the knowledge from mataisau ancestors to construct and build a canoe will be lost in translation. This happens so many times when cultural practices are documented, studied and ultimately translated into another language. If the skill of the mataisau is to be truly preserved then it must remain in the Lauan dialect. This tanaloa experience really interested me and got me thinking about tradition and sustainability and whether a project such as this one is truly viable not just in Fiji but throughout the Pacific? If instead of inventing something new and moving forward we journey to the past and use traditional historical practices to address the environmental issues and cultural maintenance within Fijian society today?
Wednesday was our first real day of work at the Fiji Arts Council FAC. We attended a Mataisau Talanoa at USP (the University South Pacific). Mataisau literally translates as chief carpenter: Matai meaning carpenter/builder and sau meaning chief. Talanoa means talk in Fijian and usually consists of grog or kava and everyone coming together to talk and exchange knowledge. It is a very relaxed setting we were in the bure on traditionally woven mats and everyone was sitting around the kava bowl. The talanoa was organised by the Fiji Islands Voyaging Society and USP's Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies to begin the establishment and promotion of sustainable sea-transport not just in Fiji but throughout the entire Pacific. I felt extremely privileged to be able to attend this talanoa, it was the first of its kind in a very long time, where all the Mataisau came together and exchanged knowledge of the building of drua (which are the traditional fijian ships/canoes). There are two types of drua, Tabetebete and Cabakau. The voyaging society sailed from Fiji to Hawai'i to gather knowledge from the islands on drua carpentry the voyage was called Uto ni yalo. The Mataisau traditionally come from Lau mainly from two villages: Fulaga Lau and Moce Lau. The reason for this is because this is the first chiefly village area. The future aims of the voyaging society are to promote the use of sustainable sea-transport due to the increased price of oil, marine damage and environmental issues associated with "western" boats and their affects on the Pacific ocean and its Island populations.
The results of the talanoa were presented in the evening in English. The Fijian Islands Voyaging Society stated that they do not wish to translate the findings into any other language other the the dialect that was spoken throughout the talanoa which was Lauan. I found this statement imperative to my understanding of the entire days proceedings and purpose. One of the speakers also stated that to truly understand a culture one must speak the language; to truly understand the mataisau you must speak Lauan. To translate the findings of the talanoa into a language other than Lauan would be to loose something from the cultural understandings of the canoe building process, part of the very skill of being able to gain the knowledge from mataisau ancestors to construct and build a canoe will be lost in translation. This happens so many times when cultural practices are documented, studied and ultimately translated into another language. If the skill of the mataisau is to be truly preserved then it must remain in the Lauan dialect. This tanaloa experience really interested me and got me thinking about tradition and sustainability and whether a project such as this one is truly viable not just in Fiji but throughout the Pacific? If instead of inventing something new and moving forward we journey to the past and use traditional historical practices to address the environmental issues and cultural maintenance within Fijian society today?
Oh I wish we could go back to that first week. I would appreciate that incredible welcoming ceremony so much more now, and also the talanoa at USP.
ReplyDeleteGreat times!