"When you sit on a branch make sure it breaks"

As a part of the project at the FAC documenting Rotuman Living Human Treasures we traveled along the coast of Viti Levu to meet two extremely talented Rotuman treasures! The journey began in Suva, we followed Kings Road and headed to Vatukoula where we interviewed our first LHT. He was an old man who had many specialties that he was skilled in:

-canoe building

-fishing

-farming

-javelin

All these skills are Rotuman based skills that we came to record. Just an aside, Rotuman culture is dissimilar to Fijian culture in many aspects and the language which is completely different to Fijian is often referred to as “chinese” by the Fijians and Rotumans alike.  When we arrived at Vatukoula of course we performed a sevusevu, which as I understand it is the cultural practice when entering a village or home to first be welcomed by the host person/group through the offering of kava (unpounded) by the guest wishing to visit. The interview was entirely in Rotuman so apart from the occasional explanation in English by Master Masi (who is a Rotuman chief, and who originally identified these LHT) I couldn’t follow much of what was going on. Because of the language barrier we ended up drinking a fair bit of kava (when in Fiji!) But the interview went well and we managed to get a lot of good footage. After Vatukoula we headed to Nadi for our second interview with a Rotuman woman named Aliti. Aliti was an:

-author:

-dancer:

-singer and:

-Rotuman language specialist.

This interview was particularly intriguing for me. Rotuman culture, I learnt, is quite different but in the same sense quite similar to Fijian culture. Rotuman dance for example is very unique within the Pacific (especially among the Polynesian societies). Instead of your head watching your hands (this is for women dances), which is common practice found in Polynesian dances, your head is pointed up to the sky as you meditate over the lyrics of the songs, almost as if you are searching for the meaning of the words being sung.  Dance in Rotuma is a product of the relationship between words, dance and the environment. Aliti mentioned in her interview that the traditional dances performed by the youths of Rotuma today are nothing like what she learnt and experienced as a child herself, she quoted “when the young girls perform Rotuman dances today I look at them and think they are Fijian”. The point she was getting at was that Rotuman youths have little understanding of their traditional culture as most of them don’t live on the island usually returning only for Christmas or funerals. The lack of cultural exposure that Rotuman youths are experiencing has resulted in the detachment of youths from Rotuman culture. The director of the FAC Master Lai made an important link between the two cultures, Fijian and Rotuman. Both are experiencing this culture loss among the youths and this is because of many reasons; education, jobs, family, migration etc. I didn’t really understand until now the urgency, importance and vast size of the project we are helping with, not just in Rotuman culture but also in Fijian culture.

I feel that throughout the Pacific there is common issue surrounding the maintenance of culture among youths, which may not be a direct result of the cultural leaders or families but instead due to a lack of resources, money, time and also dependent on the environment surrounding the youths. As one of the Pacific Studies honours students from ANU determined within South Sea Islander culture, the youths just don’t have access to the culture or the history. There is a great need to record and document these cultures around the Pacific in order to conserve them for future generations to learn and experience and also keep alive. I have only been in Fiji working on this project for one week and already I have met so many people who are so passionate about the skills, culture and stories of Rotuma and Fiji that they feel need to be passed on for their future use and sustainability that they have shed tears of fear and of sadness at the thought of these cultural practices disappearing.