CHIEFS and the Rotuma Council want their people to be expressly acknowledged as an indigenous people of Fiji under the new Constitution.
In their submissions to the commission, the council said the rights, aspirations and interests of all Rotumans should be recognised in the new constitution.
Misau Fatiaki, who submitted on behalf of the council, said there should be constitutional arrangements under which all matters relating to or affecting the lands and seas of Rotumans are approved by the council.
"That our uniqueness be reflected in the allocation of representation to both houses of parliament," Mr Fatiaki said.
The council also proposed the establishment of a court system on Rotuma.
Mr Fatiaki expressed the council's views on the 1997 Constitution, saying some provisions in it were worthy of consideration.
These include:
* Fiji's unique history and the great deeds of their forefathers, particularly in their embracing the Judeo-Christian God as the God of the country;
* The role of the Great Council of Chiefs in blessing the constitution in "their abundant wisdom", that Fiji is a sovereign democratic State and that the constitution is the supreme law of the State;
* Those entrusted with the government must recognise the importance of applying the spirit of the constitution rather than glibly applying imperial concepts applicable in other democratic societies; and
* The Bill of Rights.
Mr Fatiaki said the chiefs did not agree with Section 38 (2) (a) of the 1997 Constitution, that the provision on sexual orientation was inconsistent with the Preamble and one that would nurture undesirable, unnatural and immoral practices.