150th anniversary: Europeans as seen by Fijians

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Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna. Picture: FIJINATIVETRIBALCONGRESS300.BRAVESITES.COM

In 1939, Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna delivered a memorable address to members of the Defence Club of Suva on ‘The Fijian’s View of the European.’

The address was later privately circulated but was never printed until it got published in The Fiji Times of June 11, 1958 as a tribute to Ratu Sir Lala’s, with the approval of Defence Club. Early in his address, Ratu Sir Lala referred to a book on the Frenchman’s view of the Englishman, and he discussed the difference between the book and his own subject.

“As the times are daily improving, the cultures of the two great European democracies are virtually the same.

“Socially, economically and politically the difference are rather of technique than of kind. There are thus innumerable points of contact, with those major differences that provide a rich field for comparison – serious or humorous.

“With the Fijian on the other hand, you have obviously little or nothing in common. He is of the stone age while you are the era of increasing speed and high explosives. Pitched-forked into your time he could be no more than an astounded spectator squinting and doubting, seeing and not understanding.

“It will not, therefore, come as a surprise if his comments on what he sees around him are crude and erroneous, childlike and amusing in their simplicity. But, having had to observe the ways of humanity and the eccentricities of chiefs in order to survive, his views on the social side of life are frequently sound and to the point.

“Tonight I propose to give you something along these lines, collecting and putting together views that have been handed down since early contact with Europeans. For this purpose I will place myself in the position of a native elder talking over the yaqona bowl to his fellow villagers.

“We call Europeans ‘kai Vavalagi’, as if they all come from the same country, which of course they do not. “Our fathers are not to blame for this confusion. It was the Tongans that started the idea of a country of common origin, because all white men appeared to them exactly alike.

“Here in Fiji, we have Europeans from England direct, from England through Australia, New Zealand and America, besides those that come from Germany and France. To whatever place they belong, they have these qualities in common.

“They are rich and excellent subjects for ‘kerekere’, if only they had more understanding. They never soil their hands with manual labour; yet they are continuously urging us to do so, from the Governor and the director of education downwards.

“Apropos let me tell you a story. You all know your Bible and remember the passage “Render unto Caesar the things that are of Caesar. Now, Caesar was the title of the Great Kings of Rome, just as Vunivalu is the title for the great kings of Bau.

“The Kings of Rome were the conquerors of the ancient world, much more powerful than Mussolini, the air victor of Abyssinia, about whom we have lately been hearing so much on the Suva broadcasts.

“It may be that their disinclination for real work has been handed down through the generations. You will recollect that the gentleman presiding at the Government sheds in Walu Bay is reported to have made a similar remark about our people then working on the Sigatoka Rd.

“But he is not a King – and we have worked with our hands from time immemorial.

“To continue….they love money and save it but not to the same extent as the Jews who come from Palestine, a country which until the Great War some of us thought was way up in Heaven.

“The Jews gave the Europeans the Bible to keep them thinking. They then began amassing wealth, leaving the Europeans to ponder over the passage, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rick man to enter the Kingdom of God.

“It is now our turn to puzzle out that same answer. But as you know, Apolosi and his satellites founded
the Viti Company and some wiseacres started a religion called No.8 – not because they use the Ceylon
blend in their religious rites – both for the purpose of making us rich.The time is not yet.

“Europeans are cleaver with their hands and have good brains. They can do most things. Do not be surprised some day you are told they have conquered death. They belong, of course, to a different world
from our own. Nevertheless they do some stupid things at times, even the best of them.”

To be continued next week.

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