The painful era of blackbirding

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Sisters Ema Takabu and Lope Tanua show a photo of their brother, Jesse Afu at their home in Marata settlement, Wailoku. Picture: ARIETA VAKASUKAWAQA

IN 1905, Sade Maili and his wife Elope Tanua, left their home in the Malaita Province, Solomon Islands, with the hope to find a better life in Fiji.

In this week’s Point of Origin, we will shed light on the history of Solomon Islands’ descendants who were brought to Fiji under a system known as blackbirding and those promised of a good life in Fiji.

The couple were promised a good life and well-paid jobs by white men who posed as recruiters, forcing them to leave their families back in the Solomon Islands.

According to the agreement they would return to Solomon Islands once their contract ended, but for Sade and Elope, this was not the case.

According to Ema Fakabu, 64, her grandparents were part of the last voyage to Fiji from the Solomon Islands in 1905.

Her paternal grandparents were Jim Aigari of East Fataleka and Mere Sauwagi of Tobaita in the Solomon Islands.

Her mother Luisa Aruifiti was the daughter of Sade and Elope.

She married Aliki Afu, his family were among the first settlers at Marata settlement in Wailoku.

Mrs Fakabu got married in the district of Dorio, West Koio in the village of Bounani.

She settled in Marata settlement with her adopted son Timoci Madia.

“When my grandparents arrived in 1905, a white couple were waiting for them at the port,” Mrs Fakabu said.

“They were taken to work at the Rarawai mill in Ba; their annual salary was three pounds which I think is equivalent to $8 today.

“I can still remember when we were small, how my mother will keep reminding us of our humble beginnings on a land that is not ours, but our forefathers worked tirelessly to build it.

“My grandparents worked long hours and were only given two meals in a day. They usually had their breakfast at around 12 midday and dinner at around 10pm, every day they were expected to start work at 4am.

“Their master would whip them if they didn’t do their job properly. They had shackles on their feet to stop them from escaping, they worked long hours under scorching heat like slaves, this is what they went through.”

She said after working at Rarawai mill for some years, her grandparents were shipped to Lomaloma, Vanuabalavu in the Lau Group to work at copra shed.

“My mother and her siblings were born in Lomaloma. From there, they moved to Korovou settlement in Levuka. My grandparents settled there until their passing.

“From Korovou settlement, my uncles and aunts got married to other parts of Fiji, my mother married my father and they moved here to Marata settlement in Wailoku. Her parents, Mrs Fakabu said, then moved to Vunilagi Estate to work at a copra shed owned by Morris Hedstrom.

“The accounts of how my paternal family came to Fiji are not clear because our father passed away when we were still little.

Most of our lives with my siblings were spent with my mother’s family.

“But according to my late mother, my father’s parents were brought to Fiji under blackbirding; some were in Fiji as early as 1864.”

From 1864 to 1911, more than 27,000 New He­brides, Solomon Is­lan­ds and Kiri­bati natives were brought to Fiji to work on coconut plantations.

Under a system that became known as blackbirding, they were brought to Ovalau and then deployed to Viti Levu, Tave­uni and Rabi.

Historical records show that some ship captains made stops in outlying areas and sold their human cargo there, in some instances family members were separated and names were changed so that they could not be traced.

One of the biggest groups to arrive in Fiji was the Solomon Islanders.

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