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F. Gelves-Gómez and S. Brincat
There is even ongoing communication between the community and ancestral spirits
through the Bete (the traditional priestly group). The yaqona ceremony for new
visitors is not just to seek formal inclusion in the community from the head of the
yavusa and under the relevant mataqali (the village-based, agnate grouping) but
also for the supplication of the spirits—both ancestral spirits and those of the local
natural environment—to admit the visitors as well. The offering, acceptance and
mutual consumption of kava is the gateway or portal between realms, though these
realms are at all times co-present. Such actions of reciprocity fulfil a range of social
functions, from promoting group cohesion, performing ancestral ties, maintaining
learned traditions/stories, upholding norms of conduct, and designating land entitlements. Through these deliberate performances—whether stories, rituals, or moral
practices/customs—comes the constant recognition of ancestors, Nature and spirit.
It means there is “continuity” in vanua as a lived tradition that, despite its metaphysical basis, remains the core socio-political basis of iTaukei community within
their daily lived practices as well (Farrelly 2010; Ravuvu 1987). There is no separation, then, between the realm of people and the realm of spirits, whether natural
or ancestral. Spirits and people share a common world of which the geographical
component—Nature itself—includes those places within which both are “closely
and directly associated” (Parke 2014, p. 35).
The emphasis of interconnectivity and reciprocity within this cosmology would
suggest a philosophical and cultural system more conducive to ecological views of
stewardship of Nature, given that spirits and ancestors are attached to the physicality of places—a powerful impetus for the protection of natural attributes associated with them. Many studies have found that indigenous traditions often foster
pro-environmental practices and ways of being. For example, after a survey of
the literature on religious belief and environmental attitude, Taylor et al. (2016,
pp. 1000–1001) concluded that “indigenous traditions may be more likely to be proenvironmental than other religious systems and that some nature-based cosmologies
and value systems function similarly.” The iTaukei cultural practices surrounding
vanua seem consistent with this finding. In particular, the historical and mythologised relations of the vanua are revitalized to enable “current problems to be faced
jointly” (Ravuvu 1987, pp. 247–248) by the vanua community itself. There is intentionality and agency within this force. This raises the fundamental question that,
if the vanua is threatened by climate change, how the community could adapt in
accordance not only to preserve vanua but to ensure vanua traditions are upheld
and respected within adaptation approaches. Linking adaptation as part of reciprocal
duties is crucial then to effective policy formation, which we will explore shortly.
But before that, one crucial question is how does the iTaukei vanua tradition coexist today alongside other introduced metaphysical systems, particularly of colonialism and the now dominant Christian theology? Is vanua subservient, subsumed,
or co-productive with these systems? Turning first to Christianity, like other Pacific
Islands, historical processes led to the Christianisation of Fiji (Luetz and Nunn 2020).
What emerged was a hybrid of traditional beliefs that interconnected Christian faith
with historical, cultural, and political processes and metaphysical understandings of
F. Gelves-Gómez and S. Brincat
There is even ongoing communication between the community and ancestral spirits
through the Bete (the traditional priestly group). The yaqona ceremony for new
visitors is not just to seek formal inclusion in the community from the head of the
yavusa and under the relevant mataqali (the village-based, agnate grouping) but
also for the supplication of the spirits—both ancestral spirits and those of the local
natural environment—to admit the visitors as well. The offering, acceptance and
mutual consumption of kava is the gateway or portal between realms, though these
realms are at all times co-present. Such actions of reciprocity fulfil a range of social
functions, from promoting group cohesion, performing ancestral ties, maintaining
learned traditions/stories, upholding norms of conduct, and designating land entitlements. Through these deliberate performances—whether stories, rituals, or moral
practices/customs—comes the constant recognition of ancestors, Nature and spirit.
It means there is “continuity” in vanua as a lived tradition that, despite its metaphysical basis, remains the core socio-political basis of iTaukei community within
their daily lived practices as well (Farrelly 2010; Ravuvu 1987). There is no separation, then, between the realm of people and the realm of spirits, whether natural
or ancestral. Spirits and people share a common world of which the geographical
component—Nature itself—includes those places within which both are “closely
and directly associated” (Parke 2014, p. 35).
The emphasis of interconnectivity and reciprocity within this cosmology would
suggest a philosophical and cultural system more conducive to ecological views of
stewardship of Nature, given that spirits and ancestors are attached to the physicality of places—a powerful impetus for the protection of natural attributes associated with them. Many studies have found that indigenous traditions often foster
pro-environmental practices and ways of being. For example, after a survey of
the literature on religious belief and environmental attitude, Taylor et al. (2016,
pp. 1000–1001) concluded that “indigenous traditions may be more likely to be proenvironmental than other religious systems and that some nature-based cosmologies
and value systems function similarly.” The iTaukei cultural practices surrounding
vanua seem consistent with this finding. In particular, the historical and mythologised relations of the vanua are revitalized to enable “current problems to be faced
jointly” (Ravuvu 1987, pp. 247–248) by the vanua community itself. There is intentionality and agency within this force. This raises the fundamental question that,
if the vanua is threatened by climate change, how the community could adapt in
accordance not only to preserve vanua but to ensure vanua traditions are upheld
and respected within adaptation approaches. Linking adaptation as part of reciprocal
duties is crucial then to effective policy formation, which we will explore shortly.
But before that, one crucial question is how does the iTaukei vanua tradition coexist today alongside other introduced metaphysical systems, particularly of colonialism and the now dominant Christian theology? Is vanua subservient, subsumed,
or co-productive with these systems? Turning first to Christianity, like other Pacific
Islands, historical processes led to the Christianisation of Fiji (Luetz and Nunn 2020).
What emerged was a hybrid of traditional beliefs that interconnected Christian faith
with historical, cultural, and political processes and metaphysical understandings of