The Fiji Village, A way of Life

Our travels have taken us to 3 different "native" villages, all very different.  I Panama, the village we visited has chosen to live in the traditional way.  They dress as their parents and grandparents dressed, their houses were unchanged over the last hundred years,and their lifestyle was only slightly changed by the coming of the 21st century  They did send their children to modern schools and seldom traveled outside the village, living, mainly off the land. Visitors were treated respectfully, but these were
intruders to their way of life.  When we left, I felt that life for them would go on as it had for centuries.

The people we saw in Tonga were giving us a presentation of the old ways of living, including us in ceremonies that are centuries old, but not a part of their current life.  The fashion show featured traditional clothing for special occasions, but I do not think that this is their everyday dress.  When they were not performing for tourists I felt that they would return to everyday life and go down to the mall for some shopping.  In the downtown mall, men did wear the "sula with pocket," a wrap around skirt of plain dark blue material with a flowered shirt, but we saw all sorts of modern dress for women and the stores featured many of the same styles you would find in Minnesota or Florida.

Figi was different.  We drove half way across the island passing through agricultural land and into low mountains.  The houses looked small and poor, but still "modern."  There were no grass huts or animals roaming the streets.  Occasionally there would be a grouping of houses which our guide called a village, but there was no explanation of anything special about the area.

We were welcomed with the traditional cava ceremony and a fashion show of ancient and modern dress.

Chief's dress

Woman's dress

Cava is offered to a Chief" from each bus

After this, we were turned over to the local women.  Nansi walked us through the village, pointing out the houses where various people live. 

House of the village Chief

The was real life, not an act put on for our benefit.  Her husband is employed by the elementary school, as a groundskeeper, I think.  Today was her daughter's first day of kindergarten.  She took us into her church and proudly talked about how the village had raised money so all the children could have Bibles when they came to church (Methodist.)

She was eager to point out that she had both a washer and a drier in the yard behind her house.  Her mother lived a few houses away.  Doors are never locked and if you run out of something like sugar or eggs, you just borrowed from a neighbor.  If her daughter wanted ice cream for dessert, she simply told her that they did not have money for ice cream that day, but there were plenty of papayas and bananas.  Most of the people in the village are related.  The village was not isolated from modern civilization.  The band which welcomed us had electric guitars and amps. They choose to lead a simple life even though a more modern way of life is available in the big city, Suva, and its suburbs.  Not all Fijians choose to live this way, but for those who do, it is a content existence.  I could feel the content and joy of living in this village   The women had made necklaces of local flowers for each of us.   They also had woven fans and mats to sell as well as the usual jewelry and souvenirs.

Children are loved and welcomed by all.