Fijian people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ethnic Fijians
Total population
c. 500,000
Regions with significant populations
Fiji
Languages
Fijian, English
Religions
Methodist 66.6%; Roman Catholic 13.3%; Assemblies of God 6.2%; Seventh-day Adventist 5.1%; other 8.8%.
Related ethnic groups
Native Hawaiians, Māori, Samoans, other Melanesian peoples, Polynesian peoples, other Austronesian peoples

Indigenous Fijians are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands. They are indigenous to all parts of Fiji except the island of Rotuma. As of 2005, they constitute slightly more than half of the Fijian population.

About 83 percent of Fijian land is still natively owned, however. In 1876, Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, the British colonial Governor, prohibited the sale of Fijian land to non-ethnic Fijians. This policy has been continued, hardly modified, to this day. The Governor also banned the exploitation of Fijians as laborers, and in 1878 decided to import indentured laborers from India to work on sugarcane fields. The effects of this immigration created an ethnic polarization which has proved culturally and politically challenging to modern Fiji.

Indigenous Fijians are overwhelmingly Christian, with the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma claiming the loyalty of 66.6% at the 1996 census (the latest available). Other significant denominations include the Roman Catholic Church (13.3%), the Assemblies of God (6.2%) and the Seventh-day Adventists (5.1%). About 8% belong to other churches from a large number of denominations. About 0.8% follow non-Christian religions or no religion.

Indigenous Fijians are predominantly of Melanesian extraction, with some Polynesian admixture; the Fijian language belongs to the Melanesian branch of the Austronesian family.

70% of Fijians are farmers, some of which are sustenance farmers. They commonly farm sugar cane, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, and bananas.

Fijians have been known as expert canoe-builders, using them to trade with Tonga before electricity was invented. They were usually double canoes, both the same except one was shorter and served as a type of outrigger. They are united by beams, with a platform on it that extended beyond the sides. The canoes were and are propelled by oars.

Other ethnic groups represented in Fiji include Indo-Fijians (or Fiji Indians), Rotumans, and minority communities, which include Caucasians, Chinese, and others.