Religion
At the time of the 2007 census, 64.5% of Fijians were Christian (most being Methodist or Catholic), 27.9% were Hindu and 6.3% were Muslim. There is also a small minority of Sikhs and Buddhists.
During the colonial era, a large majority of Fijians were converted to Christianity as part of a larger mission scheme throughout the Pacific Ocean. Many tribes previously had a polytheistic faith, which quite easily accepted a new God to be blended in with its practices. Their initial understanding of Christianity saw the Christian God as a deity like those they already knew, but one who was particularly powerful and didn’t like them worshipping others. Other tribes had already possessed belief in a single divinity, which they came to re-comprehend as the Christian God of the holy trinity. Eventually, almost all indigenous Fijians adopted some Christian tenets or understandings and the Methodist Christian church became the fastest growing denomination of religion on the islands.
Today, most indigenous Fijians are devoutly Christian and the faith has become a central aspect of their lifestyle. Fijian women generally organise community events relating to worship. They have many duties involving helping the minister run services and preparing food for after-mass feasts. Sunday is reserved for worship and time with the family and community.
While not all Fijians are Christian, faith plays a major role in almost everyone’s lives. There are countless churches, temples and mosques throughout the islands where people can worship and pray. The Fijian constitution guarantees freedom of religion and there is a multi-faith understanding among society. People exhibit tolerance and respect to the diversity of religions, often celebrating the rituals and holidays of other religions. One’s religious affiliation largely correlates with their ethnicity. Europeans are generally Christian, Indians are usually Hindus or Muslim, and the Chinese tend to be Christian or Buddhist. Many Indo-Fijians are also Christian and there are small numbers of Sikhs. In the last census, only 7,000 people reported having no religion.
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Family
Life revolves around the family for most Fijians. Life is shared intimately between family members and the interests of the family are supposed to supersede those of the individual. Fijian households are usually headed by a senior couple. The man is the primary breadwinner of the family unit and the woman generally supervises all other females in the house and disciplines the children. Children often live with their parents past the age of independence, and marriage is patrilocal (with the daughter-in-law moving in with her husband’s family at marriage).
It is common for households to be multigenerational as elders rarely live independently in Fiji. Those who are widowed will usually move into the household of one of their adult children. However, in the urban areas and cities of Fiji, nuclear families are the typical household unit. They are also more common among Indo-Fijians and European Fijians.
In the villages, native Fijians socialise within their kin groups; they associate with those households that they share a male ancestor with. These households form extended family networks that are patrilineal subclans (mataqali). They provide a lot of community-wide support. Generally, the families belonging to each subclan will live in the same area of a village and make an exclusive claim to that area. Within villages, there may be multiple subclans; however, one usually dominates (often the subclan the village chief belongs to). These subclans combine to form clans (yavusa) that also share a more distant male ancestor.
Some Indo-Fijian families have not been in Fiji long enough to have developed these extended kin groups. However, Indian culture is similarly dependent on extended family networks and support. They often form close communities with many paternal and maternal family members that may or may not be blood relatives.
Gender Roles
Both indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian societies have been traditionally patriarchal with gender roles generally divided across traditional lines. Society’s opinion of women is influenced by the perception that they are the more delicate and gentle gender that needs protecting. Therefore, while women are less powerful than men, they are considered more precious. They are generally given less physically arduous jobs and are rarely expected to have full-time jobs or do things for themselves. This paternalism can be hindering for Fijian women in Australia who may struggle to adjust to working life. Some Indo-Fijian women also carry particular social expectations within their communities as subordinates to their husbands.
Women have less decision-making power than men. Some may have a high rank in their village or community, in which case they are deferred to for their wisdom and status. However, largely, a woman turns to her husband to resolve things for her. He is seen as the macho physical worker, breadwinner and also the more rational gender. This can put a lot of pressure on Fijian men to rise to the occasion. They are expected to take responsibility for any problems or disputes that arise in a family and may carry the blame if a resolution isn’t reached.
Despite this traditional view of gender roles, modern Fiji is seeing a rise in the amount of households that are female-headed. Fijian women are also becoming more politically represented.
Relationships and Marriage
The institution of marriage is recognised primarily as the merging of two families. Thus, parents used to arrange the marriages of their children to ensure the families were compatible. Today, arranged marriage is a less common practice, but has persisted particularly among the Indian community. While most couples choose their partner without their family’s arrangement, people strongly consider factors such as the other family’s wealth, reputation and clan. Ultimately, the family of the bride or groom wish for the union with the other person’s family to strengthen ties and also the social status of their own household.
Traditionally, sons-in-law have to prove themselves before a bride’s parents will approve of him. If a couple’s parents disapprove of the other person’s family, they may disobey their families and elope. In this case, the husband’s family must quickly remedy the irregular relationship by offering apologies to the wife’s family and bringing gifts. As the bride sometimes moves into her husband’s place of residence at marriage (often still with his parents), it can be a particularly difficult living situation if his parents disapproved of the marriage in the first place.
Interethnic marriage has increased dramatically among the current generation of Fijians. Indigenous Fijians tend to marry Europeans, Pacific Islanders and Chinese more often than they do Indians. Indo-Fijians are more likely to marry exclusively within their ethnicity. For example, Gujaratis have been known to travel back to their province in India in order to bring back someone of the same ethnicity for marriage. Marriage between different religions (even within the same ethnicity) is most uncommon.
Do's and Don'ts
Do’s
- Be patient and accept the slower pace of ‘Fiji time’. Fijians tend to find it easier to be kept waiting and generally don’t get edgy around punctuality.
- Expect to be asked where you are going when you meet people. This question is generally more common than being asked “How are you?” when you see someone on the street.
- Be careful how much you praise an object in a Fijian home. Sometimes, they may feel obliged to give it to you – whether they actually want to part with it or not.
- Expect someone of the opposite gender to give you a moderate amount of distance.
- Make an effort to be especially polite and respectful when addressing those older than you.
- It is best practice to wear modest clothing. In Fiji, shorts and skirts usually go to the length of the knee and bare shoulders are rarely shown.
- Respect people’s faiths and join in whenever there is a blessing (i.e. before eating) or a group prayer.
Don'ts
- Avoid losing your temper in public or raising your voice if you get emotional. It is uncommon for people to get worked up about things in front of strangers.
- Do not criticise Fiji in an unnecessary way or point out social problems (such as poverty, bribery or domestic violence) without offering a solution. Fijians can be proud of their tropical country and will likely find negative opinions to be close-minded and/or misinformed.
- Do not pressure a Fijian to drink alcohol if they give an initial refusal.
- Avoid shouting, running or causing a scene in a village. Remain calm and quiet.
