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123-420: The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as " Rotumans ". Its population at the 2017 census was 1,594, although many more Rotumans live on mainland Fijian islands, totaling 10,000. Rotuma was first inhabited according to record by people of Tahiti Nui, Marquesas, and Rapa Nui. At that time, it

246-583: A communal basis to Fiji's various ethnic groups .) In addition, Rotuma forms part (along with Taveuni and the Lau Islands ) of the Lau Taveuni Rotuma Open Constituency , one of 25 constituencies whose representatives are chosen by universal suffrage . The hoʻaga , a kinship community, was the basic residential unit in pre-contact Rotuma. The basis for social control is a strong socialisation emphasis on social responsibility and

369-496: A host of men, a band of comrades as well as a swarm or flock of animals. In Classical Greek , the word took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as " nation , tribe, a unique people group"; only in Hellenistic Greek did the term tend to become further narrowed to refer to "foreign" or " barbarous " nations in particular (whence the later meaning "heathen, pagan"). In

492-561: A paramount chief . Complex chiefdoms have two or even three tiers of political hierarchy . Nobles are clearly distinct from commoners and do not usually engage in any form of agricultural production. The higher members of society consume most of the goods that are passed up the hierarchy as a tribute. Reciprocal obligations are fulfilled by the nobles carrying out rituals that only they can perform. They may also make token, symbolic redistributions of food and other goods. In two- or three-tiered chiefdoms, higher-ranking chiefs have control over

615-533: A bloody uprising that took place over a single night. Tupaia 's Map is among the most important artifacts to have come from late 18th-century European–Indigenous encounters in the South Pacific region and features, in Epeli Hau‘ofa's terms, a "sea of islands" extending for more than 7,000 km from Rotuma in the west to Rapa Nui in the east and more than 5,000 km from Hawai‘i in the north to New Zealand in

738-588: A canoe full of men and quarrelled with the Samoan chief Raho about who had the right of possession." While Tongan forces invaded and occupied the island at one point in the 17th century, managing to consolidate their hold over the island and its people, eventually the Rotumans rebelled. According to the Acting-Resident Commissioner of Rotuma W.E. Russell, Rotumans ultimately overthrew their Tongan occupiers in

861-701: A central place for the Mississippian culture of North America. Pauketat's provocation, however, has been accused of not offering a sound alternative to the chiefdom type. For while he claims that chiefdoms are a delusion, he describes Cahokia as a civilization. This has been debated to uphold rather than challenge the evolutionary scheme he contests. Chiefdoms are characterized by the centralization of authority and pervasive inequality. At least two inherited social classes ( elite and commoner ) are present. (The ancient Hawaiian chiefdoms had as many as four social classes.) An individual might change social class during

984-450: A chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band society , and less complex than a state or a civilization . Within general theories of cultural evolution, chiefdoms are characterized by permanent and institutionalized forms of political leadership (the chief ), centralized decision-making, economic interdependence, and social hierarchy. Chiefdoms are described as intermediate between tribes and states in

1107-530: A chiefdom in anthropology is by Robert L. Carneiro : "An autonomous political unit comprising a number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief" (Carneiro 1981: 45). In archaeological theory , Service's definition of chiefdoms as “redistribution societies with a permanent central agency of coordination” (Service 1962: 134) has been most influential. Many archaeologists, however, dispute Service's reliance upon redistribution as central to chiefdom societies, and point to differences in

1230-504: A chiefdom or district. The main island in the Rotuma Group was formerly partitioned into five parts. One of these parts, Faguta, was located to the south of Rotuma Island, across the strait from Solnohu island. Faguta's chief, alongside the chief of Noatau, were generally considered the most influential of all those across the island and effectively governed the island's south and north, respectively. The significance of these two chiefs

1353-520: A complex social hierarchy consisting of kings, a warrior aristocracy, common freemen, serfs , and slaves . The Native American tribes sometimes had ruling kings or satraps (governors) in some areas and regions. The Cherokee, for example, had an imperial-family ruling system over a long period of history. The early Spanish explorers in the Americas reported on the Indian kings and kept extensive notes during what

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1476-594: A council composed of the district chiefs. In 1940 the council was expanded to include an elected representative from each district and the Assistant Medical Practitioner. Following Fiji's independence in 1970, the council assumed responsibility for the internal governance of Rotuma, with the District Officer assigned to an advisory role. Up until the first coup, Rotuma was represented in the Fiji legislature by

1599-417: A few families have led to visible differences in standard of living. At the time of arrival by Europeans, there were three pan-Rotuman political positions created by the Samoan invaders: the fakpure , the sạu , and the mua. The fakpure acted as convener and presiding officer over the council of district headmen and was responsible for appointing the sạu and ensuring that he was cared for properly. The fakpure

1722-421: A focus on the interface between groups. "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries", therefore, is a focus on the interconnectedness of ethnic identities. Barth writes: "...   categorical ethnic distinctions do not depend on an absence of mobility, contact, and information, but do entail social processes of exclusion and incorporation whereby discrete categories are maintained despite changing participation and membership in

1845-616: A haven for runaway sailors, some of whom were escaped convicts. Some of these deserters married local women and contributed their genes to an already heterogeneous pool; others met violent ends, reportedly at one another's hands. The first recorded whaleship to visit was the Loper in 1825, and the last known visit was by the Charles W. Morgan in 1894. Rotuma was visited as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840. In

1968-406: A land area of approximately 47 square kilometres (12,000 acres), making it the 12th-largest of the Fiji islands . The island is bisected by an isthmus into a larger eastern part and a western peninsula . The isthmus is low and narrow, only 230 metres (750 ft) wide, and is the site of Motusa village ( Ituʻtiʻu district). North of the isthmus is Maka Bay, and in the south is Hapmafau Bay. There

2091-438: A lifetime by extraordinary behavior. A single lineage/family of the elite class becomes the ruling elite of the chiefdom, with the greatest influence, power, and prestige. Kinship is typically an organizing principle, while marriage, age, and sex can affect one's social status and role. A single simple chiefdom is generally composed of a central community surrounded by or near a number of smaller subsidiary communities. All of

2214-499: A mercurial character. Ronald Cohen concluded that ethnicity is "a series of nesting dichotomizations of inclusiveness and exclusiveness". He agrees with Joan Vincent's observation that (in Cohen's paraphrase) "Ethnicity   ... can be narrowed or broadened in boundary terms in relation to the specific needs of political mobilization." This may be why descent is sometimes a marker of ethnicity, and sometimes not: which diacritic of ethnicity

2337-508: A modest scale, was endemic in Rotuma. During the colonial era political rivalries were muted, since power was concentrated in the offices of Resident Commissioner and District Officer. Following Fiji's independence, however, interdistrict rivalries were again given expression, now in the form of political contention. Following the second coup, when Fiji left the Commonwealth of Nations , a segment of

2460-510: A narrow or broad spectrum of genetic ancestry, depending on group identification, with some groups having mixed genetic ancestry. By way of assimilation , acculturation , amalgamation , language shift , intermarriage , adoption , and religious conversion , individuals or groups may over time shift from one ethnic group to another. Ethnic groups may be divided into subgroups or tribes , which over time may become separate ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical isolation from

2583-497: A number of lesser ranking individuals, each of whom controls specific territory or social units. Political control rests on the chief's ability to maintain access to a sufficiently large body of tribute, passed up the line by lesser chiefs. These lesser chiefs in turn collect from those below them, from communities close to their own center. At the apex of the status hierarchy sits the paramount . Anthropologists and archaeologists have demonstrated through research that chiefdoms are

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2706-434: A political-ideological aristocracy relative to the general group. Chiefdoms and chiefs are sometimes identified as the same as kingdoms and kings , and therefore understood as monarchies , particularly when they are understood as not necessarily states, but having monarchic representation or government. In anthropological theory , one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes

2829-519: A preoccupation with scientists, theologians, and the public. Religious institutions asked questions about whether there had been multiple creations of races (polygenesis) and whether God had created lesser races. Many of the foremost scientists of the time took up the idea of racial difference and found that white Europeans were superior. The ethnicity theory was based on the assimilation model. Park outlined four steps to assimilation: contact, conflict, accommodation, and assimilation. Instead of attributing

2952-412: A process known as ethnogenesis, a period of several generations of endogamy resulting in common ancestry (which is then sometimes cast in terms of a mythological narrative of a founding figure ); ethnic identity is reinforced by reference to "boundary markers" – characteristics said to be unique to the group which set it apart from other groups. Ethnicity theory argues that race

3075-533: A relatively unstable form of social organization. They are prone to cycles of collapse and renewal, in which tribal units band together, expand in power, fragment through some form of social stress, and band together again. An example of this kind of social organization were the Germanic Peoples who conquered the western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE . Although commonly referred to as tribes, anthropologists classified their society as chiefdoms. They had

3198-434: A rock which her priests called Vatu Vonu (Haf kafaghoi ta), the rulers of Rotuma are said to have immediately given her the name Tafatemasian, coincidently the same meaning as Adi Rarama ni Wasa (a spirit encircled with light). Without meeting her, some say Prince Sarefua and Princess Tefuimena decided that she be installed immediately as the ruler of the island as a gesture of welcome and therefore persuaded her to stay and rule

3321-415: A sensitivity to shaming. Gossip serves as a mechanism for sanctioning deviation, but the most powerful deterrent to antisocial behavior is an abiding belief in imminent justice, that supernatural forces (the ʻatua or spirits of ancestors) will punish wrongdoing. Rotumans are a rather gentle people; violence is extremely rare and serious crimes nearly nonexistent. Prior to cession, warfare, though conducted on

3444-530: A single senator. Administratively, Rotuma is fully incorporated into Fiji, but with local government so tailored as to give the island a measure of autonomy greater than that enjoyed by other political subdivisions of Fiji. At the national level, in the past Fijian citizens of Rotuman descent elected one representative to the Fijian House of Representatives , and the Council of Rotuma nominated one representative to

3567-508: A stand-in for "paganism" in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an "ethnic character" (first recorded 1953). The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972. Depending on context, the term nationality may be used either synonymously with ethnicity or synonymously with citizenship (in a sovereign state). The process that results in emergence of an ethnicity

3690-480: A strict form of sociodemographic preservation. Indians and Chinese have no presence in Rotuma, unlike other Fijian islands , where these groups have managed to acquire property and establish themselves; this is because in Rotuma landholdings are held exclusively for the use and benefit of the island's own Rotuman people . Rotuma is divided into seven districts, each with its own chief ( Gagaj ʻes Ituʻu ). The district chiefs and elected district representatives make up

3813-439: Is a large population of coral reefs in these bays, and there are boat passages through them. Rotuma is a shield volcano made of alkali-olivine basalt and hawaiite , with many small cones. It reaches 256 metres (840 ft) above sea level at Mount Suelhof, near the center of the island. Satarua Peak, 166 metres (540 ft) high, lies near the eastern end of the island. While they are very secluded from much of Fiji proper,

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3936-443: Is a social category and is only one of several factors in determining ethnicity. Other criteria include "religion, language, 'customs', nationality, and political identification". This theory was put forward by sociologist Robert E. Park in the 1920s. It is based on the notion of "culture". This theory was preceded by more than 100 years during which biological essentialism was the dominant paradigm on race. Biological essentialism

4059-489: Is also an integral component of the agricultural system and has been recognized by Rotumans as having a considerable impact." The Acting-Resident Commissioner of Rotuma, W.E. Russell, dubbed this network of stone pig sty fences the "Great Wall of Rotuma". A 4,200-hectare (10,000-acre) area covering the main island and its small satellite islets is the Rotuma Important Bird Area . The Important Bird Area covers

4182-423: Is called ethnogenesis , a term in use in ethnological literature since about 1950. The term may also be used with the connotation of something unique and unusually exotic (cf. "an ethnic restaurant", etc.), generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, who arrived after the dominant population of an area was established. Depending on which source of group identity is emphasized to define membership,

4305-420: Is called ethnogenesis. Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and cultural anthropologists have documented that many of the values, practices, and norms that imply continuity with the past are of relatively recent invention. Ethnic groups can form a cultural mosaic in a society. That could be in a city like New York City or Trieste , but also

4428-402: Is more obscure, but like the sạu, he was an active participant in the ritual cycle. According to some accounts the mua acted as a kind of high priest. Following Christianisation in the 1860s, the offices of sạu and mua were terminated. Colonial administration involved the appointment by the governor of Fiji of a Resident Commissioner (after 1935, a District Officer ) to Rotuma. He was advised by

4551-642: Is not a noun in Britain. In effect there are no "ethnics"; there are only "ethnic relations". In the U.S., the OMB says the definition of race as used for the purposes of the US Census is not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference". Sometimes ethnic groups are subject to prejudicial attitudes and actions by

4674-611: Is now called the conquest. Some of the native tribes in the Americas had princes, nobles, and various classes and castes. The " Great Sun " was somewhat like the Great Khans of Asia and eastern Europe. Much like an emperor, the Great Sun of North America is the best example of chiefdoms and imperial kings in North American Indian history. The Aztecs of Mexico had a similar culture. The Indus Valley Civilisation (3300 BCE - 1700 BCE)

4797-442: Is salient depends on whether people are scaling ethnic boundaries up or down, and whether they are scaling them up or down depends generally on the political situation. Kanchan Chandra rejects the expansive definitions of ethnic identity (such as those that include common culture, common language, common history and common territory), choosing instead to define ethnic identity narrowly as a subset of identity categories determined by

4920-455: Is sometimes used interchangeably with the term nation , particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism . Ethnicity may be construed as an inherited or societally imposed construct. Ethnic membership tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage , ancestry, origin myth , history , homeland , language , dialect , religion, mythology , folklore , ritual , cuisine , dressing style , art , or physical appearance . Ethnic groups may share

5043-431: Is the belief that some races, specifically white Europeans in western versions of the paradigm, are biologically superior and other races, specifically non-white races in western debates, are inherently inferior. This view arose as a way to justify enslavement of African Americans and genocide of Native Americans in a society that was officially founded on freedom for all. This was a notion that developed slowly and came to be

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5166-547: The Apa Tanis as their ethnographic parallel (Berezkin 1995). Frantsouzoff (2000) finds a more developed example of such type of polities in ancient South Arabia in the Wadi Hadhramawt of the 1st millennium BCE . In Southeast Asian history up to the early 19th century, the metaphysical view of the cosmos called the mandala (i.e., circle) is used to describe a Southeast Asian political model , which in turn describes

5289-458: The Caribbean and South Asia . Max Weber maintained that ethnic groups were künstlich (artificial, i.e. a social construct ) because they were based on a subjective belief in shared Gemeinschaft (community). Secondly, this belief in shared Gemeinschaft did not create the group; the group created the belief. Third, group formation resulted from the drive to monopolize power and status. This

5412-509: The Council of Rotuma is based which functions as Rotuma's seat of government . The southern part of Rotuma is known traditionally as Faguta , a territory encompassing Juju and Pepjei , whose chiefs lead socioreligious communities which follow the ecclesiastical, cultural, and linguistic teachings of the Marists of France . Ituʻu is a Rotuman geographic term typically considered equivalent to

5535-526: The Fijian Senate . Rotuma was also represented in the influential Great Council of Chiefs by three representatives chosen by the Council of Rotuma. For electoral purposes, Rotumans were formerly classified as Fijians , but when the Constitution was revised in 1997–1998, they were granted separate representation at their own request. (The majority of seats in Fiji's House of Representatives are allocated on

5658-450: The New World were multi-ethnic from the onset, as they were formed as colonies imposed on existing indigenous populations. In recent decades, feminist scholars (most notably Nira Yuval-Davis) have drawn attention to the fundamental ways in which women participate in the creation and reproduction of ethnic and national categories. Though these categories are usually discussed as belonging to

5781-584: The Polynesian islands to the east, most noticeably Tahiti , Tonga , Samoa , Futuna , and Uvea . Because of their Polynesian appearance and distinctive language , Rotumans now constitute a recognizable minority group within the Republic of Fiji. The great majority of Rotumans (9,984 according to the 2007 Fiji census) now live elsewhere in Fiji, with 1,953 Rotumans remaining on Rotuma. Rotumans are staunchly conservative culturally and maintain their customs in

5904-543: The Rotuma Island Council . The districts are divided into subgroupings of households (hoʻaga) that function as work groups under the leadership of a subchief (gagaj ʻes hoʻaga). All district headmen and the majority of hoʻaga headmen are titled. In addition, some men hold titles without headship (as tög), although they are expected to exercise leadership roles in support of the district headman. Titles, which are held for life, belong to specified house sites (fuạg ri). All

6027-627: The Yuan , Ming , and Qing-era Chinese governments, principally in Yunnan . The arrangement is generally known as the Native Chieftain System ( Chinese : 土司 制度 ; pinyin : Tǔsī Zhìdù ). In prehistoric South-West Asia, alternatives to chiefdoms were the non-hierarchical systems of complex acephalous communities , with a pronounced autonomy of single-family households. These communities have been analyzed recently by Berezkin, who suggests

6150-675: The 1850s and 1860s, the Tongan prince Ma'afu claimed possession of Rotuma and sent his subordinates to administer the main island and its neighboring islets. Ma'afu had earlier made a serious effort to spread his Wesleyan beliefs to eastern Fiji and the Tongan invasion of Rotuma allowed him to consolidate its hold over a new group, the Rotumans in the north of the island. Wesleyan missionaries from Tonga arrived on Rotuma in June 1841, followed by Catholic Marists in 1847. The Roman Catholic missionaries withdrew in 1853 but returned in 1868. Conflicts between

6273-561: The 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of "peculiar to a tribe, race, people or nation", in a return to the original Greek meaning. The sense of "different cultural groups", and in American English "tribal, racial, cultural or national minority group " arises in the 1930s to 1940s, serving as a replacement of the term race which had earlier taken this sense but was now becoming deprecated due to its association with ideological racism . The abstract ethnicity had been used as

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6396-606: The Greeks. Herodotus (8.144.2) gave a famous account of what defined Greek (Hellenic) ethnic identity in his day, enumerating Whether ethnicity qualifies as a cultural universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen ,

6519-804: The Rotuman population, known as the "Mölmahao Clan" of Noaʻtau rejected the council's decision to remain with the newly declared republic. Arguing that Rotuma had been ceded to the United Kingdom and not to Fiji, in 1987 these rebels attempted to form an independent aristocratic maritime republic which they called the Republic of Rotuma but they were promptly charged with sedition and the entity disintegrated almost immediately. It did not have any substantive support and while majority opinion appears to favor remaining with Fiji some rumblings of discontent remain. Rotuma's seven districts can be grouped into three agglomerations:

6642-518: The United States that the ethnicity theory was exclusively based on the immigration patterns of the white population and did take into account the unique experiences of non-whites in the United States. While Park's theory identified different stages in the immigration process – contact, conflict, struggle, and as the last and best response, assimilation – it did so only for white communities. The ethnicity paradigm neglected

6765-994: The added value of being able to describe the commonalities between systems of group identity in both tribal and modern societies. Cohen also suggested that claims concerning "ethnic" identity (like earlier claims concerning "tribal" identity) are often colonialist practices and effects of the relations between colonized peoples and nation-states. According to Paul James , formations of identity were often changed and distorted by colonization, but identities are not made out of nothing: Categorizations about identity, even when codified and hardened into clear typologies by processes of colonization, state formation or general modernizing processes, are always full of tensions and contradictions. Sometimes these contradictions are destructive, but they can also be creative and positive. Social scientists have thus focused on how, when, and why different markers of ethnic identity become salient. Thus, anthropologist Joan Vincent observed that ethnic boundaries often have

6888-454: The basis of finance ( staple finance v. wealth finance ). Service argued that chief rose to assume a managerial status to redistribute agricultural surplus to ecologically specialized communities within this territory (staple finance). Yet in re-studying the Hawaiian chiefdoms used as his case study, Timothy Earle observed that communities were rather self-sufficient. What the chief redistributed

7011-449: The belief of common descent. Jóhanna Birnir similarly defines ethnicity as "group self-identification around a characteristic that is very difficult or even impossible to change, such as language, race, or location." Different approaches to understanding ethnicity have been used by different social scientists when trying to understand the nature of ethnicity as a factor in human life and society. As Jonathan M. Hall observes, World War II

7134-479: The boundaries of the nation-state. Chiefdom List of forms of government A chiefdom is a political organization of people represented or governed by a chief . Chiefdoms have been discussed, depending on their scope, as a stateless , state analogue or early state system or institution. Usually a chief's position is based on kinship , which is often monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites can form

7257-472: The characteristics and location of Rotuma. However, this possibility has not been conclusively substantiated. In 1824, French surgeon and naturalist René Lesson arrived in Rotuma onboard the vessel Coquille . Lesson observed that the Rotumans had no awareness of an afterlife; his revelation of such an idea therefore made French Catholicism, the official religion of the state of his employ, the Kingdom of France ,

7380-406: The communities recognize the authority of a single kin group or individual with hereditary centralized power, dwelling in the primary community. Each community will have its own leaders, which are usually in a tributary and/or subservient relationship to the ruling elite of the primary community. A complex chiefdom is a group of simple chiefdoms controlled by a single paramount center and ruled by

7503-573: The context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined. In the 19th century, modern states generally sought legitimacy through their claim to represent "nations". Nation-states , however, invariably include populations who have been excluded from national life for one reason or another. Members of excluded groups, consequently, will either demand inclusion based on equality or seek autonomy, sometimes even to

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7626-422: The course of individual life histories." In 1978, anthropologist Ronald Cohen claimed that the identification of "ethnic groups" in the usage of social scientists often reflected inaccurate labels more than indigenous realities: ... the named ethnic identities we accept, often unthinkingly, as basic givens in the literature are often arbitrarily, or even worse inaccurately, imposed. In this way, he pointed to

7749-526: The cultural traits of such groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits. Because serious errors of this kind are habitually committed when the term "race" is used in popular parlance, it would be better when speaking of human races to drop the term "race" altogether and speak of "ethnic groups". In 1982, anthropologist David Craig Griffith summed up forty years of ethnographic research, arguing that racial and ethnic categories are symbolic markers for different ways people from different parts of

7872-582: The descendants of previous occupants of a fuạg ri have a right to participate in the selection of successors to titles. On formal occasions, titled men and dignitaries such as priests, ministers, government representatives, and distinguished visitors occupy a place of honor. They are ceremonially served food from special baskets and kava . In the daily routine of village life, however, they are not especially privileged. As yet no significant class distinctions based on wealth or control of resources have emerged, but investments in elaborate housing and motor vehicles by

7995-461: The diffuse patterns of political power distributed among Mueang (principalities) where circles of influence were more important than central power. The concept counteracts modern tendencies to look for unified political power like that of the large European kingdoms and nation states, which one scholar posited were an inadvertent byproduct of 15th-century advances in map-making technologies . Nikolay Kradin has demonstrated that an alternative to

8118-447: The distant past. Perspectives that developed after the 1960s increasingly viewed ethnic groups as social constructs , with identity assigned by societal rules. The term ethnic is ultimately derived from the Greek ethnos , through its adjectival form ethnikos , loaned into Latin as ethnicus . The inherited English language term for this concept is folk , used alongside

8241-452: The distinctions of ethnicity and race that function to set off categories of workers from one another. It is, nevertheless, the process of labor mobilization under capitalism that imparts to these distinctions their effective values. According to Wolf, racial categories were constructed and incorporated during the period of European mercantile expansion , and ethnic groupings during the period of capitalist expansion . Writing in 1977 about

8364-479: The entire range of the vulnerable Rotuma myzomela , and the Rotuman subspecies of Polynesian starling and Fiji shrikebill . Rotuma also supports isolated outlying populations of Crimson-crowned fruit dove and Polynesian triller . The offshore islets of Haʻatana, Hofliua and Hatawa have nationally significant seabird colonies. Although the island has been politically part of Fiji since 1881, Rotumans are Polynesians and their culture more closely resembles that of

8487-454: The evolutionary underpinnings of the chiefdom model are weighed down by racist and outdated theoretical baggage that can be traced back to Lewis Morgan 's 19th-century cultural evolution. From this perspective, pre-state societies are treated as underdeveloped, the savage and barbaric phases that preceded civilization. Pauketat argues that the chiefdom type is a limiting category that should be abandoned, and takes as his main case study Cahokia ,

8610-530: The extent of complete political separation in their nation-state. Under these conditions   when people moved from one state to another, or one state conquered or colonized peoples beyond its national boundaries – ethnic groups were formed by people who identified with one nation but lived in another state. In the 1920s, Estonia introduced a flexible system of ethnicity/nationality self-choice for its citizens, which included Estonians Russians, Baltic Germans and Jews. Multi-ethnic states can be

8733-442: The face of changes brought about by increased contact with the outside world; social trends which have emerged elsewhere have remained entirely unwelcome in Rotuma. As recently as 1985, some 85 percent of Rotumans voted against opening the island up to tourism , concerned about the impact of an influx of secular tourist outsiders. P&O Cruises landed on the island only twice in the 1980s. Rotumans' inherent conservatism has led to

8856-414: The fact that identification of an ethnic group by outsiders, e.g. anthropologists, may not coincide with the self-identification of the members of that group. He also described that in the first decades of usage, the term ethnicity had often been used in lieu of older terms such as "cultural" or "tribal" when referring to smaller groups with shared cultural systems and shared heritage, but that "ethnicity" had

8979-518: The fallen monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the United States. Current topics are in particular social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers, multiple cultural identities and the formation of Salad bowl and melting pot . Ethnic groups differ from other social groups, such as subcultures , interest groups or social classes , because they emerge and change over historical periods (centuries) in

9102-409: The first faith shared with the Rotumans. His catechising would subsequently be formalised and reinforced by French Marists two decades later, most especially in the formerly conjoined chiefdoms of Faguta, Pepjei and Juju , as well as extending into neighbouring districts, especially Ituʻtiʻu . A favorite of whaling ships in need of reprovisioning, in the mid-nineteenth century Rotuma also became

9225-580: The following types of (often mutually overlapping) groups can be identified: In many cases, more than one aspect determines membership: for instance, Armenian ethnicity can be defined by Armenian citizenship, having Armenian heritage, native use of the Armenian language , or membership of the Armenian Apostolic Church . Ethnography begins in classical antiquity ; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus , Herodotus laid

9348-672: The foundation of both historiography and ethnography of the ancient world c.  480 BC . The Greeks had developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes . Although there were exceptions, such as Macedonia, which was ruled by nobility in a way that was not typically Greek, and Sparta, which had an unusual ruling class, the ancient Greeks generally enslaved only non-Greeks due to their strong belief in ethnonationalism. The Greeks sometimes believed that even their lowest citizens were superior to any barbarian. In his Politics 1.2–7; 3.14, Aristotle even described barbarians as natural slaves in contrast to

9471-558: The genes. Examples of various approaches are primordialism, essentialism, perennialism, constructivism, modernism, and instrumentalism. Ethnicity is an important means by which people may identify with a larger group. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. The process that results in emergence of such identification

9594-401: The island and wrote extensively on the locals' customs and myths wrote that he took Gagaj Mou , the chief of Pepjei , and five girls to recite the traditional chant. Gardiner recorded that from his vantage point out front he actually noticed the appearance of a green turtle . Green sea turtles are often located in the waters of Fiji and Rotuma. He also recorded that Mou, the chief, as well as

9717-501: The island into the sea below. There, the two were transformed into sea turtles, one red and one white. Local beliefs hold that these two turtles, called 'Eao', continue to live around the coral of the rock and will resurface if a particular chant is performed. Eao manuse, ka Lepiteala Ai, ma vehia ka foro ole tufe, Havei, ma foiak ta ka fau paufu, He ta jauaki, ma moiea. Pete. Traditional chant for sea turtles from "The Natives of Rotuma", (1898). J. Stanley Gardiner, who visited

9840-469: The island. Later settlers of the islands it was widely said, in myths which came from Samoa, were led by a man named Raho. In 1896, the scholar Friedrich Ratzel recorded a Samoan legend about Samoans' relationship to Rotuma: "Thus the Samoans relate that one of their chiefs fished in the vicinity of Rotuma and then planted coco-palms on the main island. In a later migration the chief Tokaniua came that way with

9963-433: The kernel of a nation which must be defended in times of conflict, or in iconic figures such as Britannia or Marianne . Ethnicity is used as a matter of cultural identity of a group, often based on shared ancestry, language, and cultural traditions, while race is applied as a taxonomic grouping, based on physical similarities among groups. Race is a more controversial subject than ethnicity, due to common political use of

10086-535: The king or chief Togbui Ga , the Fon people Dah , the Kotafon people Ga , and Ashanti people Asantehene . Traditional authority is a distinguishing feature in the landscape of contemporary Africa. It remains important in organising the life of people at the local level despite modern state structures. Tusi ( Chinese : 土司 ), also known as Headmen or Chieftains, were tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by

10209-403: The large reef and untouched beaches are renowned as some of the most beautiful in the Republic of Fiji . There are several islands that lie between 50 metres (160 ft) and 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) distant from the main island, but are still within the fringing reef. They are: There is also a separate chain of islands that lie between 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) and 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) to

10332-639: The latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan (in the sense of disparate "nations" which did not yet participate in the Christian ecumene ), as the Septuagint used ta ethne 'the nations' to translate the Hebrew goyim "the foreign nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews". The Greek term in early antiquity ( Homeric Greek ) could refer to any large group,

10455-513: The links between their ancestral lines and the cession of Rotuma. After Rotuma was ceded to the United Kingdom, it was governed as part of the Colony of Fiji. Rotuma remained with Fiji after Fiji's independence in 1970 and the military coups of 1987. The Rotuma group of volcanic islands are located 646 kilometres (401 miles) ( Suva to Ahau ) north of Fiji . Rotuma Island itself is 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) long and 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) wide, with

10578-481: The local hosts. In exchange, the guests are served watermelon as a sort of reward for providing entertainment and are often doused in perfume , talcum powder , or turmeric . Across the island, these sorts of celebrations continue until mid-January. Fagutan Fara however begins much later in December (on December 24 ) than celebrations held elsewhere on the island. The term "Fagutan" commonly refers to those who live in

10701-422: The location of the island. Thus, the people of those days prayed to a mythical figure known as Tagaroa Siria. In remembrance of this old royal burial ground, a certain species of seaweed was given as a token of blood ties to remember the old and special bonds between Tahiti Nui and Rotuma. This particular species of seaweed is a delicacy amongst the islands, but it only grows on Tahiti and Rotuma. This seaweed species

10824-477: The marginalized status of people of color in the United States to their inherent biological inferiority, he attributed it to their failure to assimilate into American culture. They could become equal if they abandoned their inferior cultures. Michael Omi and Howard Winant 's theory of racial formation directly confronts both the premises and the practices of ethnicity theory. They argue in Racial Formation in

10947-470: The medial and northern districts, the capital district, and the traditional territory of Faguta (whose special character was effectively agreed to by all Rotuma's chiefs in 1871 in the Treaty of Hamelin). Noaʻtau (extreme southeast) contains the villages Fekeioko, Maragteʻu, Fafʻiasina, Matuʻea, ʻUtʻutu, and Kalvaka. Oinafa (east) contains the villages Oinafa, Lopta, and Paptea. Malhaha (north) contains

11070-479: The modernist understanding of ethnicity as proposed by Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson see nations and nationalism as developing with the rise of the modern state system in the 17th century. They culminated in the rise of "nation-states" in which the presumptive boundaries of the nation coincided (or ideally coincided) with state boundaries. Thus, in the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation , developed in

11193-473: The northwest and west of Rotuma Island. In order, from northeast to southwest, these are: The geological features of this island contribute to its national significance, as outlined in Fiji's Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Pigs are so widespread in Rotuma their stone enclosures are a prominent feature of the island. Scientists conducting a botanical survey of the island in 2000 even remarked on this: "Pig rearing, often within elaborate stonewalled pens,

11316-446: The other districts' chiefs in an effort to weaken its influence, thereby forming Juju and Pepjei (although the territory is still commonly referred to by the two districts' inhabitants and descendants as "Faguta"). Solnohu, a islet off the southern coast of Faguta roughly equidistant between its constituent districts, is the location of a significant local myth, "The turtle of Sol Onau". The myth tells of two local girls who fall from atop

11439-424: The others stated that they had regularly seen the turtle and that beach between Faguta and Solnohu was a frequently used feeding spot for the reptile. Fagutan people, like all Rotumans, celebrate the traditional festival of Fara . This involves the residents of Faguta's villages (Juju, Tuại, Haga, Ujia, Uạnheta, and Avave) visiting other village communities, singing and dancing, where they are often invited inside by

11562-551: The parent group. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a panethnicity and may eventually merge into one single ethnicity . Whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis . Although both organic and performative criteria characterise ethnic groups, debate in the past has dichotomised between primordialism and constructivism. Earlier 20th-century "Primordialists" viewed ethnic groups as real phenomena whose distinct characteristics have endured since

11685-450: The problem of racism became the sole responsibility of already disadvantaged communities. It was assumed that if a Black or Latino community was not "making it" by the standards that had been set by whites, it was because that community did not hold the right values or beliefs, or were stubbornly resisting dominant norms because they did not want to fit in. Omi and Winant's critique of ethnicity theory explains how looking to cultural defect as

11808-485: The process of cession. A memorial to the seven chiefs and their mission is located in the District of Ituʻtiʻu . In response to the cession, Queen Victoria bestowed the name of Albert on the paramount chief at the time - Gagaj Vaniak - in honour of her beloved husband, Prince Albert, who had died twenty years before. In June 2017, Pene Saggers (née Enasio) met with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and together they spoke about

11931-537: The progressive scheme of sociopolitical development formulated by Elman Service : band - tribe - chiefdom - state . A chief's status is based on kinship , so it is inherited or ascribed , in contrast to the achieved status of Big Man leaders of tribes. Another feature of chiefdoms is therefore pervasive social inequality. They are ranked societies, according to the scheme of progressive sociopolitical development formulated by Morton Fried : egalitarian - ranked - stratified - state . The most succinct definition of

12054-433: The public, political sphere, they are upheld within the private, family sphere to a great extent. It is here that women act not just as biological reproducers but also as "cultural carriers", transmitting knowledge and enforcing behaviors that belong to a specific collectivity. Women also often play a significant symbolic role in conceptions of nation or ethnicity, for example in the notion that "women and children" constitute

12177-567: The result of inherited traits and tendencies. With Weber's introduction of the idea of ethnicity as a social construct, race and ethnicity became more divided from each other. In 1950, the UNESCO statement " The Race Question ", signed by some of the internationally renowned scholars of the time (including Ashley Montagu , Claude Lévi-Strauss , Gunnar Myrdal , Julian Huxley , etc.), said: National, religious, geographic, linguistic and cultural groups do not necessarily coincide with racial groups: and

12300-483: The result of two opposite events, either the recent creation of state borders at variance with traditional tribal territories, or the recent immigration of ethnic minorities into a former nation-state. Examples for the first case are found throughout Africa , where countries created during decolonization inherited arbitrary colonial borders, but also in European countries such as Belgium or United Kingdom . Examples for

12423-581: The second case are countries such as Netherlands , which were relatively ethnically homogeneous when they attained statehood but have received significant immigration in the 17th century and even more so in the second half of the 20th century. States such as the United Kingdom , France and Switzerland comprised distinct ethnic groups from their formation and have likewise experienced substantial immigration, resulting in what has been termed " multicultural " societies, especially in large cities. The states of

12546-420: The source of inequality ignores the "concrete sociopolitical dynamics within which racial phenomena operate in the U.S." It prevents critical examination of the structural components of racism and encourages a "benign neglect" of social inequality. In some cases, especially those involving transnational migration or colonial expansion, ethnicity is linked to nationality. Anthropologists and historians, following

12669-560: The south. The earliest known confirmed European sighting of Rotuma was in 1791, when Captain Edward Edwards and the crew of HMS Pandora landed in search of sailors who had disappeared following the Mutiny on the Bounty . Some scholars have suggested that the first European to sight the island was, instead, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós ; his description of an island he sighted is consistent with

12792-573: The state of a king ( raja ). Also see Suhas Chatterjee, Mizo Chiefs and the Chiefdom (1995). Most African traditional societies involved chiefdoms in their political and social structure before European colonisation . For an example see the political organisation of the Mandinka people in West Africa. Each clan, tribe, kingdom, and empire had its traditional leader, king, or queen. Ewe people call

12915-407: The state or its constituents. In the 20th century, people began to argue that conflicts among ethnic groups or between members of an ethnic group and the state can and should be resolved in one of two ways. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, have argued that the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. According to this view,

13038-441: The state should not acknowledge ethnic, national or racial identity but rather instead enforce political and legal equality of all individuals. Others, like Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka , argue that the notion of the autonomous individual is itself a cultural construct. According to this view, states must recognize ethnic identity and develop processes through which the particular needs of ethnic groups can be accommodated within

13161-512: The study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently. According to Eriksen , these debates have been superseded, especially in anthropology , by scholars' attempts to respond to increasingly politicized forms of self-representation by members of different ethnic groups and nations. This is in the context of debates over multiculturalism in countries, such as the United States and Canada, which have large immigrant populations from many different cultures, and post-colonialism in

13284-524: The term in social studies in the 1980s and 1990s. Barth went further than Weber in stressing the constructed nature of ethnicity. To Barth, ethnicity was perpetually negotiated and renegotiated by both external ascription and internal self-identification. Barth's view is that ethnic groups are not discontinuous cultural isolates or logical a priori to which people naturally belong. He wanted to part with anthropological notions of cultures as bounded entities, and ethnicity as primordialist bonds, replacing it with

13407-446: The term. Ramón Grosfoguel (University of California, Berkeley) argues that "racial/ethnic identity" is one concept and concepts of race and ethnicity cannot be used as separate and autonomous categories. Before Weber (1864–1920), race and ethnicity were primarily seen as two aspects of the same thing. Around 1900 and before, the primordialist understanding of ethnicity predominated: cultural differences between peoples were seen as being

13530-506: The two Fagutan districts (Juju and Pepjei) or those with cultural or family ties to the area. Notable examples include: Ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include a people of a common language , culture , common sets of ancestry , traditions , society, religion , history, or social treatment. The term ethnicity

13653-558: The two groups, fuelled by previous political rivalries among the chiefs of Rotuma's seven districts, resulted in hostilities that led the local chiefs in 1879 to ask Britain to annex the island group. On 13 May 1881, Rotuma was officially ceded to the United Kingdom , when the British flag was hoisted by Hugh Romilly . The event is annually celebrated as Rotuma Day . In 1881, a group of Rotuman chiefs travelled to Levuka, Ovalau, Fiji, to meet Queen Victoria's official representative to complete

13776-461: The usage of the term "ethnic" in the ordinary language of Great Britain and the United States , Wallman noted The term "ethnic" popularly connotes "[race]" in Britain, only less precisely, and with a lighter value load. In North America, by contrast, "[race]" most commonly means color, and "ethnics" are the descendants of relatively recent immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. "[Ethnic]"

13899-408: The villages Pepheua, ʻElseʻe, and ʻElsio. Ituʻmuta (western peninsula) contains the villages Maftoa and Lopo. Ituʻtiʻu (west, but east of western peninsula) contains the villages Savlei, Lạu, Feavại, Tuạʻkoi, Motusa, Hapmak, Losa, and Fapufa. ʻAhạu , also located in the District of Ituʻtiʻu, is the capital and where the "tariạgsạu" (traditionally the name of the sạu's palace) meeting house for

14022-448: The ways in which race can complicate a community's interactions with social and political structures, especially upon contact. Assimilation – shedding the particular qualities of a native culture for the purpose of blending in with a host culture – did not work for some groups as a response to racism and discrimination, though it did for others. Once the legal barriers to achieving equality had been dismantled,

14145-442: The world have been incorporated into a global economy: The opposing interests that divide the working classes are further reinforced through appeals to "racial" and "ethnic" distinctions. Such appeals serve to allocate different categories of workers to rungs on the scale of labor markets, relegating stigmatized populations to the lower levels and insulating the higher echelons from competition from below. Capitalism did not create all

14268-492: Was a hegemony of chiefdoms with supreme chiefs in each and a system of subsidiary chiefs. The ranks of the chiefs included ordinary chiefs, elders, priests or cattle-owners and head chiefs. The Arthashastra , a work on politics written some time between the 4th century BC and 2nd century AD by Indian author Chanakya , similarly describes the Rajamandala (or "Raja-mandala,") as circles of friendly and enemy states surrounding

14391-483: Was a turning point in ethnic studies. The consequences of Nazi racism discouraged essentialist interpretations of ethnic groups and race. Ethnic groups came to be defined as social rather than biological entities. Their coherence was attributed to shared myths, descent, kinship , a common place of origin, language, religion, customs, and national character. So, ethnic groups are conceived as mutable rather than stable, constructed in discursive practices rather than written in

14514-407: Was contrary to the prevailing naturalist belief of the time, which held that socio-cultural and behavioral differences between peoples stemmed from inherited traits and tendencies derived from common descent, then called "race". Another influential theoretician of ethnicity was Fredrik Barth , whose "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries" from 1969 has been described as instrumental in spreading the usage of

14637-436: Was headman of the district that headed the alliance that had won the last war. The sạu's role was to take part in the ritual cycle, oriented toward ensuring prosperity, as an object of veneration. Early European visitors referred to the sạu as "king", but he actually had no secular power. The position of sạu was supposed to rotate between districts, and a breach of this custom was considered to be incitement to war. The role of mua

14760-458: Was known as Siria. Little was known about the exact years of migration from these far Eastern Kingdoms of those times. The only information known was that Rotuma was used by these three Kingdoms as the royal burial ground for the Kings and Queens of Tahiti Nui and Rapa Nui. Rotuma was known as Siria by the indigenous peoples of Tahiti Nui and Rapa Nui as it was named after the star which lies exactly above

14883-459: Was not staple goods, but prestige goods to his followers that helped him to maintain his authority (wealth finance). Some scholars contest the utility of the chiefdom model for archaeological inquiry. The most forceful critique comes from Timothy Pauketat , whose Chiefdom and Other Archaeological Delusions outlines how chiefdoms fail to account for the high variability of the archaeological evidence for middle-range societies. Pauketat argues that

15006-399: Was reflected in the fact that the position of the head of the island's governing council alternated between the chief of Faguta and the chief of Noatau, depending on which of the two had been victorious in the last conflict between them. However, following victory and invasion by opposing forces ( internecine conflict was endemic for centuries on Rotuma), Faguta was forcibly divided into two by

15129-530: Was said to be given by a Princess of Bora Bora. The Princess name was Teura (Redness) of Bora Bora who married the Legendary Prince Te-Fatu of Rotuma. The first foreigner to arrive in Rotuma is sometimes named in oral tradition as Bulou ni Wasa who arrived with her seven brothers. The name of the canoe that brought her and her family was known as Rogovoka . Her brothers left her on the island and made their way to Fiji. When she disembarked on Rotuma onto

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