Programa de Inversiones

This section will incorporate the social-cosmological dimensions of the vanua with the physical attributes of the vanua. The ways in which natural resources are incorporated into the vanua concept and how vanua is inscribed into the taskscape through livelihood activities will be discussed here. The analysis of the physical dimensions of the vanua in combination with the social dimensions will pave the way to a greater understanding of the reasons for choosing or accepting community-based ecotourism and other responses to it.

The following quote was made by an unnamed journalist and recorded by Ewins (1998):

To the Fijian, land is not something that will help them economically; land is everything. It’s like God. Everything on that land matters…They pray to the land…They call [it] vanua; that stone, that animal, that insect; all these are part of [it]. When the Fijian talks of land [they’re] not just talking about acreage, they’re talking about everything on that land, which is very sacred to them (p. 153, cited in Halapua, 2003a, p. 83).

Pamela Godde (1998) describes the physical definition of‘the vanua as region or country as opposed to soil while Ravuvu (1983) divides the physical dimensions of the vanua into soil or land (qele) and bodies of water (wai). Qele and wai are elements of Tuwere’s (2002) literal interpretations of the vanua which includes land and geographical areas as well as its people and social units (pp. 34-35) in contrast to his symbolic interpretations of the vanua. Qele and wai as physical dimensions of land may be further divided into four groups: gardening land (qele ni tei tei), the forest (veikau), founding ancestor’s house mounds (yavutu/yavu), and fishing grounds (qoli qoli).

Fijians do not treat native land as a commodity that can be ‘owned’ in the capitalist sense of the word. This is illustrated in the expression ‘na qau vanua’ – not my land but ‘the land to which I belong, of which I am an integral part: the land that is part of me and feeds me’ (Roth, 1953, pp. xxvii: See also Lasaqa, 1984, pp. 22). As Tuwere states, ‘One does not own the land, the land owns him’ (2002, p. 49). Land is something that, if alienated from a Fijian person, has far-reaching implications for their identity and well-being, his/her Vanua, and for the ancestors of that land. Each family unit (vūvale) of each clan (mataqali) must request land for their children from the chief (liuliu ni yavusa / turaga ni yavusa) of each village. The land allotted to each family in a mataqali is called their ‘ana’ana while a mataqali’s fishing area is a qoliqoli. The ‘ana’ana and the qoliqoli are not owned by the mataqali. Rather, their resources are at the disposal of the mataqali members for the primary purpose of feeding the family. This has implications for community-based ecotourism as a cash-based enterprise. Whereas resources were not valued in monetary units before, now they are44_{. A sense}

of place and identity is further strengthened by the totems, spirits and ancestors to which both the land and the people belong. The intimate relationship of people and land are further demonstrated in that many Fijians consider themselves nothing without their land while they may also liken a land without its people to ‘a person without a soul’ (Ravuvu, 1983, p. 76).

A practical knowledge of the environment and its changing nature is exemplified by the traditional seasonal calendar. This is based on the main farming activities and the sources of food available at different times of the year. The calendar is still widely used by all Fijians as the basis of people’s resource use activities (Veitayaki, 2003, p. 4). However, this generic calendar is not geographically specific and so a localized version is needed in each case. For example, according to the Fijian traditional seasonal calendar, January is associated with the abundance of spinefoot and rabbit fish (nuqa), shellfish and bivalves (kaikoso) and trochus (vivili). This month is also when land crabs (lairo) spawn in the sea and breadfruit trees bear fruit (Bulafish, 2008). In Lavena, however, January is the month for the harvest of nuqa levu, breadfruit, green bananas, mangos and pineapples.

Fishing areas (i qoliqoli) include any body of water (wai) claimed by a Vanua, yavusa, or mataqali as their traditional fishing ground. A tabu (customary fishing ban in this case) may be placed on part of this area from time to time to allow the regeneration of fish stock for feasts (magiti) and rituals such as weddings and funerals. The ‘ana’ana (or kanakana) is the tract of land or water respectfully requested of, and granted by the chief for the use of a mataqali (clan) for the purpose of feeding and economically supporting the family and the Vanua. A mataqali has no ownership of the land granted to them and cannot sell, lease or gift their land. However, they have full ownership of whatever grows on or in their land or lives in the water and they may sell these resources as they wish. If the ‘ana’ana is used for gardening (as it most often is), it is referred to more specifically as i teitei. ‘Ana’ana, in terms of water, is the subsistence fishing area. This is usually the area immediately adjacent to a village and includes

mangroves, mudflats, sandflats, lagoons and reefs (Vunisea, 2002, p. 7) while i qoliqoli refers to the total fishing area including that beyond the ‘ana’ana.

Because the environment provides all that is needed for the survival of the Boumā people, they in turn must protect it. If they do not, they receive an indication that they must alter their treatment of the environment through signs and symbols from nature.