AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF A FIJIAN COMMUNITY
by Erinn Gregg

Chapter 4
Life Cycle Rituals

Chapter 4

The Sevusevu

Birth

Naming

Birthdays

Marriage

Observing Life Cycle Events: A Funeral

A Fundraising Festival at Navutulevu

   Preparations and Guests

   Opening Ceremony

   Sheds and Fundraising

      Table 4. The Men Who Cut Cane to Support Joele's Contribution

      Table 5. Contributions from Vatucere Shed

   Vakavinakavinaka

   Meke

   Closing Ceremony

   Final Totals

      Table 6. Total Contributions to Navutulevu Fundraiser

   Vatucere Shed

   Disassembling the Sheds

Conclusion

LIFE CYCLE RITUALS

The Sevusevu

A sevusevu is a traditional Fijian ceremony which is performed to mark many individual occasions within Fijian culture. The ceremony is performed when a visitor enters into a village for the first time, but it is also performed when someone would like to apologize to another person, at funerals and weddings, and even to thank the ministers who come to preach at the church service. The ceremony can take place to ask for safety, to thank God, to request an apology, to welcome a visitor a village, or to commemorate any other event involving the exchange between two groups of people

The person who is presenting the sevusevu will arrive with the waka (kava root). In the case of a student's entrance into a Fijian village, the kava was presented to the chief of the village. The explanation was then given that a young woman would be coming to stay in Drana, and there was a request to see if the people living in the village could watch over her so she could be free and safe. Once the explanation was given and the sevusevu presented, the men and women will wait for the cigoma, the agreement from the chief. He will "tara tiko" (touch) the yaqona (kava) to let the visitor know that everything is good and the sevusevu has been accepted. When he does so he will take the kava and explain his agreement with another sevusevu which is presented back to the visitor. At the sevusevu ceremony for my departure from Drana, the man presenting the sevusevu began by explaining why the yaqona was being presented. He said that the professors wanted to thank the chief for allowing me to stay in the village and thank the people there for all they have done throughout the last two months. When the chief accepted the sevusevu he thanked the professors for allowing me to come to Drana and stay with the people living there.

When the kava is ready to be mixed, one of the men in the village, not the chief, "...announces that he is ready to make the drink, sa vakarau lose na yaqona vakaturaga (ready to mix the chiefly yaqona). He will clap three times and start mixing." The first bowl will be served to the chief who will clap (cobo) once before taking the cup (bilo), followed by three claps from those present to symbolize that he the chief. The person who receives the next cup will clap once, but those who are present will clap only twice when he or she drinks to show that this person is the herald and thus below the chief. The drinking order in the kava circles is decided according to respect. In the village of Drana if a sevusevu is presented to the chief when the first cup is poured the chief will say that it should be given to the guest who has presented the sevusevu. The second bowl will go to a young man in the village. On the next round the first bowl will then go to either another guest who is present or to the chief. All those who are given the highest respect will drink for the three claps while others will be chosen to drink for the two claps. Women who are present, unless they are guests in which case they would drink first, will be chosen to drink last. When all the men and women present have each received one bilo of yaqona they will cobo to show that they are finished with one round of drinking. When the entire bowl of grog–their nickname for kava–has been finished the server will rub his hands around the rim of the bowl and the group will chant "ama dua" (one voice), stressing their oneness as a group united to the loyalty of one chief.

The sevusevu frames every individual event as an interaction between two groups and suggests to those present the correct heirarchical relations within the group. By coming together and sharing the sevusevu as one group they are reminded that they are like one, united by their allegiance to one chief, one God and one cultural tradition.

Birth

According to one of my informants, "There is a belief that if an owl sounds early in the evening a woman is pregnant in the village and she either does not know or is not telling anyone. I believe that this is true because one of the girls here in Drana, she was pregnant and did not know and the owl sounded at this time." This is the first sign of pregnancy in many Fijian villages.

When a child is born into a Fijian family the newborn is usually covered from when leaving the hospital and entering the village until the formal revealing of the newborn to family and friends. As one woman said, "The family would cover the baby with tapa from the minute they left the hospital. The child was kept inside until the ten days were finished because nobody was allowed to see the baby until this time." The first born child is called the ulu matua. Four days after the birth of the child a feast will be held for the newborn which includes both the mother's family and the father's family. The second feast is prepared ten days after the birth. This feast is prepared for the unveiling of the newborn child, and relatives from both the mother's side and the father's side are invited to see the child for the first time. The family members come to the family with gifts including blankets, powder and clothing. At the time the child is revealed, the family will bless the child and explain who the child is named after if in fact he or she has a namesake. At some time after the birth, often years later, the father's side is expected to bring a large presentation to the mother's family. One woman explained to me the introduction of her first child into her mother's village of Drana:

We were in Nadi, my husband and I, and we wanted to visit Drana. We had to bring gifts to the family in Drana that included kerosene drums, clothes materials, and tabua, to introduce our son to the family. The gifts were presented to my grandfather and my uncle. When we left their house and came down home to this house, the uncles and grandfather brought us a mat and tapa to reciprocate and welcome the baby into the family. This is all done show that my son is here for the first time. We are offering gifts to ask everyone that they please watch over him and that there is no trouble with him.

Once the child is introduced to the family and unveiled for the first time the parents are then allowed to move about freely with the newborn child. He or she is considered a full member of the family.

The seclusion of the child until the proper revealing time reveals the emphasis of the Fijian culture on embedding individuals into a network of relationships. The child is not fully human and cannot be seen until he or she has been properly rooted in the kin network. In addition the network in which the people are embedded includes both kin within the mataqali and related through women, particularly the mother. Each individual life stage focuses on the gathering of two groups that are brought together and forges relationships between these groups. Finally aside from the new stage of life for the baby the mother and father are also taking on new roles as mature adults with a family.

Naming

When a child is born he or she is generally named after a member of the family. The first male child is named after the great-grandfather, grandfather or father. It is up to the father's family to decide on the name for the first-born child. Once the name is chosen the family prepares a lovo, a traditional Fijian meal where the family is cooked under ground with heated stones, and kava. The relatives come to the house of the child and the family explains the origin of the child's name.

The second child can be named after either a relative from the mother's family or the father's family. The father's family will approach the mother's family and ask them if they would like to name the child. If they accept the offer the child will be named after a relative of the mother's. In the case that they do not want to name the child the father's family will then decide on the name of the newborn child. One woman in Drana noted, "All children are named after relatives and names can be repeated more than once within the family. This way they are passed from generation to generation and never forgotten." Thus the naming practices among Fijians shows the emphasis both on embedding individuals into groups and recognizing birth ties within the mataqali as well as those groups related through the women.

Birthdays

Generally the first birthday is celebrated for the first child in Fijian families. On occasion this can be in conjunction with the first hair cut of the child. A female informant in Drana uses the example of her sister's first son.

The grandmother from the father's side will come and place mats and tapa and the grandmother from the mother's side will be asked to cut the child's hair. In Tui's case there was a place for him to sit in front of the relatives who were present at the celebration. He wore the tapa but because my mother had passed our father cut his hair.

After the first birthday, the family continues to celebrate only the birthdays of the eldest child in the family. One woman explains, "First born babies are very important because they are the first child to the house. The most important things are done for the first and for the second they [the celebrations] will just have the mother, father and the child."

According to Ravuvu another ceremony may also take place after the birth of the child known as gunu baleto na gone (to drink over the child). The child's father's family prepares yaqona for the child's mother's father which he in turn drinks over the child. In addition the child's father's family will prepare a large feast which is shared by both groups. In addition to this the women from the child's maternal group will contribute mats which will later be distributed among the paternal relatives of the child. The exchange between the two groups marks their oneness as a group and exhibits the impact of life cycle rituals on a group of people rather than an individual. In the case of birthdays, only celebrating the birthday of the eldest child indicates that the focus of the attention is on the family as a whole and marks its maturing stance in the community not just the maturation of the child.

Although it is not customary for all families to celebrate the sixteenth birthday some families will mark the occasion with a celebration. It marks that you are going into your teenage years and are becoming a grown up. The family comes together and the parents of the child prepare a feast for the family. In return the child is given gifts which are only for him or her. These can include clothes, jewelry, watches, shoes, perfume - basically anything appropriate for the man or woman who is celebrating the birthday.

The most important birthday among Fijian men and women also quoted as, "the big one", is the twenty-first. The parents of the child prepare a large feast for the family who will be attending the celebration. In the case that the family does not have enough money to the pay for the feast it is likely that they will approach other family members for additional money. The following describes a ceremony attended just a few years ago by a woman in Drana.

Everyone prepared mats and tapa for the girl. She sat on the mats in the front of the room and ate the feast which was prepared for her by her the family. A church service was then held followed by a request from the girl for the key from her parents. The key symbolizes freedom. The father is giving the daughter or son their own life and freedom from the twenty-first on. He or she can drink, smoke, just sit around and do whatever they choose. From this time on he or she rules their own life and they will decide what to do.

Prior to the twenty-first birthday the child will have gone to their parents for whatever they needed. However at the symbolic event the son or daughter is afforded the opportunity to control his or her own life. The relatives that are present at the celebration bring gifts and the family prepares a feast often accompanied by a band or in some cases the men from the village provide entertainment with their guitars and songs. This somewhat new ceremony perhaps marks a shift toward greater recognition of the individual since unlike other birthdays it is one in which gifts are contributed for the individual rather than a set of exchanges between the two groups.

While the celebration of the twenty-first is a major step in a child's life it must be noted that the situation can vary according to household. One girl who will turn twenty-one in April told me, "I will be getting my freedom yes but I will not just be able to run around and do whatever I want. Because I will still be living with my parents I will have to ask them to do things but I will be less nervous about asking then I was before." Thus it is not always the case that the child is now in full control of his or her life but that he or she may be given more of an opportunity to approach his or her parents about a certain situation. Again the twenty-first birthday celebration is one that focuses on the individual undergoing the ritual to a greater extent than in traditional rituals perhaps showing a growing emphasis on individuals.

Marriage

While it was often the case that marriages were arranged by the parents of the couple in Fijian tradition, today marriages out of love are becoming more frequent. In the case that the marriage is out of love the man will approach the woman and express his desire to marry her, asking for her answer. Upon the girl's acceptance the couple will then go back to his family and inform them of the plan to get married. The next step involves the man's parents preparing a whale's tooth and kava which will then be brought to the girl's family. One informant explains that this is done "to show we [the boy's family] are here and we are showing that our son is in love with your daughter and we are asking if she is willing to marry." Following the request from the man's family the daughter will be called into the room and asked if she is in love with the man. If she wishes to marry the man she will accept the offer for marriage.

Once the woman accepts the offer for marriage the arrangements are made for the ceremony and she cannot refuse the marriage. "Dola nu nosa" is the yes that is heard from the woman's mouth. One woman explains, "The girl is asked in front of her family because they all heard her say yes and once the words come out of the girl's mouth and she accepts there is no way to run away. She cannot say no once the yes is heard." Often on the same day of the offer for marriage the two families will settle a date for the wedding ceremony.

A few days prior to the wedding the mother's family of both the man and the woman who are marrying will prepare the tevutevu for the couple which includes mats, blankets and pillows that are presented to the girl's family. The gifts are prepared for the new home of the couple to be married. On the day of the wedding ceremony, "the guy will take the lead to the church and the girl will go to the church with her father. The girl's dad presents his daughter to the man." The church service is performed by the minister, and the couple are introduced as husband and wife. From the church all those present at the ceremony are invited to the man's village for a feast that is prepared by his family. A Fijian woman describes the celebration,

The husband and wife will have their own place to sit with mats and tapa. The family will also buy new items for the couple including a table cloth, plates, cups, spoons, etc. This is done because the families want to spoil the new couple. The girl's family will collect all the new items [because] the girl is winning all that.

Either immediately following the feast or days after the feast, depending on when the man is ready, the girl will be dressed in tapa and taken to the community hall where the families of the bride and groom are gathered. The girl is then given to the man's family and from this time on will either live alone with her husband or with his family. Her family leaves her and she remains with her in-laws. Following the elopement of a couple the man's family will take a bulubulu to the wife's family. They make a presentation to the family of the girl so that there will be no hard feelings between the two groups for taking the girl away from her family.

The virginity of a Fijian bride is highly valued and in many cases a ceremony is carried out for the revelation of the woman's virginal status. On the first night after the wedding the bride and groom will sleep together in a room with a bed prepared by the man's family. It is customary that the bed sheets are white to prove the virginity if the sheets are stained. The morning after, the women return and check the bed sheets. If there are stains indicating that the woman was a virgin and was saving herself for her husband, another feast will be prepared. In addition a pig will be killed to mark the event. If the woman was not a virgin the butt of the pig will face away from the house and the family will be publicly embarrassed. However, if the woman was a virgin the butt of the pig will face towards the house and the family will celebrate. Today, with the majority of marriages based on love rather than arranged, this practice is less common. The man's mother will ask her son if the bed sheet should be prepared and if he knows that the woman is not a virgin he will tell his mother. The woman may also be approached herself in which case she cannot lie about her virginity.

The exchanges between the families of the bride and groom focus on the idea that the young couple will be embedded in a community of kin which extends out to both the wife's family and the man's family. The payments after a couple elopes from the man's family to the woman's family reaffirm the notion that the ties between the two groups are just as important as the ties between the man and the woman.

OBSERVATIONS OF LIFE CYCLE EVENTS:
A FUNERAL

The funeral I attended in Vitawa for Inoke Nasikele Tucia took place on September 23rd to September 24th. I was present for only a few hours on Friday, September 24th. The family members who attended from Drana are related to the widow of the deceased. The widow's aunt, her mother's sister, is married into the Drana mataqali and currently lives in Drana. In addition to the woman's family the entire family from the man's side was present, both his mother's side and his father's side. The majority of the guests were from the man's family.

Upon our arrival in Vitawa the males from Drana presented a sevusevu to the family of the deceased. According to Savu, my host sister who was present at the funeral, "We all tell them we are there because of the wife [the widow] and that we are visitors because they know who we are and how we are related to the place. There is no use in explaining why we are there because they already know." At the sevusevu a tabua (whale's tooth) was given to the family of the deceased. In return, they presented the men from Drana with a tabua thanking them for their presence. In addition a cow was presented along with cassava, taro, mats and tapa. These are presented as a last gift to the deceased and the family of the deceased and then redistributed to family members who have attended the funeral. The men in Drana received a share of the cow, as did other relatives at the funeral, accentuating the gathering of the group and the relatedness among them. The woman from Drana presenting the gifts requested that some of the offerings be placed in the grave or the coffin, wrapped in the tapa or mats which were given.

Following the sevusevu the men remained in the shed drinking kava while the women gathered in the room with the coffin to mourn the loss of the deceased relative. The room was filled with women of all ages who were crying, while some of the women approached the coffin and talked about the deceased. The bubu (grandmother) of the deceased's wife who currently lives in Drana pulled herself up from her wheelchair calling out,

When you got married you came to Drana and were with us. Whatever we told you to do you did in quiet ways. I always see Salome - she sits around lying and when I ask her about her husband she says he is in the kitchen cooking. I tell her he is not supposed to cook and she says just leave him there. You stick around the house and you hardly talk and don't do stupid things. You are a very gentlemen person. Your ways are so nice - the way you sit, talk, respect people, it is very gentle. We miss you a lot. I thought you were going to bury me first but instead I come to bury you and I am really sorry about that.

The focus of the bubu's speech reveals the characteristics Fijians value in others. She mentions always helping other people and valuing others. The emphasis seems to be less on caring for oneself than for the group, and because Inoke lived that way he will be greatly missed. This woman gave her last goodbye to the deceased, and after her speech she remained in the room until the church service began.

The service for the deceased took place inside the village church. The choir was seated in the front right hand corner of the church. The women in the choir wore white dresses and black sulus underneath, while the men wore black pocket sulus with white shirts. The chief of the village and the minister sat on the altar. A table was placed in front of the altar where the coffin was set. When the majority of the family members gathered in the church the lali (slitgong) rang, signaling that the service was ready to begin. While the choir sang the coffin was carried in by the male members of the family who were wearing black or blue pocket sulus, blue shirts and ties. The nuclear family of the deceased followed behind. The coffin was placed on the table and the wife of the deceased was seated directly to the left in front of the choir.

When everyone was settled the minister began the service with a prayer. Following a reading from the Bible, two men rose from their seats and gave their eulogies to the deceased. Tila, a young woman from Vitawa, explained what each man was saying. The first man, Inia Nauca, began by thanking the relatives and the Tui Navitilevu for coming. He mentioned all those in the village of Rakiraki, Malake Island and Drana, plus those who traveled in from Suva and Lautoka. The gathering together of the families from all over the area stresses the idea that each family event is dealt with as something involving the whole group and requiring the presence of the village chief. He then talked about the deceased, Inoke Nasikele Tucia. He was from the Nairoko mataqali and his yavusa was Naisogoliku. Inoke was born on April 20, 1963. He has three brothers and sisters and was the third child of the family. At the age of twenty-seven he married a woman from Macuata who had been raised in Drana by her grandmother. They were married for twelve years at the time of his death. Inia focused as much on the individual who died as on the groups brought together by his death, but his speech drew attention to the place of an individual in a network of relations.

After the first man's speech a second man from the family of Inoke's mother rose to talk about the last moment of the deceased. The choice for a speaker from both the father's side and then the mother's side of the deceased is significant in emphasizing how each individual is considered a product of both the mother's group and the father's group. The speaker said that Inoke was having afternoon prayer with his family and his wife asked him to pray. Inoke fell down and that was the end. The man spoke about the generosity of the deceased, saying that if he needed anything he would always go to his uncle, Inoke. The man finished his eulogy telling everyone how much Inoke cared about his brothers and sisters. Again this speech focused on the values Fijians find important in others. The speaker mentioned that the man was good to others and cared for his siblings, emphasizing the role one plays in the network of relations which he is embedded in throughout his lifetime.

When the two men completed their eulogies the minister spoke for approximately forty-five minutes and the service was complete. The choir united in song while the congregation exited the church. The men carrying the coffin exited first, followed by the wife and the remaining family members. The burial of the coffin took place immediately following the church service. The coffin was carried up the nearby mountain where the burial site had already been prepared by the wife's family. Each mataqali in the village of Vitawa has a separate burial site so the members of the mataqali can be buried together. Mats lined the inside of the hole and the coffin which had been covered with tapa and placed on top of the mats. The mats were prepared by the vasu, the women from the mother's side of the family. They prepared the burial site and in return received mats, tabua (whales' teeth), kava, a cow, and kerosene drums from the family of the father. The exchange between the two families focuses on the network of relations which was established at the birth ritual of the man and continued throughout his lifetime. The minister led another prayer and the choir sang. When the prayers were complete the hole was covered and stones were placed around the burial site.

When the family returned to the sheds a large feast had been prepared by the women from the deceased man's family. They served cassava, breadfruit, chicken, red meat, cucumbers, carrot salad and juice. While the feast was taking place the men and women from Drana approached the man's family with the widow to extend her invitation home. A woman from Drana explained, "This way she is free to do what she wants. She is always free but it is an official ceremony asking the man's family that she be allowed to return to her home [Drana] whenever she would like. It is also telling the woman that se is always welcome to come back home." The women from Drana followed behind the widow, carrying a tapa that is attached to her waist. The men from Drana approached the man's family inside the house while the women remained seated outside. After this ceremony is performed the woman can leave her husband's mataqali and return to Drana if she chooses.

OBSERVATIONS OF LIFE CYCLE EVENTS:
A FUNDRAISING FESTIVAL IN NAVUTULEVU

I also observed a fundraiser in Navutulevu village. Although a fundraiser is not a life cycle ritual, it shows well how most communal events draw networks of kin and celebrate a commitment to the community.

The festival in Navutulevu was held on Friday and Saturday, October 29th and 30th. It is a yearly festival held in the village to raise money for the improvement of the village. In the case of Navutulevu the money raised from the festival was used for various expenditures: F$2,000 of the total amount of money went towards the development of the Rakiraki District School; another F$2,000 went to the Nakauvadra High School for the same reason. The remainder of the money will be used to expand the community center which has become too small for the increasing number of people living in the village.

Preparations and Guests

The January prior to the festival, in this case January 1999, a village meeting was held at which time the committee members for the festival were chosen. Each mataqali must have two representatives on the committee for a total of twelve committee members in Navutulevu. The men volunteered for the position, and once elected to the committee, they can decide at any time to retire. It may also be the case that the villagers do not like the work of the committee, at which time they will request the committee members to resign from their position. The members of the committee who were present in the committee shed included Joe from Yavusatabua, Save from Tuinamo, Saimoni the church steward from Tuicakau, Joape from Vuninokonoko, Jone from Tuinamo, and Semi from Tuinamo. Seni was not actually on the committee but was invited by the committee members to do the announcing for the event. The other six members of the committee were heads of different sheds and remained in their sheds throughout the fundraising.

Prior to the event the committee made all preparations for the event. They divided the mataqali into different sheds for money-raising purposes. As one villager noted, "It is not exactly a division, just a way to get more money raised." In addition the committee assigned people to bring in gifts for the prizes; mostly brought by relatives from Suva and Lautoka. The committee was responsible for building the sheds a few days before the event as well as preparing the electrical equipment for the announcing. The F$100 which was spent on the rental of the microphones came from money which the committee members had raised themselves for the event.

Opening Ceremony

The Navutulevu festival opened on Friday, September 29th. At 2:00 p.m. the men from the village, including teenagers not in school and youth group members, presented their soli (donations) to open the festival. The men donated the first sum of money so the fundraising could begin. The money was given to the committee members, and in return the committee members gave a thank you to the men, a vakavinakavinaka. The committee members mixed a bowl of kava and presented a sevusvu to the men. One man from each of the six mataqali was supposed to drink and they were generally of high rank in the village. At Navutulevu, Rasekaia Tanoa, who is the mayor's father in the village and the head of the Tuinamo mataqali, drank first. Following him were: Tatalevu, head of Yavusatabua mataqali, Sedemaia from the Nubu mataqali, Lsikeli from the Tuicaicau mataqali, Miniroti from the Natiliva mataqali and Joape from the Vuninokonoko. After the completion of the sevusevu the fundraising began.

Sheds and Fundraising

There was a total of ten sheds at the festival which had been formed by the committee members. They are Natei Tei Vico, Vatucere, Vatudami, Galoa, Satiwai, Yavunuku, Vaieko, Natuvu, Nasuvi, and Maweidu. In the Vatucere shed there were members from nine different houses. According to Joeli, one of the men in the Vatucere shed, "The festival is a very important event. Relatives come from all over. My son from Lautoka is here as well as my son and daughter from Suva." Joeli is the head of the Vatucere shed, and all donations for the shed were presented to him. It is common at Fijian festivals for communal donations to go in the name of the senior male. Each mataqali was encouraged to raise F$1000 with individual houses contributing F$100. Some houses were not able to contribute such a large sum of money, and in this case the mataqali often did not reach the total of F$1000.

In order to raise money individual sheds considered other options aside from pocket donations from each household. Two of the sheds, Nateiteivico and Satiwai, set up barbecues throughout the festival. They sold lamb chops, sausage and cassava at F$2 per plate. The money from this is raised for the benefit of their individual shed and totaled over F$100 for the two days of the festival. Those members of the Vatucere shed who could not donate their F$100 share but wanted to help cut cane for the shed leader, Joeli, for three weeks prior to the festival. The money from the cane cutting was contributed to the shed and raised the most money for the individual group. The following list names the fifteen men who cut sugar cane to raise money for the festival and their relation to Joeli, (Michelle's tata) head of the Vatucere shed.

Name	Identification
Joe Bola	Joeli's eldest sister's son
Joe Nailati	Joeli's son
Mane Natavuto
Solo Natavuto
Tata Levu's sons
Tui Natavuto
Kali Natavuto
Tata Levu	Joeli's elder brother
Eroni Matavesi	Joeli's father and Eroni's father are brothers
Tui Henry and son Jerry	Tui's wife is Joele's cousin sister
Luke	Joe Bola's brother
Kuli Nakuta
Manu Nakuta	Joeli's cousin brother's sons
Josua Nakuta
Seta Kuru	Joeli's wife's younger sister's son

The list of donations from the Vatucere shed (see Table 5 below) is an indication of the range of donations among members within a shed. It is also a good example of how functions such as fundraisers bring together groups as there are people from both the mataqali as well as the mother's side present in the shed. Here again two groups join together for a common function within the community that involves exchanges within the groups. It is customary to donate money to whatever shed you are a member of, but you are not required to give any specific amount of money. In this case the Tui Navitilevu donated money to the festival as a whole from Navuavua and then gave a smaller donation to the Vatucere shed because his grandfather and Joeli's grandfather were brothers. All those italicized were able to reach the F$100 for the household while the other figures were misplaced by the leader of the shed.

Name	Identification	Donation
Joeli		F$167
Rose	Joeli's daughter	F$5.00
Dilly	Joeli's daughter	F$50
Cane Cutting		F$700
Michelle		F$40
Tui Navitilevu		F$15
Erinn		F$20
Steve Leavitt		F$60
Tatalevu	Joeli's older brother and his children
Eroni	Joeli's grandmother and Eroni's grandmother are sisters,and his wife
Lucy with their four children
Leilei	Joeli's grandmother and Leilei's grandmother are sisters and his daughter Akosita with her three children
Kali	Tatalevu's son and his wife Vinaia (Pina) with their three children
Pula Kaitani	Joeli's grandmother and his grandmother are sisters
Ilai	Ilai's mother is Joeli's cousin so he is Joeli's nephew, and his wife Sala with their three children
Litia	Joeli's sister in law and his daughter Paulini
Paulini	Joeli's grandmother and her grandmother are sisters, and her husband
Tui with their children

Again the list of people who gathered in the shed demonstrates how events like the fundraiser bring together groups of people for a common cause.

The fundraising was finished at five o'clock and money which was donated after this time was not counted for the competition among the sheds. In the last minutes of the fundraising the sheds tried to collect all final donations for their contribution. In the Vatucere shed the head, Joeli, told the men and women in the shed, "Put in whatever money you have in your pockets right now so our shed can win." According to one woman in the shed they collected roughly F$300 in the last half hour of the collection. The women of the village closed the festival with their soli and the committee congregated to count the totals from each shed.

Vakavinakavinaka

Throughout the afternoon various guests from outside the village came to donate money to the festival. Among them was the Tui Navitilevu who arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon. After he gave his soli, the members of the committee presented a vakavinakavinaka to the Tui, thanking him for his donation. The committee members asked Tata Joeli if they could perform the vakavinakavinaka on his front porch. When the men gathered there they mixed a bowl of grog and present it to the Tui. It was the responsibility of the committee members to present the vakavinakavinaka to all those guests who came to the festival to donate money and were not part of the village.

Meke

Also during the afternoon various women from the village provided entertainment with meke dancing. The first group from the Galoa shed included four women, one man, and ten young children. Following this three girls performed the hula. The meke dancing continued for most of the afternoon. One group performed a vakamololo which is a meke sitting down on mats.

In various of the groups one or more of the participants wore a cloth wrapped around him or her to symbolize that it is their first meke. After they have danced a relative came and removed the cloth from their body. Men and women from the various sheds showed their appreciation for the dancing by giving the performers lollipops and by putting baby powder on their faces and bodies.

After the soli was presented by the women of Navutulevu and fundraising was complete, the women from Navutulevu presented the meke as a finale to the festival. Unlike the other meke dancing which had been for entertainment, this meke was the traditional Fijian meke called seasea. The dancing began at 5:05 when the group entered the grounds and approached the committee shed. Some of the women were dressed in masi sulus and wore a string of flowers around their neck and grass around their skirt. The rest of the women wore sulus and dresses. The women in regular attire were seated on the ground while the other women stood around them in a circle. The women seated provided the music for the meke while they sang and pounded the lali. The verses of the song were like a poem, and while the women sang each verse, those women dancing were acting out each verse of the poem. The story of the meke was about the festival. It focused on the committee and the various mataqali and how they managed to unite together for the festival. This is important because it emphasizes the central point in many life cycle events–the idea that a network of people exists who join together for various events throughout their lives for a common reason.

Again to show their appreciation, men and women from the various sheds gave the dancers candy in their mouths as well as beaded necklaces, caps, and baby powder on their face and bodies. When a man from the Vatucere shed poured water over the women singing and then proceeded to place two large plants in the circle with them Dilly, a young women from the shed explained,"We are showing them that we really love their dancing."

When the women finished the meke the committee presented the luva ni vesa to the women which is a tabua to thank them for their dancing. The meke dancing ended at 5:45 at which time the women returned to their sheds and the committee prepared to announce which shed had won the fundraising.

Closing Ceremony

The women from Navutulevu presented the final soli at five o'clock to close the fundraising. As with the opening ceremony the members of the committee presented a sevusevu to the women, thanking them for their donation. Similar to the men's sevusevu at the opening ceremony, one women from each of the six mataqali was supposed to drink at this sevusevu, and they were generally those women with a high rank in the village. At this festival Unaisi Naio, a widow from the Natiliva mataqali, drank first because she is one of the oldest woman in the village at approximately eighty years old. The next person to drink was Bubu Wasa from the Tuinamo mataqali. Only two women drank at the ceremony because, due to the rain, the sevusevu was held inside the community hall. Other women did not want to drink because it was not their mataqali but really their husband's mataqali. This point suggests that while events such as festivals draw people together from through various network of relations, they still seem to respect their individual groups.

Final Totals

After the sheds had handed in their donations at 5:00 the committee members counted the money from each shed to prepare for the announcement of the winning shed. Each shed selected one woman to represent the shed who was escorted to the committee shed by a male member of the shed. The queen of the Vatucere shed was Michelle Nason. Once all ten queens had been seated in the shed the committee announced the donations as follows.

Nateiteivico	F$1420
Yavuwuku	F$1039
Vatucere	F$1364
Vaieko	F$882
Vatudami	F$1350
Natuvu	F$840
Galoa	F$1250
Nasuvi	F$660
Santiwai	F$1250
Maweidu	F$641

The total from the opening soli was F$314 and the closing soli totaled F$270.28. The fundraiser earned a total of F$11,524.30. The queen was crowned from the Nateiteivico shed and the prizes are awarded to the sheds. With a second place finish the shed Vatucere received a wall clock and a large bag of rice. The women were escorted back to their sheds and the festival came to a close.

Vatucere Shed

When the festival was complete the men and women in the Vatucere shed remained to drink kava and sing songs. Two of the men, Sailasa and Akuila, gave the vakavinakinaka to thank everyone in the shed for coming to the festival an donating money. In addition, one of the women divided up the rice and presented it to some of the guests as a thank you for their donations.

The men and women who remained behind sang songs while one man, Seilase, who had traveled from Suva, played the guitar. The first song which was composed in Vanua Levu was titled Lele. Following this the group sang Liwari Au Na Tokalau, a song about the celebration of Christmas and New Year's in Kandavu. The next song was about the Tamavua River and is called O I Deba. When the group had finished singing they played music on the stereo which had been brought outside and began to tarlala. This is the Fijian way of dancing side by side with one arm around your partner's waist. The men and women in the Vatucere shed remained drinking grog and dancing until morning.

Disassembling the Sheds

After the festival was over it was the job of the committee members to dismantle the sheds. On the Monday after the event, October 1, the men gathered at Vatucere, the house of Joeli, to present a sevusevu for the removal of the sheds. The sevusevu was presented to him because the sheds were set up in his front yard. The men spent the afternoon at his house drinking kava and removing the sheds. The next festival will be held in the year 2000 during the month of October.

Conclusion

As evident from the life cycle rituals there is a strong emphasis in Fijian society on the network of relationships which exists between groups of people rather than on individuals themselves. Life cycle events are marked not only as a transition from one stage of life to another but more importantly they focus on the maintenance of good relations between many individuals.

On to Chapter 5...