LIFE IN A FIJIAN VILLAGE:
THE STRUGGLE OF SELF AND COMMUNITY
by Megan Lee

Chapter 2
Social Structure and Organization of Naivuvuni Village

Chapter 2

Village Hierarchy (Tokatoka, Mataqali, and Yavusa)

The Vanua

Patrilineal Descent

The Kinship System

Table 1. Fijian Kin Terms in Naivuvuni

Naming a Child (Namesakes and Naming Practices)

Respect and Avoidances

Naivuvuni Village (Population and Mataqali)

Origin Stories

Religion

The School System

Marriage

Conclusion

Village Hierarchy (Tokatoka, Mataqali, and Yavusa)

The Fijian village is divided into groups that are ranked relative to each other. The largest and broadest division is into yavusa. Ideally, all the members of one yavusa trace their descent back to a common male ancestor. There are generally between one and three yavusa in a village. A yavusa consists of any number of mataqali, the second subdivision in the village. The mataqali is a group of extended families who can usually trace their links to a common male ancestor. Each mataqali is further divided into tokatoka. A tokatoka is the most basic kinship unit and is usually composed of a group of adult brothers and their sons' families.

The mataqali is the central focus of kinship in the village. Seven different mataqali, in theory, make up one yavusa. This is the same in every village. There are different families in each village that fill each of the positions, but the hierarchy remains the same. The first and highest ranking mataqali is that of the chief, the turaga. The next is the sauturaga. The highest ranking man of the sauturaga would become the chief if, for some reason, there was no one in the turaga mataqali who could be the next chief, an unlikely but possible situation. The sauturaga has been described as the Cabinet to the chief. They help to advise him and get to express their opinions when he has an important decision to make. The highest ranking man in the sauturaga acts as the chief's executive.

The next mataqali in the hierarchy is the mata ni vanua. They are the chief's spokesmen. The remaining groups were traditionally divided based on the specialized skills they possessed. The bete were the priests. The bati were warriors, the gonadau the fishermen, and the mataisau the carpenters. Today, most members of the mataqali do not work in the traditional trade of their mataqali. Furthermore, most yavusa are no longer composed of all seven mataqali. Together, the mataqali work like a government to keep order in the village. For the village to run smoothly, all the mataqali must perform their given role. Within each mataqali there is a head, known as the turaga ni mataqali.

The houses of each mataqali are usually grouped together in the village. In the past, the members of the different mataqali were not allowed to associate with each other except through the use of a messenger. Today, although the houses of the same mataqali are still generally grouped together, people are free to travel through the village into the area of any of the mataqali.

The Vanua

The term vanua literally means land but refers to all the people, land, plants, culture and customs of a particular group or area. It consists of not only physical objects but also the spirits that have created them. It has both social and cultural dimensions. Socially, the vanua consists of the people and how they are related to one another. Culturally, it includes the customs, traditions, and way of life of the people living within it. The chief is responsible for everything that lives, works and happens within his vanua. He is responsible for the people and they are responsible to him. Ravuvu describes the vanua as

the living soul or human manifestation of the physical environment which the members have since claimed to belong to them and to which they also belong. The land is the physical or geographical entity of the people, upon which their survival...as a group depends. Land is thus an extension of the self. Likewise the people are an extension of the land. Land becomes lifeless and useless without the people, and likewise the people are helpless and insecure without land to thrive upon. (1983: 76)

The vanua is the most basic unit to which the people of all yavusa, mataqali, and tokatoka are responsible. The vanua is an abstract term that brings all of the people and their lands, customs, and culture together.

Patrilineal Descent

The men of each mataqali are ranked according to genealogical seniority. When the chief dies, his younger brother will become the new chief. When all of the brothers and parallel cousin brothers have died, the new chief will become the eldest male from the second generation. The new chief may not be a biological son of the former chief as in the English system. In Fijian society, one's parallel cousins are considered to be brothers, the new chief is often not a true son or brother of the former one.

When a woman marries, it is expected that she will move to her husband's village and live there as a member of his tokatoka, mataqali and yavusa. The male is the head of the household. The women must respect the men and are relegated to a lower social status than men. Women are expected to sit at the far end of the room, near the door, in the most public area. They prepare the food but eat only after the men have finished. Women are not expected to work outside the home, although due to changing economic situations and social options available to them, some women have found employment outside of the home. Mostly, though, women's main responsibility remains to be to their husband and family. Most women remain in the home and look after the children and perform domestic duties.

The Kinship System

The kinship system is an essential aspect of Fijian life. The ways in which people interact with each other is based upon how they are related to each other within the family unit. Traditionally, brothers and sisters were expected to respect each other to the point of avoidance. Today, the brother-sister taboo has lessened, but siblings of the opposite sex are still not close to each other. As children, siblings do not follow this taboo at all. As they grow older, and definitely by the time they are married, they are no longer close and try to avoid each other. They are often not comfortable around each other and do not spend time together. They often will not eat together. My own "sister-in-law" would not eat at the same time as her brother. While he ate, she sat on the opposite side of the room and did not speak to him. After he had finished and left the table she had her meal.

Some people will not say the name of their sibling or call anyone with the same name as one of their opposite sex siblings by their true name. They may use another name to refer to that person. Name avoidance is used to show respect. For example, there is an elderly man in the village who will not call his niece (vugoqu) by name because she has the same name as his older sister (tuakaqu).

Respect is also shown to seniors in age. A younger sibling must always respect the decision of an older one. Siblings of the opposite sex must avoid each other in order to show respect. Relationships between brother and brother are less strict, but the younger brother must submit to his older brother. They also show respect to their older brothers by not joking with them. The relationship between brothers is a serious one. For example, there was a man who was not planning on attending a bulubulu ceremony being performed for one his cousin brothers because he had a conference to attend in another village. His older brother became angry when he found out that he was not planning on attending and the two had an argument. The younger brother decided to attend the ceremony out of respect for his older brother even though he didn't want to and felt he had a greater obligation to attend the meeting.

Relationships between sisters, however, are usually more relaxed than those between brothers. Sisters are more likely to spend time together and are often more comfortable around each other than brothers are. There are several possible reasons for this difference in behavior between siblings of the same sex. The first is that sisters are more likely to spend time in close physical proximity to one another working in the home while men often work by themselves in the fields. Women's work may require more cooperation and require that women work together. Secondly, it is through the patriline that the traditions and customs of the society are maintained. It is less important for women to follow kinship taboos because they are less important socially in maintaining these traditions. Relationships between women are also not important in maintaining the authority structure in the patrilineal mataqali.

A husband or wife may call their spouse watiqu but he or she will more commonly refer to them by their real name. The relationships between in-laws is often a complicated and tense one. Because women move to the village of their husband, they often live with their in-laws. A daughter-in-law is the lowest ranking member of the family. She is expected to respect her in-laws, particularly her father-in-law at all times. As an example, while waiting for the bus, my "sister-in-law" would not stand near to or speak to her father-in-law. She stood at the opposite side of the bus stop and would not even look in his direction even though there was no one else waiting for the bus with us. To show respect to her in-laws, a daughter-in-law will perform most of the housework and do all the cooking for the family. Although her relationship may appear casual and friendly with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, a woman must always show respect for these women by waiting on them and performing the housework for them.

A woman refers to her mother-in-law as nei and her father-in-law as momo. In theory, one's in laws must be shown a great amount of respect. This varies however, from family to family. In one family, the daughter-in-law said that she must not eat until her father-in-law had eaten. If he is sitting on the floor she must get on her knees when she is around him. She cannot wear pants or short skirts in the house and should not wear her hair pulled back. Another woman, however, explained that her father-in-law is just like her real father. They talk and although she must show him some respect, she is not required to go to the extremes that the first woman is.

A woman calls her husband's brothers daku and must avoid them at all times. She is to avoid eating with them and even being in the same room with them at all times. I was visiting a woman in the village one day who lives with her mother-in-law. Her husband and daku stay in Suva where they work but had returned to the village for the weekend. The daku was sitting in the main part of the house. Instead of sitting there and talking as we usually did, we went outside in order to avoid being in the same room as her daku.

A woman refers to her husband's brother's wives as karua. The relationship between a woman and her karua is usually a comfortable and friendly one. Her own brother's wife she calls dauve, this relationship is also usually a friendly and pleasant one. My "sister-in-law" and her dauve, her brother's wife, are very friendly with each other, even though they don't know each other that well. My sister-in-law was married and living in her husband's village before her brother married and brought his wife to his village. When my sister-in-law visits her parents, she and her dauve laugh and joke together. They are usually together for most of the visit, sharing stories and playing with their babies together.

The relationships between a man and his in-laws are similar to those of a woman and her in-laws. Like women, men refer to their wife's parents as momo and nei. He must show respect to them; their relationship is usually not a close one. A man may refrain from eating with his father-in-law and may try to avoid being in the same room as him. His relationship with his mother-in-law is usually more relaxed. A man refers to his wife's brothers as tavale and to his wife's brother's wife as karua. His wife's sister is called daku and his wife's sister's husband is known as karua. A man's sister's husband is tavale and his brother's wife is called daku. A man is must avoid his daku, both his wife's sister and his brother's wife, at all times.

Basic kin relations extend across the nuclear family to include the sisters and brothers of one's parents and also their children. Children of the mother's brother or father's sister are called cross cousins by anthropologists. Cross cousins in Fiji have a joking and fun relationship. They are often flirtatious with each other. They do not have to follow the avoidances that siblings must observe. Instead, cross cousins are often very close. Traditionally, it was from this group of relatives that a man would choose his wife although today this practice is not usually followed. Male and female cross cousins are referred to as tavale. Men also refer to female cross cousins as tavale and women call men by the same instead of using their real name. A woman refers to another female cross cousin as dauve, or sister-in-law, because a female cross cousin's brother could become a husband. Similarly, a female refers to her male cross cousin's wife as karua, which means second wife, because if she were to die, a cross cousin could become his new wife. Cross cousins also have the responsibility of burying one another when they die.

Parallel cousins, the children of one's father's brother or one's mother's sister, are treated as brothers and sisters. They are treated with the same avoidances as real brothers and sisters. Like true brothers and sisters, they are referred to with the terms tuakaqu (an older brother or sister) and taciqu ( a younger brother or sister). Parallel cousins are entitled to anything belonging to another parallel cousin. Technically, they could enter the home of a tuakaqu or taciqu and take anything that they wanted. Although this rarely happens, parallel cousins must be willing to sacrifice anything they own for each other.

As parallel cousins are treated as brothers and sisters, so too the parents of parallel cousins are referred to as mother and father. They are treated the same as one's biological parents are. One's mother's sister is referred to as nana lailai (little mother) if she is younger than one's own mother and nana levu (big mother) if she is older. Likewise, one's father's brothers are called tata lailai and tata levu. However, the terms lailai and levu are often dropped and one will refer to his aunts and uncles simply as nana and tata. Children often spend much of their time when they are young in the homes of these relatives if they live in the same village or one nearby.

One's father's sister is called nei or aunt. One's mother's brother is called momo . These are the parents of one's cross cousins. Like the relationship between cross cousins, the relationship with the parents of one's cross cousins is also relaxed and enjoyable. Although some respect must be shown to one's momo and nei because they are older, it is not necessary to avoid them.

Table 1. Fijian Kin Terms in Naivuvuni

relationship	female	male
elder brother	tutua/tuakaqu	tutua
younger brother
elder sister	tutua	tutua
younger sister	taciqu
father	tata	tata
mother	nana	nana
mother's brother	momo	momo
mother's sister	nana (levu/lailai)	nana(levu/lailai)
father's brother	tata (levu/ lailai)	tata(levu/lailai)
father's sister	nei	nei ganei
father's brother's wife	nana (levu/lailai)	nana(levu/lailai)
mother's brother's wife	nei	nei
father's sister's husband	momo	momo
mother's sister's husband	tata (levu/leilei)	tata(levu/leilei)
father' father	bubu (tagane)	bubu
father's mother	bubu (yalewa)	bubu
mother's mother	bubu (yalewa)	bubu
mother's father	bubu (tagane)	bubu
son	tuvequ tagane	tuvequ tagane
daughter	luvequ yalewa	luvequ yalewa
brother's son	vugoqu	luvequ
brother's daughter	vugoqu	luvequ
sister's son	luvequ	vugoqu
sister's daughter	luvequ	vugoqu
son's son	makubuqu	makubuqu
son's daughter	makubuqu	makubuqu
daughter's son	makubuqu	makubuqu
daughter's daughter	makubuqu	makubuqu
wife	watiqu
husband	watiqu
husband's brother	daku
husband's sister	duave
wife's brother	tavale
wife's sister	daku
husband's brother's wife	duave
wife's sister's husband	karua
husband's sister's husband	tavale
husband's father	momo
husband's mother	nei
wife's father	momo [vugoqu]
wife's mother	nei
husband's father's brother	momo
wife's father's brother
husband's father's sister	nei
wife's father's sister	vugoqu
husband's mother's brother	momo
wife's mother's brother	vugoqu
husband's mother's sister	nei
wife's mother's sister	nei

Naming a Child (Namesakes and Naming Practices)

When a child is born, he or she is usually named after a relative who has died. The child becomes this person's yaca (namesake). With few exceptions, a newborn child is named after a close family member. The name must be passed through the generations to keep the spirit of the deceased in the family. The child's first name is taken from the father's family and the second from the mother's family. However, it is not uncommon for both names to come from the father's family.

At times a child will be named after a living relative. A child is usually named after a living relative if that relative is a high ranking member of the mataqali. There are two young boys in the village named after the head of the mataqali. It is not uncommon for a deceased relative to have several namesakes.

Sometimes the child will be named by whichever side of the family is the first to see the newborn. If the mother's side arrives at the baby first, someone will call out a name and that will be the child's name. If the father's family gets there first they can chose the name. This may occur at the hospital if the child is born in one and the family travels to see it, or at a ceremony held on the fourth night after the child's birth, called bogi va (fourth night), in which the family gathers together to celebrate the birth of the baby.

As a sign of respect, a man or woman is often referred to as the parent of their eldest child. If a man and woman had as their eldest child a boy named Maika, they would be referred to as tamai Maika (father of Maika) and tinai Maika (mother of Maika).

Respect and Avoidances

Respect and avoidance relationships are critical to the kinship system. Respect is based on three main concepts: age, sex and social distance. The older a person is, the more respect he commands, regardless of sex or social rank. For example, a group of young men were gathered in the home of one of their friends. They were sitting and joking with one another in a relaxed and friendly way. When an older woman, who is the oldest woman in the village and also the grandmother of one of the men, entered the house, the men immediately grew quiet. They stopped joking and sat up and paid attention to the conversation of the others out of respect for this woman.

As children, brothers and sisters are not expected to follow the rules of avoidance. As they grow older, and certainly by the time they are married, they are supposed to follow the respect and avoidance relationships. The degree to which they follow these rules varies within each family. Families who are ranked in the higher mataqali may observe the rules more strictly than those who are ranked lower in the social structure. One family I spent time with completely disregarded these relationships, and brothers and sisters were relaxed and joking with each other, even though they were married and had children of their own. In my family, however, the avoidances are followed much more strictly. My "brother" avoids being in the same room as his sister and they only spoke when it was necessary, usually about my brother's baby.

It appears that men follow the expected respect observances more strictly than women. As it is the men who preserve the patriline and are the center of the social structure, their behavior is more important in the preserving the system than the women's. At a village function held in the community hall, the all of the women sat and joked and talked together, even those who were related in ways that required that they avoid each other. The men, however, followed these same avoidance relationships much more strictly. Several of the men made concerted efforts to physically separate themselves from their momo at all times.

The amount of respect displayed also depends on the amount of social distance between people. People who interact with one another on a regular basis tend to be more relaxed and less strict about the proper respect relationships. People who do not see each other as often and are less familiar with each other follow the expected rules more stringently.

Naivuvuni Village (Population and Mataqali)

Naivuvuni village is located in Ra province, more locally the Rakiraki district, on the northeastern coast of Viti Levu. Located on the dry side of the island, the people here depend on sugar cane as a main source of income, and also upon their own cassava farms for a staple in their diet. They also rely on the sea to provide fish and shell fish as another main source of food.

The village has a population of approximately 230 people. There are 37 individual families living within the village. The village is made up of two yavusa and six mataqali. Some people, however, consider the two yavusa to be one. They say that the two yavusa were separated at one time but that now that have combined to form one yavusa. Others, however, hold that the two are still two separate entities.

There is one chief for the entire Rakiraki district. He is the chief of all the villages between Vunitogoloa and Namuaimada. His title is Tui Navitilevu, and he lives in the village of Navuavua. His mataqali is Tunavitilevu and his yavusa is Namotutu, same as one of the yavusa in Naivuvuni village. Under the Tui Navitilevu is the Tui Navatu, the chief of the villages of Vunitogoloa, Naivuvuni, Narewa and Vitawa. He lives in the village of Vitawa. He is the highest ranking member of the yavusa Navatu. Although the Tui Navatu is the chief of Naivuvuni, there is another man who acts as the head of the village. He is ranked under the Tui Navatu. He too does not live in the village itself but in a settlement located approximately one half mile from the village. He is a member of the mataqali Dawadioga. This is the largest and highest ranking mataqali in the village, and he is the highest ranking member of the mataqali. Mataqali Dawadioga is the mataqali Turaga. There are fifteen houses in this mataqali and they occupy more than half the area of the village.

The mataqali that occupies the sautaraga position is Aisokula. This is also the second largest mataqali. It consists of seven houses. These mataqali are on opposite sides of the village. Mataqali Naiqilaqila is considered the Bete. They are a smaller group consisting of only three houses at the bottom of the hill. Nasavi is the Bati mataqali, with only two houses. The mataqali Nayavaloa and Rokotakala do not have a specific ranking in the yavusa because they came to the village after it had been settled.

Origin Stories

The yavusa that the mataqali Dawadioga, Nayavaloa, Nasava and Naiqilaqila belong to is called Navatu. The yavusa Navatu also exists in other villages. Four different villages were founded by families of the same descent. The story of the founding of the village says that, hundreds of years ago, during the cannibalism times, there were many wars in the country. Men fought each other all over the islands. To hide from the fighting some of them took their families and went to hide on the mountain called Ulu ni Navatu. These men were the first to belong to the Navatu clan. The name Navatu literally means "the stone," and it refers to the rocky places they lived in on the mountain and also the rocky areas where they settled when they came down from the mountain. During the years of fighting they made a village on the mountain and lived there where they were safe from raids. When the fighting had ended they came back down the mountain. The area around the mountain was jungle, so they cleared the land and settled four different villages. The Navatu clan settled the villages of Narewa, Vitawa, Naivuvuni, and Vunitogoloa.

There is another story that says that at one time there were two different clans living in Naivuvuni. The second yavusa was called Namotutu and they came to Naivuvuni from Rakiraki because the British were staying in Rakiraki, and fighting had started between the clans living there as a result. So part of the clan Namotutu left their village and wandered the area looking for another place to settle. They went to Naivuvuni and were allowed to stay there but were separated from the rest of the village and not seen as part of it. Eventually, over time, they became more and more involved in the village. They began marrying and having children with the men from the Navatu yavusa. Namotutu yavusa became smaller and smaller as the women married outside the clan. Eventually, those who did not want to become part of the Navatu clan left the village and settled elsewhere.

However, members of the yavusa Namotutu living in the village claim that it is still a separate yavusa. They do not consider themselves part of the Navatu clan. They still have ties to the village of Rakiraki and participate in the functions of the Namotutu yavusa. When there is a fundraiser in Rakiraki, the members of the Namotutu clan living in Naivuvuni are required to donate money to them. The Namotutu yavusa sees itself as vital to the village of Naivuvuni. They say that their great- grandfathers came to the village to work for the Navatu clan. They are only here to work, the leaders of the Navatu yavusa tell them what needs to be done and they do it. Without them, nothing in the village would be accomplished. As one women from the Namotutu clan explained, "[The men of the Navatu clan] make the decisions and they tell what to do and we finish the work. They think we should do the work because our grandfathers came here to work. If we don't do it, they will not do it." Members of the yavusa Namotutu also live in the villages of Vunitogoloa, Narewa, Vitawa, and Rakiraki.

The name Naivuvuni means "a hiding place." Before the wars and the Navatu clan came to Naivuvuni, there were spirits, in the form of men, who came across the island to fish in the waters near Naivuvuni. While they fished they would hide their food on the hill where Naivuvuni is. When the tide came in and they couldn't fish anymore, they would go up the hill to eat. Then they would travel back to the other side of the island. These men were called Nakauvadra, the first to inhabit Fiji.

Each tribe has an animal associated with it. The Navatu clan's animal is the dairo. This is like a sea cucumber. It is their animal because their foreparents survived by eating it at times when there were no fish. Now the animal is only a symbol for each clan. It is like a joke between members of the clan who live in different villages and also between the other clans. It is understood that today the animal represents a person's sex organs and if you go to another village and meet someone of the same yavusa, you should ask them about their animal.

Religion

The large majority of the families living in Naivuvuni are Methodist. Of the 37 families in the village, twenty seven of them attend the Methodist church in the village. Seven families belong to the Assembly of God. There is an Assembly of God church just outside the village where most of these families worship. There are three families who are Seventh Day Adventists. The Methodist church acts as a central force within the village. Methodist church services are held three times on Sunday, at six and ten o'clock in the morning and again at five in the afternoon. There is also a service on Monday evenings for the youth. Each family makes donations to the church annually for the upkeep of the church and village. The structure of the Methodist church parallels that of the larger society, and as a result there is pressure to attend to the Methodist church. Although there are social repercussions for those who do not, there are a number of people in the village who worship at the other denominations. There is a young woman in the village who is currently worshipping with a group of Jehovah's Witnesses. She said that the Methodist, Assembly of God, and Seventh Day Adventist churches did not offer her what she needed in a religion. She never felt comfortable or fulfilled in these churches and so has branched out on her own and is exploring other religious groups. I will examine the church more fully in Chapter Five.

The School System

Fijian schools are divided into classes and forms. Primary School consists of eight classes. Children usually begin schooling in class one when they are seven years old. Secondary, or high school, begins with Form 3. Children are usually fourteen when they are enrolled in Form 3. At the end of the school year there is a series of exams that the students must pass to continue on to the next form. If a student receives less than a 2.50 on these exams, he is not eligible to move on to the next form. All students wear uniforms to school. These must be paid for by the family of the student. Education is not mandatory and there is also a tuition that must be paid in order for children to attend school. There is no school busing system and students must find their own transportation to and from school. Children walk if the school is close enough and if it is not they take the public bus.

There are both Fijian and Indian primary and secondary schools. Few Indian children attend the Fijian schools but some Fijian students are enrolled in Indian schools. All the children from Naivuvuni attend Fijian schools.

Most of the children who are in primary school attend the Navatu Fijian Primary School. The school is located less than half a mile outside the village. There are only two children who are in high school. One attends the Rakiraki Public High School and the other Nakauvadra Fijian High School.

Almost everyone in the village has had some type of formal education. The older people had only attended primary school and many had not finished primary school. Many had left school at a young age to work in the cane fields or because their parents could not afford to send them to school any longer. Today most of the children continue beyond primary school. No one in Naivuvuni has finished Form 7, and there is no one in the village who is currently enrolled in a class higher than Form 3. The two students who are in Form 3 currently plan on continuing their education. The boy who is in Form 3 said that he enjoys school and wants to continue in school for as long as he can. He said that he would like to finish Form 6 and continue to Form 7 and university but that it is difficult for his family to pay to send him to school.

It appears that both boys and girls have the same access to education. Girls are allowed to attend school just as long as the boys are and are encouraged to attend school for as long as possible. It seems that most people, both boys and girls, leave school after Form 5 or 6.

Marriage

Girls are more likely to marry shortly after finishing school than boys are. With the exception of one, all of the young women in the village who have finished their schooling are married and/or have children.

Women tend to marry younger than men in the village. There are around ten unmarried men between the age of 20 and 30 living in the village, compared to only one unmarried woman in this age group.

The women living in the village who have married in from other villages have come from a range of distances. Approximately half of the women living in the village moved to the village after they married. The majority of these women have come from villages that are close to Naivuvuni. There are two young women, both married within the last two years, who are from Vunitogoloa, the next village on the King's Road traveling towards Lautoka. There are also two women from Vitawa and another from Malake Island. There is also a woman from Togovere, a village just past Vunitogoloa. There are a number of women who are originally from Naivuvuni and lived in the village their entire life. However, there are some women who traveled a long distance when they married to live in Naivuvuni. There is a woman who was living in Suva before she met her husband and moved to the village. She is originally from Levuka Island in the Lau province, as is another woman.

Conclusion

The social structure of the Fijian village is conceptually organized into three main subdivisions. Within each of these groups, each member of the village has a social role and position. The yavusa, mataqali, and tokatoka to which a person belongs to some extent dictates his social position within the village. These groups are socially ranked, the highest ranking position being that of the chief. Social position is also determined by sex. The social structure is preserved through the patriline, men are more important in social functions than women are.

The relationships between kin within the village, mataqali, extended and immediate families are vital in preserving the social structure of the village. There is acceptable and expected behavior that should be displayed when in the presence of each kin member. These behaviors are based on respect for older and higher ranking members of the society, particularly older and higher ranking men. In this male based society women have been relegated to a lower social standing then men.

The extend to which these respect and avoidance relationships are followed is based upon three main principles; age, older people require more respect; sex, men follow the expected behavior more strictly than women do; and social distance, people who interact with each other on a regular basis are less likely to follow these avoidances as strictly as people who are not in contact with each other regularly.

The social organization of Naivuvuni village is largely a reflection of the traditional structure of Fijian society. The village is composed of two yavusa, Navutu and Namotutu and six mataqali. The highest ranking mataqali is Dawidioga, the mataqali of the village head. Each mataqali performs a function within its yavusa and within the larger structure of the entire village in order to preserve its social structure.

Avoidance and respect relationships are observed between all members of the village. These are obvious in everyday living, not only in formal situations. When a man enters my host family's home, it is not uncommon for one or two of the other men in the room to leave or to relocate themselves to the far corner of the room, opposite from the newcomer. This is done as a sign of respect. This man is most likely tata levu , or uncle, of the other men and must be respected with avoidance. Preserving traditional relationships is a central aspect of life in the village of Naivuvuni.

On to Chapter 3...