Honourable Government Ministers,
Assistant Minister for Itaukei Affairs, Culture, Heritage and Arts, Honourable Ratu Isikeli Tuiwailevu,
Representative of the Turaga na Tui Suva;
Representative of the Government of New Caledonia in Fiji – Mr. Gaston Wadrawane;
Members of the Diplomatic Corp;
Distinguished Conference Delegates, Professor Mathew Spriggs and Professor David Burley;
• Distinguished guests and participants;
Members of the Media;
• Ladies and gentlemen.
Miau sa bula re, Bula Vinaka, Noaia e Mauri, Halo Olgeta, A very good morning to you all! Today I first wish to acknowledge the ancestral owners of this land on which we stand and it is an honour to have the Representative of the Turaga na Tui Suva present this morning in this important occasion.
In the spirit of mutual respect, each one of us brings into the room our ancestral connections and network of people and places, and in this regard, I also pay tribute and express gratitude to your ancestors who bring forth peace, goodwill and prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fiji, we are honoured to host you at this 10th International Lapita Conference. I acknowledge the vastness of the Pacific Ocean that connects our islands with our differing landscapes, peoples, languages, traditional knowledge systems, ceremonies, and cultural practices. However, we share similarities in stories of our ancestors’ ingenuity, adventure, resilience, and kinship.
The outrigger canoe was used more than 5,000 years ago by courageous individuals, who through trial and error, took to the seas to find new land, established a series of networks and maintained ties through trade and ceremonial gift exchanges. We are proud descendants of these great navigators, hunters, orators, artistes, craftsmen, choreographers, all in all a gifted people. We gather today, to celebrate one such network evident through the wisdom and guidance of our Lapita ancestors and their inhabiting of the Pacific.
Allow me to take this time to congratulate the initial conveners of the Lapita conference, most notable is Professor Matthew Spriggs who is present here today -for their foresight in creating such a platform allowing likeminded archaeologists, researchers and cultural specialists to gather to talanoa, share and collaborate findings, critical to knowledge building and the understanding of the Lapita culture, people and their movement across the Pacific.
Reaching its tenth (10th) series is an achievement that should be applauded and your theme for this year’s conference – “Weaving the past, present and future” – best captures the essence of this milestone. Vinaka vakalevu for choosing Fiji to be your host for this honour. The world inclusive of the Pacific and Fiji are slowly recovering from a major pandemic, Covid-19, after the ninth (9th) International Lapita Conference held in Papua New Guinea. It brought devastation and death to our people worse than the aftermath of any natural disaster. The lengthy lockdown during the pandemic had many socio-economic repercussions.
Our populations were decimated and a greater proportion of our elders and custodians of traditional knowledge passed on (May God rest their souls!). Our economies were on the brink of collapse, unemployment and family stress was at an unprecedented high. Interestingly the pandemic with the many atrocities also brought many opportunities and I believe this would apply to you researcher as it provided you with an opportunity to dialogue with your peers, research, and a greater opportunity to write. Your sharing of experiences and aspirations, including support for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic ensured the sustainability of learning about the Lapita story.
Ladies and gentlemen, unlike most cultural institutions in Fiji and the Pacific, /the Fiji Museum was greatly impacted by the pandemic. The Museum used this period of dormancy to close its doors and undertake major renovations in its main gallery. The result, a new experience with the storyline: “Voyages-Stories of an Ocean people” and it features as its foremost sub-theme, the story of the Lapita people and their migration.
As the Patron of the Fiji Museum, I was honored to officially open the Museum doors in December, 2022. It was at the opening event that my knowledge and appreciation of the Lapita culture and migration grew deeper. As Traditional Head of the Province of Macuata, a fascinating connection I found was the excavation of Lapita remnants on Cikobia and Vorovoro Islands, its inhabitants I am proud to call my people.
Ladies and gentlemen, at this juncture I would like to highlight also the plight and existence of our “Melanesian” community in Fiji. Descendants of the Solomon Islands and Ni-Vanuatu sadly were forced off their lands and villages to work in our plantations during the blackbirding period by colonists. They have now settled in various locales around the country and have called Fiji their home for generations. While their story was heartbreaking, their coming to Fiji I personally feel reconnects the Lapita journey our forefathers had set and it reinforced the broader community bond of the Lapita cultures and people.
I was rather intrigued to see the variety of discussions emanating from this single subject – Lapita. The programme although very intensive, I am glad it spreads over a period of five (5) days. While I will leave the scientific explanations and references relating to migration patterns of the Lapita people to the experts, what I would like to share and emphasis on, is this important subject of researching “with” indigenous peoples of the Pacific.
As you all are aware, there are various research protocols and methodologies in place when working with indigenous Pacific peoples. As Head of State, and traditional head of a province in Fiji I would like to see more meaningful partnerships when it comes to research. This includes involving our people from an early stage especially the inception stage, in research design, governance, management, implementation and analysis. Share your findings in the local language.
I am pleased to see the translation of some Lapita in the local languages for communities to read, understand, make connections and appreciate. This will help our people become key partners and greater stewards of their cultural and natural resources by responding intentionally to one or most of the global challenges we now face.
Lastly as the theme of this conference aptly captures, I wish to share a few brief thoughts on future prospects of the Lapita topic. Lapita is an identity marker like language and cultural traits among others. I would like to see more of the Lapita findings not only reflected in scholarly journals but in national educational curriculums and the syllabuses of our Pacific education systems and classrooms. The idea of a permanent exhibition in Pacific island museums is paramount. I want to encourage our artisans to weave Lapita stories, artists to carve and paint Lapita cultures while our performers narrate the Lapita movement and migrations in dances and chants.
To our young Pacific people, proudly write about yourselves and your communities, be the voice for the voiceless in our communities. The Lapita story needs to be perpetuated through us, so therein lies our calling.
To conclude, I wish to pay my respects and gratitude to our Pacific archaeologists, researchers and cultural specialists who worked tirelessly to make the story of our people, the Lapita people become known.
Vinaka vakalevu to the Hon. Minister for iTaukei Affairs, Culture, Heritage & Arts and the Fiji Government for its support toward this conference, the Government of New Caledonia and other major sponsors for willingly sharing your wealth and resources.
To the USP Vice Chancellor and your team, the Fiji Museum Board and management, thank you for taking on the task of hosting the 10th Lapita Conference, and to our conference session chairs, keynote speakers, presenters and the participants for traveling from far and wide to make this Conference a reality. I call upon the wisdom of our ancestors to guide you on these 5-days of deliberations and it is my honour to declare the 10th International Lapita Conference open.
The Almighty God Bless us all. Vinaka Vakalevu.