After seeing the change of guard ceremony at the Presidential Palace, we headed next door to the Fiji Museum...
Located in the heart of Suva’s Thurston Gardens, the museum holds an impressive collection, dating back over 3500 years...
The Thurston Gardens were established in 1881 and were originally located near Waimanu Road. The gardens were established by the Colonial Secretary Sir John Bates Thurston, who also happened to be a knowledgeable amateur botanist. In 1913, the gardens were moved to their current location and were eventually renamed as the Thurston Gardens in 1976...
In 1918, a person called Henry Marks constructed the octagonal bandstand with its classical, columned clock tower here. The bandstand was used for musical concerts...
The Fijian flag looks striking against the backdrop of the tropical blue sky and the amazing clouds floating in the breeze...
We started our journey in the maritime gallery of the museum, which is one of the five galleries the museum has - the history gallery, the masi gallery, the girmit gallery and the natural history gallery...
This traditional Fijian raft called bilibili, made up of bamboo lashed together and is steered with a long pole, is called The HMS No Come Back. People used bilibilis to transport goods down the river...
The large, massive horned masthead, or the domodomo, comes from the last ocean going double hulled canoe (or the drua), called the Ramarama, which was built for the Fijian paramount chief, Tui Cakau by the descendants of a clan of Samoan canoe builders (the Lemaki) who were brought to Fiji from Tonga in the late 1700s...
The sail of a drua...
The maritime gallery...
And here, we were told about the significance of the tabua, or the whaletooth. The tabua is an important cultural relic in Fijian society. These were traditionally given as gifts for atonement or esteem (called sevusevu), and were important in negotiations between rival chiefs. The dead were buried with their tabua, along with war clubs to help them in the afterlife. Originally they were very rare items, available only from beached whales and from trade from neighbouring Tonga. Even today the tabua remains an important item in Fijian life. They are not generally sold but exchanged as gifts in weddings, birthdays, and at funerals...
Exports of tabua from Fiji is highly restricted, at 225 exports per year, and permits from the Ministry of Fijian Affairs, the Fijian Department of Environment, are necessary...
A necklace made from whaletooth...
The rudder of the Bounty...
The Ba District Roll Honour commemorating the contribution of Fiji to the First World War...
Tabu kaisi - sleeping maps not meant for the commoners...
Learning about the Lapita people, who were the first settlers in Fiji...
Religion of the natives...
The tanoa...
The first known western expedition to Fiji was by Abel Tasman in the 1600s, the Dutch seafarer, after whom Tasmania is named. And then Captain Cook, William Bligh and James Wilson came calling in the 1700s...
And some of these foreigners settled among the Fijians...
The imposition of Western religion and cultural values led to the clash of civilizations and the Thomas Baker tragedy was once such incident...
The remains of Thomas Baker were never found, but it was believed that he was a victim of cannibalism while he was on his missionary expedition...
Exploring the traditional Fijian barkcloth prints or the Masi...
A sampling of masi prints...
And the masi motifs adorn the Fijian Airways planes...
And next we explore the Indo-Fijian heritage, but more on that in a separate post...
And we are back out in the warmth of the Pacific sun...
Exploring the Thurston Gardens...
Since1949, the Thurston Gardens’s collection of plants consisted of many types of ornamental and timber trees, seventeen types of palms, various trees and shrubs, grasses, orchids and ferns.
And this makes us want to stay longer here, but we have more of Suva to explore...
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