Reflections on the legacy of Ratu Sukuna

From Peceli

It is with pleasure to read some of Ratu Sukuna s historical notes as a part of our meditation this morning. Firstly think about yourself and the work you do today and compare this with the stories told about this great man. He is regarded as a father of our nation Fiji, even though he and his wife did not have children of their own. He was a scholarly high chief who took advantage of education. He was a freedom fighter for his Fiji, aware of the cultural need to protest Fijian land. He was the founder of the Native Land Trust Board. There are many young men and women today with the potential to live a useful life in Fiji or as a migrant from Fiji now living overseas.

From 1936 speeches to the Great Council of Chiefs:

• (on the Indian presence in his country): "Let us not ignore the fact that there is another community settled here in our midst. I refer to the Indians. They have increased more rapidly than we. They have become producers on our soil. They are continuously striving to better themselves. Although they are a different race, yet we are each a unit in the British Empire. They have shouldered many burdens that have helped Fiji onward. We have derived much money from them by way of rents.

• on the perceived need for cautious political development): "We are the High Chiefs of these islands. We are the leaders of the people. On us is the duty of pointing out to them the right course. Bear this in mind. We have to lead on two points- hold back those who advocate radical changes (for which we are not sufficiently educated) and enliven the laggards before their ignorance destroys us."

Because this was from 1936 (the year I was born) it is in a historical context, from those early days. Today there are many thousands of well educated Fiji men and women.

My earliest memory of Ratu Sukuna was in Nakama village out of Labasa. They had built a special bure for his visit as in those days it was easy to access building materials, not like today because sugar cane farms took away the traditional reeds and so on. But my father knew Ratu Sukuna well and they used to share stories.

May God Bless Fiji today, especially the young people.
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From Wendy
Peceli has now gone to golf (and it’s only sunrise) but we were talking earlier about leadership in Fiji and how history repeats itself.

In the olden days, sometimes the strong warrior and his band of followers removed the traditional leader by force. This was a pattern in old Fiji so perhaps it is not surprising that men from the army repeat this situation. That May 14th 1987 was a shock and a great surprise when Rabuka made his move, but in hindsight, it was one of the Fijian ways of dealing with unhappiness with leadership.

Also there is variety in chiefly headership. Some are good at networking, being pragmatic, in order to obtain grants and development for their community. Some take on a professional role, such as Ratu Sukuna’s brother Ratu Dovi who became a caring doctor. Other chiefs like Ratu Sukuna have vision and inspire by working hard to see a way of solving a problem, such as the relationship between land and the Fijian people. Other chiefs like Ratu Mara are inspirational by their intellect and view of developing a modern society as part of the international scene. So today, as we think about the legacy of Ratu Sukuna, there is much to reflect upon.

Ratu Sukuna remembered

photo from flickr
from w
When tidying up a cupboard full of old books and magazines I came acorss a bundle of Pacific Island Monthly magazines. In one of them from December 1987 I saw this article about Ratu Sir Sukuna. It is obviously dated, as the opening reference is of course to Sitiveni Rabuka. There's a statue of Ratu Sukuna in front of the Suva Law Courts that I noticed when I went to the Hibiscus Festival stalls to buy some lunch one time. What would Ratu Sukuna say today I wonder?

By Stuart Inder in an article entitled 'Leaders and their Legacies'.

Born in 1988 and dead in 1958, Ratu Sukuna's ideals made it possible in 1987 for another Fijian soldier, with less patience and wisdom but certainly no lack of courage, toa try to restore a Fijian ascendancy that he thought was endangered. Ratu Sukuna did more than any other man to safeguard Fijian rights. Without him Fijians would long ago have been overwhelmed by Indians and Europeans, and perhaps, by the rest of the world.

Ratu Sukuna understood his fellow man from early in his career as a Fijian civil servant. He took leave of absence to join the British Army in World War 1, but was unwanted, so he crossed the Channel and joined the French Foreign Legion. In tough campaigns against the Germans he was wounded and won awards for bravery under fire. Before the war ended he was back in France with a Fijian detachment.

During his long rise in the Fiji civil service, becoming Secretary of Fijian Affairs, he was the man to whom the Fijians looked for leadership and guidance. He became the foremost Fijian this century. His greatest achievement was to plant and nourish the seed of the Fiji Native Land Trust Board. Through the Native land Trust Ordinance and the Fijian Affairs Ordinance of 1948, which regularised control of village, district and provincial administration and the law and other aspects of Fijian life, he achieved a unifying effect throughout Fiji. He brought culture and law under a common umbrella. The Native Land Trust Ordinance had the effect of reserving adequate land for the Fijian owners while making other land available for cultivation by tenants, particularly Indians.

Ratu Sukuna made it possible for the Fijians to recover the autonomy they had enjoyed through the Fijian administration after Cession in 1874, and he helped them resist urbanisation and develop their land. But throughout his life and his work for the Fijians, he preached that Fiji was a three-legged stool-dependent for its stability on harmony and tolerance among Fijians, Indians and Europeans. Because of Ratu Sukuna's legacy, tolerance should in time be restored again.
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I found this interesting picture after a google search. It's good that the men in the photo are named - maybe your great-grandfather is there! A photo from 1918. In the wikipedia article under the photo is written: Ratu Sukuna Tui Nayau and other chieftains of Lau in Vanuabalavu, 1918 after service in France and before he left again for England. Click on the picture to see larger and to be able to read the writing.

What would Ratu Sukuna think?

from w
They are not spending any money this year to celebrate Ratu Sukuna Day, says the Interim Government, but some of the schools are doing their own celebration, such as at the secondary school named after him. This gentleman, Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna was a leader, a mentor, an initiator of change to land leasing during the 1940s, a system that has continued to this day through the Native Land Trust Board.

I wonder what he would think of all the undermining of the Fijian institutions that is going on these days?