Searching for a home

Fiji Times

Searching for a home

Mere Naleba
Monday, January 02, 2017

+ Enlarge this image

Saosi Keni with his grandchildren . Picture: JONA KONATACI

EVERYONE has a tale to tell and for Saosi Keni, 54, his tale is proof of life's struggles, the continuous fights to keep his lineage recognised in a country his forefathers were brought to during the blackbirding era.

For Mr Keni around every corner there is a great tale waiting to be discovered, lived and retold.
And that is exactly what he has been doing for the past several years in his bid to document his history, the tales of how his forefathers were brought from the Solomon Islands to Fiji and how each generation survived the harsh realities of life — in trying to get recognition from past Governments and stakeholders.
History tells us blackbirders started arriving in the country in 1864 and continued to come to Fiji until 1911.
They were initially brought to work on cotton plantations and sugarcane farms but were gradually outnumbered by Indians who arrived as indentured labourers.
The Melanesian workers were then slowly shifted to work in coconut plantations and urban development.
Coming to Fiji
Mr Keni's tale starts in 1949 when his grandfather's brother Tome Yanibo, originally from Kwaio Village in Central Malaita, Solomon Islands, relocated his family to Tamavua-i-wai which is now home to most people of Solomon heritage.
In 1949, according to Mr Keni, Mr Yanibo along with his nine brothers, their families and several other people from the Solomon Islands visited the landowning unit in Tamavua Village with 12 baskets weaved from coconut leaves containing whales tooth asking for a piece of land for their people to occupy.
He said they were given seven-and-a-half acres of land and have occupied that land since then.
Mr Keni said his granduncle initially named their settlement Kadawa — now known as Tamavua-i-wai.
He said Mr Yanibo and his nine brothers, which included Mr Keni's grandfather Joe Maimai, travelled and settled in Fiji.
Mr Maimai had five sons — Misinare Keni, Sale Keni, Arepaoni Keni, Waisea Joe and Mr Keni's father Aliki Lomaqele Keni — the youngest.
Settling in
"When all 10 brothers were here in Fiji, they started their own families and everyone lived communally at Tamavua-i-wai, which was originally named Kadawa," Mr Keni said.
"After some time, each brother moved to another new place and now we have families living in Wailoku, Caubati, Marata and Kalekana in Lami, Newtown and some even in Lakeba, Lau, Solotavui in Kadavu and Wailoka and Wailailai on Ovalau," he said.
"From that time until now it is still very difficult for us who are still living here at Tamavua-i-wai because back then we didn't have to pay lease, now we do," he said.
Helping build Fiji
Mr Keni said the accounts as told to him by his father was that his grandfather (Maimai) was one of the many Solomon Islanders who was sent to Fiji to help construct roads around the Suva area.
He said tales told by his father were often fascinating as they showed how resilient these men from the Solomon Islands were, working with their bare hands to cut through rocks and soapstone with the aid of only pinch-bars, crowbars, hammers and other equipment given to them by Englishmen who were in charge.
Keeping connected
Mr Keni said in Tamavua-i-wai settlement, the area occupied by Fijians of Solomon heritage is now called Kadawa Melanesian and consists of two settlements — Kadawa and Vataleka.
He said there are four clans in Fiji that bear names resembling their links to the Solomon Islands, and these clans are Orobuli, Yareyare, Balibuka and Uru.
These four clans are scattered across Fiji, with some living in Lami, Caubati, Newtown, and some even marrying women from the maritime islands.
Mr Keni said most of those who had members of the four clans have links to Kwaio Village in the Solomon Islands.
"We are so fortunate that our lineage is in the national archives. I have recently been gathering stories about how we came to Fiji and I've been visiting the national archives and all other offices that might have our story," he said.
Growing community
"The Fiji-Solomon Islands community is fast expanding with our numbers exceeding 1000 by now, and we're so happy that some of our young ones who can afford to travel back to the Solomon Islands have gone and started their own families back in their own village."
He said for those travelling back to the Solomon Islands, it meant reconnecting their lineage to the Solomon Islands and also ensuring that their lineage was not forgotten.
Mr Keni said the biggest worry was that most of their history had no written records and all tales had been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
He said it has been through his work and the help of a relative, Pateresio Nunu, who is the general secretary of the Fiji Melanesian Council, that enabled Fijians with Solomon heritage to know more about their history through books, documents shared during community meetings and social gatherings.
A place to call home
According to Mr Keni, their quest to have land security had always been an issue.
"For us, we know that we don't have anywhere else to go, because we cannot go to our koro ni vasu, surely we will be asked where did we come from. We have been asking for this land to be given to us so that our future generation do not have to worry about where to live when we pass on," he said.
"We were born and bred here, and we know we will also die here. We don't have anywhere else to go to. Our forefathers who came to Fiji did not come voluntarily, they were brought here as slaves, and we have to live with that."