The Mbau Fijian culture is located on a small island off the coast of Viti Levu, the largest of the 300 islands that make up Fiji. The islands of Fiji are east of Australia.
The history of the culture includes longtime warfare between the different tribes of Fiji. The societies of Fiji dependent on rank, which was a paternal lineage.
Before westerners came to the islands, the chiefs considered themselves the gods, they had the fertility and the power of god, as long as they did not fail as a chief, were murdered, and as long as they were young.
There were many social ceremonies that were quite elaborate and usually involved the sacrifice of a human body. As a result of the human sacrifices that accompanied the ceremonies, commoners were reluctant to hang around the high chiefs for fear they may be next. As time went on inevitably the westerners showed up and quickly concluded that these people were cannibals, and the reputation stuck.
The westerners brought over Christianity as well and forced it upon the Mbau culture. The high chief at the time, Thakombau, took the religion, liked it, and decided that everyone else should embrace it as well.
As the westerners brought Christianity with them they also brought disease. Dysentery was spread as well as the measles, leading to a loss of a fourth of the population. A small portion of daily life that was reported was “no one can stir in the morning, no community life or work appears until the sacred drink of kava is offered to the king or ‘human god’.”
A large portion of their diet includes fish, tree crops, and root crops. The one feature that the culture is best known for is probably cannibalism.
Sources:
“Other Times, Other Customs: The Anthropology of History”
http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/asaf/afrika/backup/kollfes/akt/sahlins.pdf
“Explaining Divergence in Property Rights: Fiji, and Hawaii, in the 19th Century.”
http://www.eh.net/XIIICongress/papers/LaCroix.pdf
Written by: Erin Cummings