The topic for this research paper is the islands of Fiji during the time it was pushing for its independence and after. There are three questions to this research paper. The first will address what events led to Fiji gaining its independence from Britain in 1970. The second question will be about the people of Fiji and who were for independence and who did not want independence for Fiji. Race and gender will also be brought up within the same question because it does play a big part on who was for independence and who was not. Lastly, the third question will address the changes that Fiji went through after gaining its independence, both politically and economically; and if gaining independence helped them or did not. Other points that will …show more content…
However, the islands of Fiji like many other Pacific islands did play a big role in major events like World War I and World War II. Major events like World War I, World War II, the Women’s Movement, the matters of race in Fiji allowed the islands of Fiji to strive for their gain in independence from Britain. ADD MORE TO THIS PARAGRAPH
When Fiji was colonised by Britain in 1874 many of the people there did not agree with the idea of being colonized. The Fijians who did not agree with Britain taking over did not like it because of the diseases that were being brought to the islands of Fiji and because of everything that was going to change for them because of being colonized. Also, many of their people died from the diseases brought from the British. An example of this is,
“The signatures of Cakobau and the other coastal chiefs on the Deed of Cession of 1874 did not indicate universal consent to British rule. Many Fijians were disturbed by the new order, especially after a measles epidemic in 1875 carried off more than 20 per cent of the
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When getting involved with the land issues in Fiji he ends up setting up a land commission. With this land commission all of the land would be in the hands of the British settlers in Fiji, however, the under the law the Fijians still have authority to most of the land. Although, more tension would soon arise once Sir Author Gordon would begin bringing Indian labourers to Fiji in 1879. Bringing more people, especially those who were not Fijian would cause conflict within in Fiji. Racial conflict between all three groups British, Fijian and Indian would arise. These group of ethnicities would be known as the three legged stool. The British (Plantation Owners), the Fijians (Indigenous People) and the Indians (Immigrant Labourers). The three legged stool will still be somewhat of an issue during Fiji’s stages of gaining independence and after its gain of
Captain James Cook and his crew came to Hawaii in 1778. Bringing along many diseases such as, syphilis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis.(Blaisdell, p.44) Native Hawaiians were not immune to these diseases, they were unable to be cured therefore died and a massive depopulation occurred. An estimated 500,000 Hawaiians were living in Hawaii before Western Contact, and in 1878 less than 45,000 Hawaiians remained.(Trask, p.10). With the rapid decrease of Hawaiians, also came the fact that their culture was in danger.
The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.
Choo, C and Hollbach, S. 2003. History and Native Title. Western Australia: Studies in Western Australian History.
The forgotten people of Ocean Island, the Banabans, had their island mined away from under them and had their island taken from them during World War II. They have transformed their culture into a whole new way and continue to live in the hope that one day they can live the way that their ancestors once did. This is the case of many places around the world that have been colonized. Colonization is not beneficial to developing countries because it brings diseases, it overthrows traditions, it upsets resources, and it separates families.
As European domination began, the way in which the European’s chose to deal with the Aborigines was through the policy of segregation. This policy included the establishment of a reserve system. The government reserves were set up to take aboriginals out of their known habitat and culture, while in turn, encouraging them to adapt the European way of life. The Aboriginal Protection Act of 1909 established strict controls for aborigines living on the reserves . In exchange for food, shelter and a little education, aborigines were subjected to the discipline of police and reserve managers. They had to follow the rules of the reserve and tolerate searchers of their homes and themselves. Their children could be taken away at any time and ‘apprenticed” out as cheap labour for Europeans. “The old ways of the Aborigines were attacked by regimented efforts to make them European” . Their identities were threatened by giving them European names and clothes, and by removing them from their tra...
In the nineteenth century, the “History wars” became the fight between the most prominent historians revolving around the deception of frontier conflict between the labor and coalition. The debate aroused from the different interpretations of the violence that took place during the European colonization and to what degree. It became a crisis in history, emerging from the dispossession of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) that resulted in exclusion of their traditions and culture. The ATSI were the first people of Australia that brought along a different culture, language, kinship structures and a different way of life (Face the Facts, 2012). Post European colonization was a time where the ATSI people experienced disadvantage in the land they called home. With the paramount role as future educators, it demands proficient knowledge on the Australian history and one of the most influential moments in our history started from the first European settlers.
The Kenyan feminist and environmental activist, Wangari Maathai, explores the legacy of colonialism and oppression in her native country through her moving 2006 memoir, Unbowed. Maathai explains that over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Africa experienced a massive influx of white settlers. In an effort to solidify control over recently acquired colonies, many European powers had encouraged large numbers of their ethnically white citizens to make a new home on the African continent. As a result, thousands of native Africans were displaced. Maathai’s ancestors, the Kikuyu and Maasai peoples were among them. The majority of these forced dislocations took place in the highland regions. The rich soil and temperate climate of this area had proven attractive to native African peoples for centuries; and it seemed the new British settlers found it equally tempting. After most of the land’s original occupants were transported to the Rift Valley region of western Kenya, settlers began taking advantage of the highlands’ vast natural resources. The land was essentially ravaged as ancient forests were clear-cut in order to make room for agricultural plots. The introduction of the plantation system, with its non-native plant species, large-scale hunting, and systematic recruitment of Africans as field laborers, signaled the next phase in the oppression of native Africans (Maathai 6-9).
Travelling abroad is an opportunity of a lifetime and can be specifically life-changing if one becomes a part of the culture. Adapting to an unfamiliar culture in a third-world country can be a shock when coming from a first-world country. The atmosphere is completely diverse, from the people to the food to their daily lives. However, the new country feels more like a home than a vacation destination when fully immersed in the culture. So what are the similarities and differences between living in a first-world country like the United States and living in a third-world country such as Fiji? Fijians and Americans are alike in some of their personality traits but vary in their food and daily lives.
Goodman, Ellen. “The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji”. Everything’s an Argument. 6th ed. Boston Bedford St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.
Overall the colonization of Australian is a major health determinant for Indigenous Australians in many ways. Many Indigenous Australians are still being affected by the invasion and are trying to live life in a new way to what they are accustomed to. The colonization led to many deaths, diseases, wars, violence and lifestyle changes which will all continue to make life difficult for the Indigenous.
The history of New Zealand begins between 800 A.D. and 1300 A.D., when the Māori people arrived from Polynesia to the mountainous island they called “Aotearoa.” The people “lived in tribal groups” fairly peacefully (Wilson). However, life began to change for the Māori people when they first came into contact with a European in 1642, when Dutch explorer Abel Tasman “discovered” the island. In 1769, “[James] Cook successfully circumnavigated and mapped the country” (History). These explorations marked the beginning of Europeanization for the young country of New Zealand. Whalers and traders soon arrived, and missionaries arrived in 1814. When the Māori met with Europeans, events followed a similar path to the colonization of America and the decimation of the native populations-- “contribution of guns…, along with European diseases, led to a steep decline in the [population of] Māori people.” (History). Consequentially, “their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights,” in...
Mohanty, M. 2001. ‘Contemporary emigration from Fiji: Some trends and issues in the post-Independence era.’ In V. Naidu, E. Vasta and C. Hawksley (eds), Current Trends in South Pacific Migration, Working Paper No. 7.
As can be seen, from European arrival in 1788 to present days the lives of aboriginal people have been affected in many ways such as suffering with unfamiliar diseases, violence and dispossessed of spiritual land. Aboriginal people also struggled for right and freedom, which struggled against stolen generation and assimilation. However, Aboriginal people began to achieve equality right and freedom as non- Aboriginal people since the referendum in 1967. Therefore, Australian should be considered at this point in order to close the gap between Aboriginal people and Non-Aboriginal people in the future.
Every human being, in addition to having their own personal identity, has a sense of who they are in relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous, representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
The Treaty of Waitangi is a very important document to New Zealand. It is an agreement that was drawn up by representatives of the British Crown and Maori Hapu and Iwi. It was first signed at the Bay of Islands on February 6th, 1840. There has been a lot of debate over the years about the translation of words between the English and Te Reo Maori versions of the text and the differences in the word meaning over the who languages. In this assignment I am going to cover the rights and responsibilities that the treaty contains and an explanation of the differences in wordings and I am also going to contextualise my understanding of the differences of wording against the Maori Worldview and the Declaration of Independence.