Chiefs call out misuse of sacred customs

Fijian chiefs have moved to address what they describe as the misuse of two of the country’s most sacred cultural practices — the salusalu and the meke taki ni yaqona.

The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) has resolved to write to the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs to correct how the customs are being performed, particularly in hotels and urban areas where ceremonies are staged for foreign visitors.

GCC chairman Ratu Viliame Seruvakula said placing a salusalu — a handcrafted flower garland symbolising honour and respect — on a guest during or before a welcome ceremony was incorrect.

"You put a salusalu on somebody after you've finished, after the guests have spoken — not before or during the ceremony, because it's not," he said.

He also raised concerns about the meke taki ni yaqona — a sacred chiefly dance and chant tied to ancestral authority — being displayed carelessly.

"It's not something that you go around displaying like meke everywhere," Ratu Viliame said. "The mana of the Vanua is involved."

The chiefs resolved that the meke taki ni yaqona be returned to the Vanua — the traditional landowners and chiefly custodians — where it belongs.