6 Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi Quotes on Colonialism

Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi quotes on colonialism

6. Not five generations distant, Fijians were cannibalizing each other. The missionaries and the colonial administration imposed a veneer of civilization on their native subjects. However, it is not apparent that they imparted to them any profound understanding of the process involved in the maintenance and upholding of the law.

25. Traditional leadership is based on ascription. In former times, there was some degree of flexibility which enabled change. This was based on prowess in war and statecraft. The British fossilised the system and traditional leaders became government functionaries. Their authority was strengthened by the colonial administration.

36. It is easy to decry the nature of ethnic politics in this country. We are hostages to history and the ethnic compartmentalisation that began in the colonial era.

42. Should we retain our national flag that conveys historical continuity from the days of the Cakobau government to the period of British Colonial rule, or is it time for a new one?

47. They (Indo-Fijians) came as indentured laborers to this land and were treated harshly. They had little reason to be grateful to their colonial masters and like the indigenous Fijians. The British crown colony of Fiji was funded in part from their toil, yet they were treated like second-class citizens.

48. Who would have planted the cane, run the mills and funded the colony if they had gone to battle?