Peace in our Indigenous Context The iTaukei is guided by ‘sautu’ or peace at all levels. The customs, rituals, protocols, feasts and ceremonies are all designed to placate for and promote ‘sautu’. Na noda veisoqo kece na kawa Itaukei, e dau vakanamata e na kena dau sagai me da dau bula sautu na veiwekani ka marautaki na bula ni vakarokoroko kei na veidokai me tiko sautu ga kina na vanua. While the aim is the obtaining and maintaining of ‘sautu’, the processes vary. There are processes or practices that require kinship participation, from the micro familial level (loma ni veiwekani vakavuvale) to the macro ‘vanua’ level. To understand how this cosmology -pans out, one needs to be acquainted with the indigenous iTaukei values and ethics. These are the underlying paradigms distilled, created and recreated orally over centuries and have defined indigenous ways of being, doing things, creating, validating and recreating. And to begin, it is vital to understand how the indigenous iTaukei views time, not with the physical eyes but philosophically. To do this, one needs to understand two lexical terms. The iTaukei word for ‘ahead’ or ‘in front’ is ‘liu’. ‘Muri’ is the word meaning ‘previous’, ‘past’ or behind. However, when referring to the future, it is reversed. The iTaukei reference uses ‘muri’ or ‘mai muri, and if one is telling a story, this is accompanied by forward pointing. Reference to the past uses the word ‘i liu’ and the pointing this time points towards ones back. The future in the indigenous iTaukei perspective is not a blasé approach but one that continually seeks to promote, invest and promote ‘sautu’ and to achieve this, it is the values and ethics that are the foregrounded. ‘Sautu’ and all encapsulated in the future will take care of itself if one esteems, recognizes, respects and acknowledges the oral cultural heritage, values and ways of doing things. Hence, the indigenous iTaukei metaphorically progresses with his back to the future because the focus and attention is turned towards the past, particularly the values and ethics esteemed by the culture. In order to move forward, we have to make things right in the past and now to set a clear future. Why we the indigenous are more concern with reconciliation and justice is that both compliments peace and none can be a substitute or foregone to achieve sautu or peace. In our context, justice does not necessarily mean immediate punishment. It gradually gain momentum over time through generation suffrage and getting to understand the cause can mean saving our generations by performing bulubulu or matanigasau. In order to move forward, we must deal with injustice now, make things right and vote out the coup culture that is being accepted as a normal part of our quest for Sautu or peace.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 21:31:00 +0000
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