‘We visit the colo towns … when it is safe to go’
Indigenous Adoption of Methodist Christianity in the Wainibuka and Wainimala Valleys, Fiji, in the 1870s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17327637 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christine Weir (University of the South Pacific, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 129-150 |
| Publication date | 2014-04-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Pacific History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3344 • E-ISSN: 1469-9605 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00223344.2014.892258 |
| OpenAlex | W2144956363 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
The Methodist mission in Fiji was from its inception maritime in nature and was slow to move into the interior of the largest island, Viti Levu. In the 1870s, only two European missionaries ministered to most of Viti Levu, leaving the greater part of evangelism and teaching in the hands of Fijian native ministers (talatala itaukei) and particularly teachers (vakavuvuli). Using evidence from mission and secular travellers in the eastern highland areas of the Wainimala and Wainibuka valleys, this paper suggests that the measles epidemic of 1875, while horrific in its direct effects, did not lead to widespread rejection of Christianity in the valleys of eastern Colo. Rather, Methodism progressed slowly, developing in ways that maintained Fijian priorities and customary practices, and the forms of education and fundraising adopted included Indigenous modes of learning and exchange
Archaeology · Christianity · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Evangelism · Indigenous · Methodism · Political science · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · History · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy · Religious studies
| Citations per year | 0.3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2024 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |