The Lost Tribes of I srael – and the G enesis of C hristianity in F iji

Missionary Notions of F ijian Origin from 1835 to Cession and Beyond

Bibliographic Data

ID18936156
AuthorsLynda Newland (University of St Andrews, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume85
Issue3
Pages256-270
Publication date2015-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOceania (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0029-8077 • E-ISSN: 1834-4461
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ocea.5106
OpenAlexW2160314614
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

The idea that certain iTaukei (formerly ‘ F ijian’) clans are descended from the Jews, particularly through a L ost T ribe of I srael, is very strong among some contemporary clans and church groups in F iji. The importance of the Lost Tribes was reinforced in the 1987 coups, when it formed part of the political rhetoric of the coup leader, S itiveni R abuka, who was also a lay preacher of the M ethodist C hurch. In order to understand such claims, I review the historical record from 1835 to Cession in 1874 to evaluate when the idea of the Lost Tribes began to be used and, more broadly, the extent to which C hristianity was the language for engagement and/or resistance between missionaries and F ijians. At the same time, I explore the developing missionary discourses and their relationship with newly emerging ideas about the science of origins. The evidence indicates that, as certain ideas became routinised around the time of Cession, C hristianity and science together provided a grammar that enabled many F ijians to strongly identify with the O ld T estament

Clan · Economics · Grammar · Linguistics · Order (exchange) · Political science · Politics · Rhetoric · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · History · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy

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