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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
Author(s) -
Newland Lynda
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1834-4461
pISSN - 0029-8077
DOI - 10.1002/ocea.5106
Subject(s) - clan , order (exchange) , rhetoric , grammar , politics , sociology , history , theology , political science , philosophy , linguistics , anthropology , law , economics , finance
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.