Chiefly Welcome
p. 17 · Read in the full issue
MEMBERS of the Fiji feattalion have been inundated by welcome-homes —official and otherwise —and parties, since their return to the Colony on Aug ust 4. But returning soldiers of the Sabeto district received a one-man, full blooded Fijian reception—and from an Indian, Mr. Sukhram.
Mr. Sukhram invited the men to this home and there, in accordance with Fijian tradition, presented them with a large tabua, employing the strict cere monial style and using the correct verbal forms. Following this he gave the men a sevu sevu on some dozens of loaves of bread, and a pile of yaqona. These offer ings, too, were made in the formal style— a feat that would try the ability of even a Fijian.
Before the reception ended, their host gave the men £5 —“in appreciation of their military services.”
Said a Fijian: “We were astonished to see an Indian going through our chiefly ceremonies as though they were his own.
Few other members of the Battalion have had the privilege of being welcomed back in true Fijian fashion—by an Indian friend.”