Fiji Whale's Tooth
pp. 44-45 · Read in the full issue
Causes Furore
Some hundreds of persons in terested in developing and promoting tourism in the Pacific countries met in Hongkong in January.
IT was the Pacific Area Travel Association convention; and Fiji was represented there by Mr. D. P, Ragg (interested in the hotel and travel agency business) and Mr. Dor Lane (secretary of Fiji Visitor?
Bureau).
All the Pacific countries were try ing to cash in on the publicity value of the Hongkong convention. I looked as if little Fiji could be los sight of. Mr, Lane tried to think o! something—and his eye fell on ai ancient tambua (whale’s tooth) whicl he had had around the Bureau fo: a long time. He put it in his luggage In Hongkong, Mr. Lane propose! that he, as representing Fiji, shoul( present the tambua in open sessid to the Convention president, explain ing the great ceremonial significance of the emblem, and why the tambui is treated by the Fijians with sue! extraordinary respect.
Mr. Ragg supported the idea. S did the Convention president. Th Press seized on the picturesque it cident—and Messrs. Lane and Rag thus obtained, for Fiji tourism, som publicity that actually went aroun the world. In that respect, the ide certainly paid off.
On the Warpath The item went out from Hongkon in the Press agency services, an duly reached The Fiji Times. Then it was published as an announce ment that Mr. Lane made a gift c a tambua to the head of the col vention, with a demonstration of ho 1 the ceremony is performed.
Immediately, the more protoco conscious citizens of Fiji were o the warpath. The suggestion w{ that the tambua ceremony—whic goes deep into the traditional prival lives of the Fijians, and is rare] understood by Europeans—had bee cheapened. It was pointed out, wil vigour, that no tambua could be n moved from Fiji without the exprei permission of the Native Affairs D( partment.
A few days later, Mr. and Mr Lane arrived in Sydney, where I was to attend a special exhibitic of Fijian pictures and artifacts J the Qantas building, boostil tourism, before he went on leays He was horrified to learn of the ij
►relation placed in Fiji upon his licity enterprise.
But I have the tambua with me,” exclaimed. “It’s going back to . I never intended to part with m explanatory radiogram was : off at once for publication in ’ Fiji Times. t is not generally known that e is an embargo on the removal tambua from Fiji, The raw erial of the symbol (whales’ h) may be purchased cheaply by bushel in Norfolk Island. Tam are on exhibition in public places \ustralia and New Zealand—two r be seen hanging in a dentist’s ;ery in the T and G Building, in ney. lonetheless, Fijians are exceed y sensitive in relation to the dling of Tambua, and especially Tambua ceremony, by non ans. Mr. Lane has learned this hard way. ir. Michael Allen, an anthro agist who has just spent a second od of nine months on Aoba, con ing his study of social organisa , left Vila in January.
example of a Fiji tambua, or whale's tooth, in Fiji ceremonial. These were re ed into the custody of the people of in 1958 by Lady Rodwell, wife of a former Governor.