Indigenous rights are those, which relate to indigenous people, their way of life, their land and their resources. They are connected in nature and t… - Joni Madraiwiwi

To say that power should have been returned to the Fijian chiefs is to ignore what occurred between 1874 and 1970.

Not five generations distant, Fijians were cannibalizing each other. The missionaries and the colonial administration imposed a veneer of civilization on their native subjects. However, it is not apparent that they imparted to them any profound understanding of the process involved in the maintenance and upholding of the law.

Those of us born after that era (of World War II), or with little or no knowledge of those experiences, take freedom for granted. In fact, we give little thought because we are preoccupied with the here and now and yet we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid because you (returned servicemen) paid the price in blood.