ABSTRACT
Across the Pacific Island region the cultural values of reciprocal sharing and caring for each other within a kin group and their ritualised expression through giftgiving and presentations stand out as possibly the most enduring feature of life, the values on which all else is based.1 The structures behind the different systems of reciprocity may differ but the main values and their importance as deeply engrained elements of Pacific Islander identity are the same, as demonstrated by these two quotes. Tongan Catholic priest Father Paunga points out in his homily that despite changes taking place within Pacific Islander societies today, these traditional ideals are
As this homily also emphasises, this Pacific value of caring for others and sharing with them is foundational to Christianity. However, within Christianity the Second Commandment, to ‘love our neighbour’, is expanded to include not just kin and family but all others. All people, including those we do not know, feel close to, or necessarily like, are our neighbours. (Father K. Barr MSC, pers comm, October 2005)
Methodist theologian Sai Niukula points out that there are also clear connections to be made between the transformative nature of ritualised gift-giving in Fijian cultural traditions, and the transformative nature of God’s gift of Jesus Christ through the incarnation, her words applicable to all Pacific Island cultures:
Nurturing kinship
In Pacific Island cultures, woven into the ideals of caring and sharing among kin is the notion of respect. The term for this in Standard Fijian is vakarokoroko. Following these ideals, doing what is expected is a way of showing respect and also expressing and practising relationality and connectedness. This foundational concept of traditional Fijian culture is based on notions of respect of those higher in status than oneself, of knowing one’s place in the system, of extending, giving due respect, in conduct or materially, as befits that person.
