“Are They Evil?”: Denominational Competition and Cultural Demonization on a Fijian Island

Abstract

This paper is a critical analysis of the rapid changes that have been taking place within the Sawau community on the Island of Beqa, Fiji, over the past ten years. The Fijian firewalking ceremony (vilavilairevo) traditionally performed only by members of the Sawau people is a prime example of a propitiation ritual that has become commodified to suit the requirements of tourism. More recently, the reproduction of tradition among the Sawau and their vilavilairevo practice is causing an unprecedented dogmatic schism between Fiji’s Methodist Church and two Pentecostal churches. Over the last two centuries, the “gift” of firewalking has transmuted itself into a sociocultural tool that has consistently indigenized the power of the foreign, allowing its custodians to locally sustain their community and to gain a reach and respect across the nation and beyond. To disentangle the intertwined topics of tradition and change on the Island of Beqa, and understand whose cultural views and values are being privileged or debased, this paper pays close attention to the Christian cultural dynamics and social tensions surrounding the vilavilairevo created by a denominational opposition swiftly reshaping local notions of heritage, social sentiment, and social capital.