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Category:

Society(1)

Topic:

Social groups

Consultant:

C. Jacobsen

Kaunohoga = a group which eats together, a joint living group, a group belonging to same kohea, a household. Usually a group combined by cooking food in koua.

Kainaga = all of one's kin, including any blood reation of any degree. The marriage tabu on relatives functions within this group. The term is often used to include people of families not actually related by blood, but who live and work closely together, and have come to consider themselves as members of one group.

'Ese = The family line or all prople considered as descended from one person. Thus a man belongs to his mother's 'ese, and to his father's 'ese.

Tuetue = a slave, a low class person though he may hold land. Used today to mean a greedy person.

Tauat is a term used as Fijians use the term Kai si = lowest class, a term of derision and insult. Tauat may be from Tongan tauta. See Mariner.

kohea = kitchen; cooking house
koua = earth oven

Category:

Society(2)

Topic:

Social groups

Consultant:

Undisclosed

Konoho'ag = a number of people eating together. Has a headman, elected, no title.

Ho'aga = village or district division, which forms a block in the district but does not belong to any one family. A political division in the district organization. District chiefs (in any district business) work through the ho'ag chiefs. The chief of a ho'ag usually carries a title of his section which he acquires from his predecessor when elected. Succession is not necessarily father to son.

District
Headed by a chief with little that goes with position.

Category:

Society(3)

Topic:

Social classes

Consultant:

Terani

The highest class was that of the chiefs, gagaja.

The low class was that called the famori e'ag. These may have been the people who lived and worked for the chiefs, for the name means "people sent" or messengers.

Category:

Society(4)

Topic:

Social classes

Consultant:

Varomua

The chiefly class is called gagaja.

The common class is called haf ne koua.

Category:

Society(5)

Topic:

House sites

Consultant:

Varomua

The very large and high fuag ri of which there are several in Malhaha, such as Fitikoro and Koro, were built usually by chiefs after they had been victorious in a war. They would command the people of the other districts to come to their district and construct these large foundations.

Other large fuag ri were built by a kainaga in which there were many people and strong men. The whole family would reside on top. Also they would bury their dead in the foundation, which explains some of those which are called tamura today. They appear to be good defenses in time of war. Such a huge mound that holds the burial Moho in Juju, was used as defense in the Catholic war of Faguta.

Category:

Society(6)

Topic:

Villages

Consultant:

Manava

Villages formerly had all their houses facing the sea, with the back entrance of the house facing the bush. All people used the back entrance normally. Chiefs used the front entrance when coming to visit any house. But the use of the front entrance by others was insulting and considered a challenge to fight.

Category:

Society(7)

Topic:

Marä'e

Consultant:

Undisclosed

Marä'e were open squares in the villages where feasts were held.

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