Clay Diaries
“In Fiji there has been continuous pottery making activity for more than 3000 years. However, like fashion in the modern world, pottery styles changed, and these changes are used to define different eras in the Fijian past. While the styles changed, the methods of making pottery have remained largely the same. Unlike many other parts of the Pacific where the knowledge of pottery making has vanished, Fijian pottery skills are still being passed on from mother to daughter.” - Roxanne
History
About 3000 years ago, a group of highly mobile ocean-going foragers arrived in Fiji from the west, bringing with them a distinctive pottery tradition that archaeologists now call Lapita.
The Lapita people are known mainly on the basis of the remains of their fired pottery, which consists of beakers, cooking pots, and bowls.
“The remains of this long-standing pottery-making activity have allowed archaeologists to identify three very different ceramic traditions which vary in their characteristic vessel forms and decoration, and provide a framework for reconstructing the islands group's prehistoric period. The first of these, the Lapita tradition, whose distribution is early throughout Melanesia and west Polynesia, has been considered as the hallmark of Proto-Polynesian closely related small groups of a largely hunter-gatherer and fishing peoples whose eastwards voyages more than 3,500 years ago led to Fiji becoming the outpost for Polynesian colonization. It is a low-fired sand-textured pottery whose surface is sometimes burnished or slipped with reddish clay. It is represented by a wide range of vessels decorated with elaborate geometric patterns achieved by different techniques, in particular, by the use of comb-like toothed stamps pressed into the clay before firing, the resultant impressions probably filled with lime or other white substances.” -ROSA ROSSITTO. The art of making pottery ceased in Tonga and Samoa approximately 2000 years ago and they became dependent upon trade with Fiji for supply of their pottery.
Qele: Selected Works of Indigenous Fijian Pottery.
Pottery also played a role in community-wide ceremonies and exchanges. During solevu (so = gathering; levu = large) pots were bartered along with fish for barkcloth, mats, vegetables, etc., produced by the agricultural communities of the mainland. These trade transactions usually took place by prior arrangement. As T. Williams states (1982:934), “the islanders sent to inform those of the mainland that they will meet them, on such and such day at the trading place — a square near the coast paved for the purpose”. Pots were also, and still are, yau — that is, valuables in Yanuya, Qoma, Nasilai and in the Sigatoka Valley: they could be offered to the chiefs as tributes or presents, and they could be exchanged for other valuables during ceremonies on the occasion of births, marriages and deaths.
The Making of Indigenous Fijian Pottery
First, the potter must prepare the clay for use. Raw clay is usually not workable or durable enough to be used by itself to create ceramic pots. So another material, such as sand, chaff, or ground shell, must be added to the clay to make it more workable and less likely to crack or break during firing. This material is called temper. Once the clay is ready for use, the potter begins to shape the vessel. First, she flattens a ball of clay with a wooden paddle, then she uses a stone and a paddle to shape the clay into a smooth, hollow hemisphere. Next, she joins two hollowed hemispheres of clay to form a hollow sphere. The pot is fully formed and will now be left to dry for several days or weeks. Most of the water in the clay will evaporate during the drying process, and that helps to prevent breakage during firing. Once the pot has thoroughly dried in the sun, it is fired in an open fire. Coconut husks and wood are used to fuel the fire. The pot has now been fired and is ready for glazing. The uneven colour of the pot reflects variations in oxygen exposure during firing. Greater exposure to oxygen results in lighter colours, while the dark patches indicate areas where oxygen was restricted. While the pot is still hot from the fire, it is glazed with a piece of tree resin to give it a shiny finish and to make it waterproof .
Future of Pottery in Fiji
“The adoption of the Western monetary system and of Western products, as well as the growth of Suva as the centre of distribution, have destroyed the traditional exchange network and the system supporting it. On the other hand, traditional ceremonies no longer nourish a thriving pottery-making industry. Firstly, the flow of ceremonial exchanges and the quantity of goods involved have been considerably affected by a colonial policy aimed at founding Fijian social life on individualistic bases. Such colonial policy has discouraged ceremonial exchanges since they would entail a considerable waste of time and resources. This view has been accepted by the Fijians themselves, in some areas at least. Reflecting a changed economy, social conditions and an over-increasing influence of money, the funeral ceremony of Lawai, for instance, was experienced as a burdensome duty. Secondly, a different way of life has brought about a change in the goods exchanged. Traditional goods have been replaced by Western ones such as cotton clothes, kerosene, tea and sugar: luxuries till few decades ago, they are now indispensable necessities.
In this general context, the potters do not continue to make pots because there is a real internal demand for them. Pottery is primarily intended for the tourist market and pottery-making is essentially supported by the possibility of monetary income which it allows. Tourism seems to be the only factor which determines the future of the pottery centres. Quite apart from the quality of the products, it determines the number of potters involved in the manufacture and the labour employed, and, consequently, the degree of vitality of the centres.”
-ROSA ROSSITTO
