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This article discusses the distinctive cultural identiy and history of Rotumans, a people of Polynesian background from the island of Rotuma in Fiji. The articles presents a profile of the Rotuman diaspora throughout the world, with a particular focus on Rotuman communities and families in Australia.
Rotuman Background
Australia is home to a relatively small number of Rotumans. It is not possible to say exactly how many have migrated to Australia since the relaxation and then disbandment of the White Australia Policy because Fijian immigrants to this country are not delineated by ethnic identity. There was a small influx of mainly single Rotuman men into the Torres Strait in the late 19th century attracted by work in the pearling industry. A rough calculation based on interviews places their number in Australia today at around 550 or about 5% of their total world population. Most live in the larger cities in Australia along the eastern seaboard with smaller numbers in towns and country areas. The majority migrated from the 1970s onwards. Rotumans living in Australia today compete favourably with Europeans for employment and their standard of living is similar to that of other Australians. The Rotuman ability to integrate successfully into other cultures has been well documented in work by Alan Howard and Jan Rensel (2001). However, their ability to integrate is only part of the story.
The shift that occurs when Rotuman people change from business suit and tie to t-shirt and lavalava is more than a casual change of pace - it is a return to cultural mores that extend beyond the niceties of assimilation. In their family and extended ethnic group, Rotuman Australians go back to being Rotumans in another land. The Englishspeaking business executive segues easily into the Rotuman islander with many of the memories, stories and traditions inherent in that culture. The concern for the diaspora, however, is how strong Rotuman culture and identity will be and for how long.
Rotuma is a high island, 43 square kilometres in size, approximately 465 kilometres north of the main islands of Fiji. While Rotuma is a dependency of Fiji it is also a Polynesian outlier whose people form a distinct, recognised ethnic minority in that country. It is ethnically linked, through its...