‘Native’ Villages, ‘Coolie’ Lines, and ‘Free’ Indian Settlements: The Geography of Indenture in Fiji

Abstract

Ceded to Great Britain in 1874, five years later, in 1879, Fiji became the final British colony to start using Indian indentured labour for sugar cultivation. This paper focuses on the historical geography of indentured labour in Fiji, bringing to the fore spatial representations of the indenture experience in the colony. The paper examines how colonial policy demarcating spaces and places shaped the lived experience of Indian indentured labourers during this period. Of particular interest is the administrative use of the words ‘native’ (village), ‘coolie’ (line), and ‘free’ (settlement), which attempted to create an artificial socio-racial structuring of society. In the eyes of the colonial administration, Indian indentured men, women, and children ceased being native and were cast as coolies. Once their contracts were completed, they became free. The paper argues that whilst this concealed and oversimplified socio-racial complexities and was instrumental in the manifestation of distinct spatial identities, there were many instances where these categories were subverted by Indian labourers who endeavoured to permeate spaces not designated to them in the colony. In doing so, the paper highlights the issue of agency amongst Indian indentured labourers and explores how they negotiated the colonially reconfigured landscape of the Fijian archipelago.