The value of the vanua : the nexus of people and land in Fiji's market economy

‘There we have it … our vanua is worth shit! Not worth development, not worth new roads, not even worth Chinese money!1 Seru spat out these words while sweeping his left hand through the air, pointing towards the southern parts of the western highlands village in which he was the acting chief. His violently bad mood found direction as he continued his tirade against ‘the big leaders’ in the coastal cities of Suva, Nadi and Lautoka ‘filling their own pockets’ at the expense of the people at large. Outbursts of overt anger like this were a relatively rare occurrence in this otherwise quiet and contained village, located some three hours’ drive into the Nausori Highlands from Nadi, where I spent considerable time during my fieldwork in 2009. Those outbreaks were certainly not commonplace from people like Seru, whose position in the village hierarchy required him to embody the chiefly qualities of calm leadership and wisdom. What had triggered his reaction was the final confirmation that a commercial developer of South East Asian origin had decided not to go ahead with a proposed commercial tourist development project in the highlands, opting instead for leased land closer to urban amenities and Fiji’s pristine coastline.