Paper short abstract:

This paper traces the history of Kioa Island in Fiji, which has been colonised by Tuvaluan migrants since 1947, and analyses the process of shaping the landscape, which can be characterised in three phases: replanting, responding, and remembering.

Paper long abstract:

As landscape is the result of encounters and entanglements of nature and culture, a case of a migrant community can more dramatically illustrate the related processes. This paper traces the history of Kioa Island in Fiji, which has been colonised by Tuvaluan migrants since 1947, and analyses the process of shaping the landscape, which can be characterised in three phases: replanting, responding, and remembering. At first, Tuvaluan migrants attempted to replant their native nature and culture in their new environment in order to make a living. They brought Tuvaluan plants such as coconut and taro and established a village with a meeting hall, symbolising unity of community, which is highly valued cultural norm. However, the replanted nature and culture underwent great changes responding to the new environment. Now the migrants plant and value Fijian root crops, such as tapioca and yaqona, more than Tuvaluan crops as ordinary food because the latter grow "too easily" in the fertile soil of the volcanic island. People think that the unity of community has been gradually weakened through Fijianisation. On the other hand, the settlers never stop remembering their roots and routes by commemorating their day of first arrival. They still grow taro for feasts and praise unity in oratory at gatherings in the meeting hall. These three phases of replanting, responding, and remembering can be understood in chronological order; however, they also occur simultaneously, generating multiple entanglements. In these processes, people are not only shaping but also being shaped by the island.