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Sau Turaga
The Sau turaga clan is the second highest clan of the Fijian social hierarchy system. The name itself means "steward chief". Holders of such a title have the paramount role of crowning a new chief, assisting the chief and above all else defending the sovereignty of the chief. Usually the turaga clan and the sau clan are but one family, the latter being the younger sibling in the original clan of nobility. But the title holds prestige in the society as one of the closest in rank to that of the chief. Only they can make a new chief and can temporarily hold the position until one is made. The clan is the second most important in the traditional Fijian hierarchical social structure. They are also called king makers and thus they have the most important role of installing a chief. They have gifted powers called the 'Sau', given from their Ancient creator who lives in the sea. These powers can make them foretells the future, make a curse or break them. Before they passed, their power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning that their members can marry one another. Clans preceded more centralized forms of community organization and government, and exist in every country. Members may identify with a coat of arms or other symbol to show that they are an . Kinship-based groups may also have a symbolic ancestor, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Etymology The English word "clan" is derived from old Irish meaning "children", "offspring", "progeny" or "descendants"; it is not from the word for "family" or "clan" in either Irish or Scottish Gaelic. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the word "clan" was introduced into English in around 1425, as a descriptive label for the organization ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fijians
Fijians ( fj, iTaukei, lit=Owners (of the land)) are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture. Fijians, or ''iTaukei'', are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. Indigenous Fijians are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown. Later they would move onward to other surrounding islands, including Rotuma, as well as blending with other (Polynesian) settlers on Tonga and Samoa. They are indigenous to all parts of Fiji except the island of Rotuma. The original settlers are now called " Lapita people" after a distinctive pottery produced locally. Lapita pottery was found in the area from 800 BCE onward. As of 2005, indigenous Fijians constituted slightly more than half of the total Fijian population. Indigenous Fijians are predominantly of Melanesian extraction, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Stratification
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As such, stratification is the relative social position of persons within a social group, category, geographic region, or social unit. In modern Western societies, social stratification is typically defined in terms of three social classes: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class; in turn, each class can be subdivided into the upper-stratum, the middle-stratum, and the lower stratum. Moreover, a social stratum can be formed upon the bases of kinship, clan, tribe, or caste, or all four. The categorization of people by social stratum occurs most clearly in complex state-based, polycentric, or feudal societies, the latter being based upon socio-economic relations among classes of nobility and classes of peasants. Whether socia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribal Chief
A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as an intermediate stage between the band society of the Paleolithic stage and civilization with centralized, super-regional government based in cities. Anthropologist Elman Service distinguishes two stages of tribal societies: simple societies organized by limited instances of social rank and prestige, and more stratified societies led by chieftains or tribal kings (chiefdoms). Stratified tribal societies led by tribal kings are thought to have flourished from the Neolithic stage into the Iron Age, albeit in competition with urban civilisations and empires beginning in the Bronze Age. In the case of tribal societies of indigenous peoples existing within larger colonial and post-colonial states, tribal chiefs may represent their tribe or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body, or institution that has the ultimate authority over other people in order to establish a law or change an existing law. In political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme legitimate authority over some polity. In international law, sovereignty is the exercise of power by a state. ''De jure'' sovereignty refers to the legal right to do so; ''de facto'' sovereignty refers to the factual ability to do so. This can become an issue of special concern upon the failure of the usual expectation that ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' sovereignty exist at the place and time of concern, and reside within the same organization. Etymology The term arises from the unattested Vulgar Latin's ''*superanus'', (itself derived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turaga
In Fijian, Turaga is the word for a man. The ''Turaga-ni-Koro'' is a title for the head of a village (''Koro''), who is usually elected or appointed by the villagers. As kind of city administrator or mayor, he plays a key role in the modern Fijian government structure and is paid a small government allowance. Similarly, the chief of a ''Mataqali'' (clan) is known as the ''Turaga-ni-mataqali''. The exact historical status of the Turaga played an important role in conflicts regarding common landownership. Other uses Turaga was used by The LEGO Group for their toy line Bionicle. References See also *House of Chiefs (Fiji) A House of Chiefs (or ''House of Traditional Leaders'') is a post-colonial assembly, either legislative or advisory, that is recognised by either a national or regional government as consisting of and providing a collective, public voice for an et ... Fijian culture {{Fiji-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristics associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles or simply formal functions (e.g., Order of precedence, precedence), and vary by country and by era. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is typically Hereditary title, hereditary and Patrilinearity, patrilineal. Membership in the nobility has historically been granted by a monarch or government, and acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, ownerships, or royal favour has occasionally enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. There are often a variety of ranks within the noble class. Legal recognition of nobility has been much more common in monarchies, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingmaker
A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Originally, the term applied to the activities of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick—"Warwick the Kingmaker"—during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) in England. Examples *The prophet Samuel of the Hebrew Bible, in the transition from the period of the biblical judges to the institution of a Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the transition from Saul to David *Chanakya in the Maurya Empire *The Praetorian Guard in the Roman Empire *Yeon Gaesomun in Goguryeo *Tonyukuk in the Second Turkic Khaganate *Sayyid brothers in the Mughal Empire *Vidyaranya in the Vijayanagara Empire *Ricimer in the Late Western Roman Empire – magister militum who appointed a series of puppet emperors * Nogai, Mamai, and Edigu in the Golden Horde * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fijian Traditions And Ceremonies
Fijian tradition and ceremony is a living way of life that has remained intact for millennia, evolving as the Fijian nation has modernised over time, with various external influences from Pacific neighbours, and European and Asian society. The term Fijian in this article refers to "indigenous Fijians" or ''"I Taukei"'' as the term Fijian generally includes all citizens of Fiji. This article is a general overview of various aspects of Fijian tradition, social structure and ceremony, much of it from the Bauan Fijian tradition. There are variations from province to province. Many social intricacies depend on one's inherited social position and the occasion one is confronted with: each will have a particular social etiquette. The Fijian terms in this article are most often of the Bauan dialect. Social structure Traditionally, each Fijian villager is born into a certain role in the family unit or Tokatoka. Various heads of the family will administer and lead the family unit within th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
