In the forested interior of the Ra province, where hospitals are a scarcity and poor road access is a formidable challenge, Sakiusa Bulisuva plays the Jewish equivalent of a mohel.
That is, he is the dauniveiteve or dauniveivakasilimi, the go-to person, when a boy has reached puberty and needs to be circumcised traditionally.
Male circumcision, locally called veiteve, veivakasilimi or tiko i bure, is an ancient indigenous Fijian custom that has been in existence for generations, long before the invasion of colonialism and Christianity.
As the dauniveiteve or dauniveivakasilimi, the only person in the village who possesses the traditional knowledge and skills of removing an adolescent boy’s foreskin, Bulisuva takes his inherited job resolutely.
His unpaid job has made sure boys enjoy their passage of rite into manhood, the survival of traditional rituals are guaranteed and the sacred relationship between a man and his vanua and community is strengthened.
“When I was young, I was circumcised by my old man the traditional way, using sharp bamboo blades,” he said.
“It was never really painful, and my wound was disinfected using herbal medicine which healed quickly and did not have any side effects.”
During Bulisuva’s younger days, boys didn’t have to visit the hospital or doctor. Circumcision was done within the confines of the village and marked with pomp and feasting.
This made perfect sense because the village, like many others in the area, enjoyed no bus service. The only means of getting from point A to B was on horseback.
That also meant walking on treacherous terrain for hours starting very early in the morning before sunrise.
Shops were so far away that buying biscuit tins and eating good food could only be done once a year, especial during the Christmas and New Year period.
In 1895, A.B. Brewster, the Commissioner of Colo North province wrote that circumcision was practiced in places under his jurisdiction such as Noemalu, Nabobuco and Noikoro (today in the provinces of Naitasiri and Navosa)
“Up to the time of my leaving Fiji in 1910, circumcision was still in vogue but it was done privately, and as far as I knew, without ceremonies,” Brewster noted.
“For some years, I had under my command a small body of the Armed Native Constabulary. The younger men every now and then would go mysteriously sick, and I used to find out that it was owing to circumcision.
It is no wonder then that traditional circumcision is still practiced in Nukulau because geographically, it straddles the Ra/Naitasiri border and has traditional ties to some villages in the province of Naitasiri such as Nabobuco.
Bulisuva, a member of yavusa Naisogobuli, said he acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to do “veiteve” from his old man who used to perform the ritual during his lifetime.
“Boys would come from as far as the villages of Nasukamai, Nubumakita, Vanuakula, Nasoqo in Naitasiri to be circumcised by my old man.”
“It was a service that was done for free but was important for building and maintaining kinship ties and reenforcing the roles of young man in traditional Fijian communities.
The term “tikoibure” means “staying in the bure”, a period in which boys were placed in a special boys’ dorm under the care of elderly men.
Boys ate, slept and received training at the special lodging house and awaited their turn to be circumcised at around the ages of 12 or 13).
In the book, The Fijians – A Study of the Decay of Custom, Basil Thomson, wrote that circumcision was not strictly a religious rite.
He said it was invested with religious observance of special restrictions or tabu and was generally performed inside a village bure on about ten or dozen youths by one of the village elders.
A sharp piece of split bamboo was used during the simple operation.
Any bleeding during the ritual was wiped on a strip of plain bark cloth, called kula (red).
This plain bark cloth was similar to the long ones that hung from the roof of the burekalou or temple to allow the spirits of the deities to enter the priest.
Today, young boys are circumcised by a doctor using surgical instruments inside a hygienic environment in hospitals and health centre beds.
Infections are unheard off, unlike the days of old when a few died through infections and complications.
Families get together over a feast on the fourth night after circumcision to celebrate a young boy’s coming of age.
The boy’s mum and aunts often spread out the choicest mats and masi (dabedabe) for the circumcised boy to sit on during the feast.
Thomson had tried unsuccessfully to understand the origin of circumcision in Fiji.
“The most that a Fijian can say is that to be uncircumcised is a reproach, though to a people who cover the pudenda with the hand even while bathing, and probably never expose their nakedness even to their own sex throughout their lives, this can have but little weight.”
“No doubt the Fijians brought the custom with them in remote times, and its origin is probably the same in their case as in that of the Nacua of Central America, the Egyptians, and the Bantu races of Africa—namely, the idea of a blood sacrifice to the mysterious spirit of reproduction.”
Bulisuva said he sometimes circumcised adults who felt embarrassed about going to the hospital because they had gone past the usual age of initiation.
During circumcision that happens in a private clinic or hospital surgery, babies and boys are given a numbing medication, usually an injection, to reduce discomfort and pain.
Once they are anaesthetised, the skin covering the tip of the penis is surgically removed.
However, in Nukulau, Bulisuva inserts a small wooden spatula inside the penis hood and makes a longitudinal slit on the top of the penis.
The loose skin is then rolled and tucked neatly and bandaged.
“The boys I circumcise stand in front of me. They are not anesthetised but given a piece of cloth to bite or they are restrained from behind to limit their movement,” he said.
“I use a bamboo or an unused razor blade from the shop. For sterilisation, I use green herbs straight after the circumcision. It takes three to four days for the wound to heal.”
For herbal antiseptic, he sometimes gets help from the village’s traditional healer,
Over a grog session, men who got circumcised by Bulisuva spoke openly of how the procedure was fast, simple and easy to heal.
“On the fourth day, I was playing touch rugby again,” someone confided.
“The pain lasted only split seconds, as if someone pricked me with a pin. On top of that you don’t have to pay a single cent and you don’t have to leave the village,” another man said.
Bulisuva said every circumcision was done free of charge which was how it had been done for generations.
Out of the goodness of their hearts, some would give him gifts as a token of appreciation for his service.
“This traditional way of circumcision suits us because we live in a place that is so far away from the hospital and the service is provided for free. If we had to pay a doctor to do it, some of us won’t get initiated into manhood,” he said.
Brewster wrote that during circumcision in parts of Colo North, boys were operated on in the open, in the presence of men, women and children.
At times, it was also done in the community bure or the burekalou (temple).
The belief was that during the circumcision ritual, their dead ancestors would witness the rituals together with them.
The event was often associated with chanting, done by women, and name change, where a boy was given a new name to signify his entry into adulthood.
After circumcision, food was offered to the boys by women.
According to Thomson, in some parts of Fiji, while carrying the food to the bure, women chanted the following words:
“Memu wai onkori ka kula; Au solia mai loaloa; Au solia na ndrau ni thevunga; Memu wai onkori ka kula.” This translates to: “Your broth, you, the circumcised; From the darkness I give it; I give you the vuga leaves; Your broth, you, the circumcised.”
The native word for circumcision, teve, was like a taboo word and it was not mentioned before the presence of women.
If teve was to be uttered in their presence, the word kula was used.
Brewster said the proper time for performing the rite was immediately after the death of a chief or certain important periods, like the flowering of the drala plant.
In some parts of Fiji, circumcision was accompanied by an orgy of sorts.
In Thomson’s book, he wrote that circumcision was accompanied by rude games such as “wrestling, sham fights and mimic sieges” which varied depending on localities.
An uncircumcised youth was regarded as unclean and was not permitted to “carry food for the chiefs”.
After being circumcised, a boy was regarded a young man.
He was allowed to wear the malo, or perineal bandage made from white masi.
Children of both sexes went naked until they were ten years old, or even later if they were of high rank.
Looking back, Bulisavu said he would continue to perform circumcision in the village because there was a demand for it and he felt it was his sacred duty.
“I did not choose this role. It was passed down to me by my father with the hope that I would carry on the tradition which we had been practicing for many generations.
It is my duty to my community and a service to my fellow kinsmen,”
History being the subject it is, a group’s version of events may not be the same as that held by another group. When publishing one account, it is not our intention to cause division or to disrespect other oral traditions. Those with a different version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.
