ANCESTRAL connections between the people of Sigatoka and the Sand Dunes featured prominently in community presentations during a three-day public consultation on the threatened heritage site.
Fiji Museum archaeologist Mereoni Camailakeba said this was one of the key themes she identified while listening to community members share their stories, concerns and historical connections to the dunes.
Ms Camailakeba, of the museum’s archaeology services section, said the presentations highlighted the dunes’ significance as an ancestral gift passed down through generations of Sigatoka people.
She said the museum’s role during the consultation was to listen to communities and understand their historical and cultural connections to the site.
She was particularly struck by accounts of how the dunes were gifted to the people of Sigatoka and the ancestral links connecting them with communities further up the valley.
The Fiji Museum operates under the Preservation of Objects of Archaeological and Palaeontological Interest Act (POAPI Act).
Ms Camailakeba said what stood out was that the community’s desire to protect the dunes went beyond tourism, economic opportunities or benefits to the National Trust.
Previous generations had protected the site for the current generation, and the community wanted to continue that responsibility for future generations, she said.
She also highlighted the archaeological significance of the dunes, where different types of pottery continued to be discovered, along with occasional reports of human remains.
This reinforced the importance of protecting archaeological sites in the area, particularly the cemetery, which held significant cultural value for the communities.
Ms Camailakeba said protecting the dunes also required an understanding of the natural processes that shaped them, including the relationship between the ocean, rivers and the formation of the sand dunes.
“Archaeology is not on the sand, it is in the sand,” she said.
She said the heritage connections extended beyond the boundaries of the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, with seven neighbouring villages having their own cultural sites and historical links to the area.
Ms Camailakeba said the Fiji Museum supported protecting the dunes from mining because of their historical, archaeological, cultural and ecological significance.
