As the human account of Fiji spans over 3000 years according to the Fiji Museum, it is only vital for you as future generations to learn about Fiji’s history and how the museum has become a safe sanctuary for Fiji’s historical artifacts.
Today we continue from where we left off on our Fiji Museum history.
As WWII quieted down, it was of pressing matter that the evacuated exhibit from Carnegie Library that were stored in the tunnel along Cakobau Rd (just metres away from the current Fiji Museum) be inspected.
In its damp and moulded condition the exhibits were taken for examination.
It was in 1944 according to the Fijian History page (fijianhistory.com) that the exhibits were exhumed, aired, dried and repacked.
The artifacts were then transported to Vaileka in Ra and stored in the inner room of the district officer’s house.
Movement of the artifacts taken to Rakiraki was not reported after.
In 1952, Fijian History highlighted that because the Suva Town Board wanted to use the Carnegie Library for municipal purposes, exhibits housed at the library were required to be moved.
This decision was communicated to the trustees of the museum. It was in 1953, according to Fijian History that the trustees requested the government to provide funding for the construction of a museum building at the Suva botanical garden area.
A year later funds for the museum was approved. The new building was then constructed by Narain Construction Co. Ltd and was completed in August 1954. The transfer and rearrangement of the collection took several months as highlighted by Fijian History.
It was in January 20, 1955 that the new museum building was officially opened by the governor, Sir Ronald Garvey.
He was a British colonial administrator. As the new museum was opened, artifacts were moved in with new ones added to the museum’s collection. One of those new exhibits was a war club that was found in January, 1964 in the Sawani River in Naitasiri.
The war club which was believed to be hundreds of years old was found in shallow water, about 10 miles from Suva by two boys. This newspaper published an article on January 29, 1964 about the find.
The two European boys were on a camping holiday when they found the club. They then handed the club over to the curator of the Fiji Museum, Bruce Palmer.
Like many museums around the world it was only right for visitors to start paying to view pieces of history on display at the museum and this was done on January, 1970.
The admission fee, according to this newspaper was 10 cents and visitors were happy to pay it.
The fees would help the museum pay off a loan of $61,000 for the extensions to the museum building.
The introduction of an admission fee was decided by the trustees of the museum.
Students and children under the age of 14 were admitted free to the museum while adults were charged 10 cents. On Sundays the public could visit the museum without charge.
It is great to note that when the museum was opened artifacts quickly trickled in, giving the museum good volume on Fiji’s history. One of the well highlighted finds in the mid-1970s was a priceless 2000-year-old pot.
The pot which was brought to Fiji by an Auckland University archeologist, Simon Best was discovered by his team in Lau. Mr Best had helped to find the pot buried in mud under about 10ft of water in a deep cave on an island about 11 miles off Lakeba.
Apart from its age and archeological value, the pot was rare because it was almost completely whole. Most ancient pots are reconstructed from tiny chips but the one found was remarkably preserved by water.
This newspaper reported that radiocarbon analysis dated the pot at about 2300 years old or 325 BC.
In March, 1979 Fergus Clunie was appointed as new director of the museum.
He was acting director since October of 1978 and had joined the museum 10 years earlier as an assistant. He replaced Charles Hunt who left.
Mr Clunie during the time hoped to use the large gallery of the museum for a permanent display of Fijian culture from the 1800s to 1970s.
He believed that all levels should be in Fijian as well as English, presenting the Fijian viewpoint rather than just a literal translation for visitors.
When taking up his new post he also planned to use the small display gallery for archeological displays of Fijian prehistory from 1290BC to 800 AD, emphasising the migration from which the Fijian race sprung, including some European items such as gunflints, glass and evidence of contact with the Western world in the 1800s.
One of the great things about the Fiji Museum was that it did not discriminate on its contents.
The museum not only housed Fijian artifacts but also included other artifacts from earlier Western settlers and the Girmitiyas.
On March 1979 an Indian perfume itra-dan was given to the museum for its Indian section by a Bechu Prasad of Sabeto, Nadi.
Mr Prasad had told this newspaper that his father Mamraj had brought the container from Jodhpur, India when he came to Fiji in 1895.
The museum from the handover hoped to build up a permanent Indian section and was interested in either receiving or borrowing items of interest from old-style jewellery to farming implements to display.
On August 10, Museum bought whales tooth-ivory from Namosi for substantial sum of money.
According to Mr Clunie who spoke to this newspaper, the necklaces were amongst the most valuable and sacred items in existence.
The necklaces were about 100 to 150 years old and were worn by high chiefs.
Mr Clunie said the value of the two necklaces were evident in their often bloody history.
The ivory pieces were often used to buy off the invaders and to acquire allies in war.
As the museum become aware of artifacts being in danger of being taken overseas, it launched a campaign on August, 1979 to raise money to buy Fijian artifacts.
The museum also needed to help pay for its latest addition of ivory collection.
As the world quickly evolved with technology, it was only proper for the museum to start using equipment that would help ease the workload.
With the help of the Japanese Embassy, the museum received a camera and dehumidifier equipment worth $8400 on May 7,
1982.
The handover was part of aid from the Japanese Government Educational Grant Aid to Fiji totaling $120,000.
Today the museum uses the latest technology that allows artifacts to be well preserved.
In 2018 the Fiji Museum constructed a new entrance to its building and the Fiji Museum office and reference library were situated in the building that was once the Nawela Hostel.
The six departments of the Fiji Museum according to Fijian History are the archaeology, history and prehistory department, the exhibition and display department, the conservation and nature history department, the collection department, the education department and the accounts department.
