A Racial Study of the Fijians Part 11

Subm. + ++ +++ Total No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 230 28 511 63 72 9 0 0 813 Interior 45 29 99 65 9 6 0 0 153 East 29 24 74 62 17 14 0 0 120 Coast 58 28 128 61 23 11 0 0 209 N.W. 24 30 51 65 4 5 0 0 79

_Darwin's Point_

Absent Subm. + ++ Total No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 761 94 36 4 15 2 1 0 813 Interior 150 98 3 2 0 0 0 0 153 East 112 93 6 5 2 2 0 0 120 Coast 187 89 13 6 4 4 1 0 209 N.W. 77 97 2 3 0 0 0 0 79

_Ear-Lobe Type_

Soldered Attached Free Total No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 80 10 531 65 202 25 813 Interior 47 31 74 48 32 21 153 East 3 3 85 71 32 27 120 Coast 9 4 141 67 59 28 209 N.W. 5 6 52 66 22 28 79

_Ear-Lobe Size_

Subm. + ++ +++ Total No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 176 22 457 56 178 22 2 0 813 Interior 49 32 66 43 38 25 0 0 153 East 16 13 76 63 27 23 1 1 120 Coast 31 15 123 59 55 26 0 0 209 N.W. 20 25 47 59 12 15 0 0 79

_Ear Protrusion_

Absent Subm. + ++ Total No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 2 0 262 32 463 57 86 11 813 Interior 1 1 47 31 90 59 15 10 153 East 0 0 31 26 77 64 12 10 120 Coast 1 0 75 36 114 55 19 9 209 N.W. 0 0 26 33 49 62 4 5 79

_Ear Slant_

Absent Subm. + Total No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 416 51 332 41 65 8 813 Interior 78 51 67 44 8 5 153 East 55 46 52 43 13 11 120 Coast 118 56 74 35 17 8 209 N.W. 38 48 39 49 2 3 79

The Fijian ear is a moderately distinctive appendage from a racial standpoint. The helix shows moderate development on the whole and is submedium otherwise except for a 9 per cent incidence of p.r.o.nounced appearance. Regional variation is small.

The Darwin's point is noted in a number of cases: 4 per cent to a submedium degree and 2 per cent medium.

The ear lobe is somewhat distinctive with a 65 per cent incidence of the attached condition and 10 per cent soldered. The remaining 25 per cent is free. This distinctiveness is more marked among the interior groups where the soldered type of lobe increases to 31 percent.

Ear-lobe size is moderate in more than half the series, p.r.o.nounced in 22 per cent, and submedium in 22 per cent. Small lobes are commoner in the interior province.

Moderate ear protrusion is the commonest form followed by submedium.

Marked projection is recorded as 11 per cent.

Ear slant either is lacking or slight in most instances; the series is rather evenly divided between these two categories, the zero category having a small majority. Moderate slant is noted for 8 per cent.

BODY BUILD

_Body Build: Endomorph_

1 2 3 4 5 6 Total No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 260 32 334 42 126 15 46 6 33 4 12 1 811 Interior 49 32 66 43 26 17 5 3 6 4 1 1 153 East 30 25 54 45 21 18 5 4 8 7 1 1 119 Coast 77 37 82 39 28 13 10 5 8 4 3 1 209 N.W. 26 33 34 43 9 11 6 8 2 3 2 3 79

_Body Build: Mesomorph_

1 2 3 4 5 6 Total No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 1 {0.1} 2 {0.2} 33 4 131 16 227 28 419 52 813 Interior 0 0 1 1 11 7 27 18 41 27 73 48 153 East 1 1 0 0 2 2 14 12 38 32 65 54 120 Coast 0 0 0 0 9 4 29 14 67 32 104 50 209 N.W. 0 0 1 1 2 3 15 19 14 18 47 59 79

_Body Build: Ectomorph_

1 2 3 4 5 6 Total No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Fiji I 351 43 195 24 110 14 88 11 68 8 1 {0.1} 813 Interior 54 35 56 37 13 8 15 10 15 10 0 0 153 East 49 41 33 28 15 13 12 10 11 9 0 0 120 Coast 84 40 51 24 36 17 18 9 19 9 1 1 209 N.W. 39 49 19 24 11 14 6 8 4 5 0 0 79

Variations in body build have been expressed with the Sheldon method of somatotyping.[18] Accordingly, the Fijians are primarily and definitely mesomorphic, with endomorphy the second strongest component, and ectomorphy, third. About 80 per cent of the total series had a mesomorphic rating of 5 and 6 which leaves no doubt as to the prevailingly athletic physique. Endomorphy is seldom p.r.o.nounced so that obesity may be described as no more than occasional. A p.r.o.nounced linear build is likewise relatively infrequent.

The Fijian subgroups do not vary markedly from the over-all pattern.

SUMMARY

The preceding data may be summarized from three points of view. The first will emphasize the physical features that are common to most Fijians. At the outset it should be pointed out that a "typical" Fijian does not exist, except as a statistical abstraction. The racial composition of the Fijian is complex and far from being h.o.m.ogeneous.

There is no doubt, from the physical and cultural evidence, as well as the geographical location, that Fijians are related to both Melanesians and Polynesians. The second point is to give a precise indication of these affinities with Melanesia and Polynesia. A third concern of this a.n.a.lysis is the geographical variability within Fiji. This consists of a regional breakdown of the Fijian data into interior, eastern, coastal, and northwestern divisions, in order to demonstrate some of the local variation of the Melanesian-Polynesian ingredients and their possible meaning.

_Body (pl. 1)._--In general size and appearance, the Fijian is tall and well proportioned. His body is fairly tall and well muscled, that is, predominately athletic in build. Obesity is relatively uncommon except in moderate degrees. This rather tall stature allies the Fijians more closely with the Polynesians. Shoulder, chest, and hip diameters also indicate that Fijians are generously endowed.

The Fijians who occupy the mountainous interior of the main island are less tall than the coastal and eastern people; they also have narrower shoulders, relatively deeper and narrower chests, whereas their arms and legs are somewhat shorter. The eastern Fijians are tallest of all subgroups.

_Skin Color._--Most Fijians have either medium- or dark-brown skin on the exposed facial surfaces. The more protected body areas show higher frequencies of medium brown and light brown. The Fijians are definitely less dark than the Melanesians but are darker, on the whole, than the Polynesians.

The interior hill tribes are darker than the eastern and coastal groups.

The lightest average skin shade occurs in the east.

_Hair (pls. 6 and 7)._--In several respects the hair is the most consistent endowment of the Fijians. In nearly all instances it is black, frizzly, and coa.r.s.e. The only departure from this condition is an occasional instance of dark brown and a few instances of rufous shade.

Curly hair is a more common exception in the east. The coastal and northwestern people are nearer to the interior condition of frizzly hair. All in all, the hair form is definitely Melanesian. Hair length conforms to the general Melanesian condition, that is, intermediate between short Negroid and long Caucasiod or Mongoloid.

Considerable beard and body hair is common to Fijians (pls. 8 and 9).

Moderate to p.r.o.nounced beard is shown by nearly three-quarters of the total series, and body hair is even more prevelant. General hairiness is also exhibited by the Solomon Islanders and the Tongans in the comparative data. The interior tribes of Fiji are more hairy than the other groups. This prevelence of body and face hair seems to conform to parts of Melanesia where it may be regarded as an Australoid element.

Its presence in the Tongan data does not seem to be representative of other Polynesians, who are generally described as more glabrous.

_Head (pl. 2)._--Moderate brachycephaly is the commonest head form of Fijians, although the total range is great. In this respect the Fijians resemble the broad-headed Tongans, and are quite distinct from the longer-headed Melanesians. The Fijian head, despite its general brachycephaly, is rather compressed in the temporal area and submedium in parietal elevation. The back of the cranium is characteristically flattened, a natural conformation as no deformation is practiced.

The interior mountain tribes of Fiji have narrower heads and lower cranial indices than do the coastal and eastern groups. The interior people also have lesser head heights and a higher breadth-height index.

_Forehead (pl. 10)._--Moderate to strongly developed supraorbital ridges are a common Fijian endowment. Similarly are low and sloping foreheads.

These features have been observed in western Melanesia, where, like hairiness, they suggest Australoid of archaic Caucasoid elements.