iTaukei urged to protect the land,language, and the way of life

Participants for the inaugural Na Vuku ni Vanua-Charting Our Cultural Destiny in a Changing Pacific Climate Environment conference were urged to protect the land,language and the way of life that defines iTaukei identity.

This has been shared by Ratu Viliame Seruvakula, the Chairperson of the Great Council of Chiefs, while opening the conference at the Fiji National University’s Bonunaqwele Campus in Namaka, Nadi.

Ratu Viliame says the four-day gathering brings together indigenous leaders, academics, policymakers, and cultural practitioners to explore how indigenous and traditional knowledge can strengthen Pacific resilience, sustainable development, and climate action.

He says people should chart their cultural destiny with confidence, advance with courage, identify their needs with clarity, and do so with love for the land and its people.

Ratu Viliame says their connection to their land is sacred as it defines their spirituality and their identity, and as members of the Vanua, they have a moral obligation to protect and preserve the land, it’s voice, the iTaukei language, and its way of life to sustain who they are for generations to come.

Ratu Viliame, emphasized that the gathering is about more than remembering their past it is about charting a future where their culture, knowledge systems, and resilience lead the way.

Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba, Vice-Chancellor of FNU, says the event was a call to action and this conference is a chance to re-imagine and carve out a Pacific future that, while challenged by climate change, is equally matched by the resilience of the people, where traditional knowledge is celebrated, enhanced, and applied to secure their identity, resources, and place in the world.