Roderick Ewins will give an in-house illustrated talk on Fijian Religion and Ritual Bowls. Rod is Fiji-born and the author of many papers and book-chapters, and several books relating to Fijian society and in particular material culture.

This talk will briefly cover the pre-Christian religion of Fiji, and the role priests played in it. They had various shallow wooden bowls or dishes which were used in their activities, some for holding oil for libation on special occasions, and some for the priests’ consumption of very strong kava (in Fijian yaqona, pronounced yang-gaw-nuh), to facilitate their commuinication with their gods and functioning as oracles. Both types of bowl were made in many forms, most entirely abstract but a couple of them figurative. They were among the most intricate sculptures produced by the master craftsmen attached to every chief of importance