The Tabua: Conveyor of Death and Atonement
In the Fiji Museum's permanent exhibition “Mission” there is a glass cabinet with an old tabua (whale's tooth), yellowed and darkened with age, and the magimagi (plaited pandanus string) it was presented with. An exhibit note states: “Tabua presented by chief's [sic] and people of Navuso to the Methodist Church early this century, to atone for their responsibility for the murders of Thomas Baker and his followers.” Another exhibit note, The Thomas Baker Tragedy, explains what happened:
In 1867 Rev. Thomas Baker, a Fijian Minister Setareki Seileka and six out of eight Fijian student teachers from Davuilevu were hacked to death and eaten at Nubutautau in Central Vitilevu. While the murders of Fijian mission teachers in Fiji were not uncommon at that time, the murder of a European missionary was unique, Mr Baker being the only Methodist Missionary to be killed by followers of Fijian religion. He and his followers were not slain because they were...
