紀要論文

オセアニア植民地時代における非白人移住者（3） : フィジーのインド人年季契約労働者

Non-white Migration in Colonial Oceania 3 : Indian Indentured Laborers in Fiji

jpn

00229741

https://doi.org/10.15002/00030529

法政大学経済学部学会

91

4

101

127

2024-03-25

Version of Record

The British colonized Fiji in 1874 and started plantation development with Indian indentured labor, a system which had already been developed in other colonies within the British Empire, such as Trinidad, Mauritius, and so on. Poverty pushed mostly young Indians who agreed to migrate on a five-year contract with one shilling per day for males and nine pence for females. The ratio standard was 40 females for 100 males. Between 1879 and 1916, more than 60,000 indentured laborers arrived at Fiji. In spite of the recruiters’ sweet words, the work in plantations in Fiji was extremely hard and the treatment of laborers by planters, managers, and supervisors was harsh. The living standard for food and stay was hell. Violence and rape often occurred with high mortality and suicide rates. After five years of indenture, the laborers were freed either to return to India by paying their own transport costs, to find other jobs, or to renew the contract. They could return with government funding after ten years of stay. Despite the expectation of the planters and the government, few Indians renewed their contracts. Instead, many Indians took up agriculture on small-scale leased lands while the others worked as artisans or merchants. Thus was born the Indian ethnic community in Fiji, which indigenous Fijians felt to be a menace. The Fijian experience was very different from that of Samoa because only male Chinese indentured laborers were brought to Samoa and they were prohibited from marrying Samoan women. Many of the children who were born to mixed illegal couples were incorporated into Samoan extended families. No Chinese ethnic community was formed.

Article

AN00071028