Fieldwork in Fiji and Canberra

My research compares the experiences and identities of Indian indentured labourers in Mauritius and Fiji during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It was necessary to conduct a fieldwork visit to Fiji and Canberra to consult archival material not available digitally or elsewhere. I therefore visited the National Archives of Fiji, National Library of Australia and the Noel Butlin Archives at the Australian National University over an 8 week period to consult primary material on Indian indenture in Fiji. Being able to access key colonial administration documents pertaining to indenture in Fiji as well as reports by the Colonial Sugar Refinery Company (the main sugar company during the colonial period in Fiji) now enables me to place the experience of Fiji in context to Mauritius, and the colonial scheme of indenture as a whole, which greatly shaped the Fiji we see today. Researching in Canberra and Fiji I was able to work closely with archivists who have a specialist knowledge of Indian indenture in the south Pacific and I was also able to meet with key academics in this field, adding to the richness of material consulted in the archives.

The fieldwork has been an integral part of my PhD, and I would like to sincerely thank the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies for its generous financial support.

Reshaad Durgahee, PhD candidate in the School of Geography