AhAnnual festival celebrating local culture in northern Fiji’s Kakaudrove province in November, with a celebration of traditional dress, dance, poetry, song and craftsmanship, as well as a pageant in honor of indigenous hair. was held.
Nine women representing different districts of the state are wrapped in tapa or mashi, traditional printed cloth made from the beaten bark of the mulberry tree, and accompanied by district representatives. , showed off the traditional Fijian buiniga hairstyle.
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The Buiniga (pronounced: Boo-e-ning-ah) is a unisex hairstyle similar to the Afro. Buiniga refers to the shape of the hair and how the hair separates from the neck in the shape of a duck tail. “Bui” means tail and “ga” means duck.
18-year-old Arrieta Digutu from Ketei village in Fiji finished second in the competition.
“This competition is important because we have to maintain our culture. I don’t see girls my age doing this hairstyle,” Digutu said.
Nana Reggie, who runs a hairdresser and salon in the town of Savusavu, said buiniga’s popularity had waned for some time, largely influenced by Western expressions of beauty. , often asking her to relax and straighten her hair.
“Most people follow trends,” she said. “In the movies, in America, if they straighten their hair, why can’t they? And after a while, it loses its texture and luster and you regret not being able to go back to your original afro.”
This annual festival brings together people from 134 villages across the state to celebrate Itaukei (Fiji’s indigenous people) culture.Iva Batiki, Chief of Subdrodro Village, Kakaudrobe District – One of Fiji’s few female chieftains, she said the hair category was included to encourage women’s pride in their heritage and land.
“Before, when I saw our mothers and grandmothers, they always had buiniga for a long time…you should be proud to have buiniga,” she said.
