User talk:Xorkl000/archive/2005

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Hi there! Thank you for making corrections to my Fiji-related articles.

One of my difficulties with the project that I've chosen (Fiji) is that there has been almost nobody to check my work for POV, factual errors, etc. I'm glad to see you here and I hope you'll stay and contribute regularly. David Cannon 23:10, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Reconciliation and Unity Bill

You're welcome. Yes, I am following the story at the Fiji Times, and have also managed to glean a handful of details from Google searches. Thanks for your kind words. I think I'll add the "Current" template to the article, which will hopefully generate more traffic. David Cannon 11:17, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Your user page

Hi again! I saw what you said about asking someone to put something on your user page. If you like, you can email me (just use the "email" link in the left column from my own user page) with a few details about who you are and what you do, and i'll "ghost-write" your user page for you. I'll make a start now with what I know, and will add more when I know more:-) David Cannon 09:05, 21 May 2005 (UTC)

defeats the purpose, if i can write to you about myself, then i can do my own user page. Much prefer if you just make up stuff about me which i can correct --Xorkl000 09:28, 21 May 2005 (UTC)
Okay - i'll do that. Cheers! David Cannon 09:44, 21 May 2005 (UTC)
Done! David Cannon 10:16, 21 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Usonian

Hi Xork,

(Not sure how to address you with your Fijian name!)

xork is not fijian, just something i made up

You recently changed a comment under "Usonian" about this being the most common adjective for the USA. I'm curious as to which other words you've heard, since Usonian is the only one I've heard in my entire life. (Not counting attributive nouns like "United States" or "US", of course.)

Cheers, kwami 10:54, 2005 May 21 (UTC)

umm, how about "american"? --Xorkl000 11:59, 21 May 2005 (UTC)
Oops, I meant a word specifically for the US. There's an article Alternative words for American that discusses some of the possibilities. Usonian is the only one I've ever heard, though. kwami 18:44, 2005 May 21 (UTC)
the most common adjective for the united states is "American", i think it is an incorrect usage, but the fact is that it is the most common. --Xorkl000 02:05, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Fijian names, etc.

Hi there,

I wonder whether you could clear up a number of issues that have confused me.

  1. In one of your edit summaries, you've said that the titles of Ro and Adi are not used together (see Lala Mara). Are the two titles synonyms, is there any formal distinction between the two in terms of status, responsibility, seniority, etc?
Ro is analogous to Adi but only used in the Rewan dialect. Interestingly enough Rewan Male chiefs also referred to as Ro. Other regional variants "Roko" in Lau, used for both men and women, "Bulou" used for female chiefs in Kadavu and Western Areas. This is why i referred to "Ro Adi" as Pizza Pie, saying the same thing twice in different languages --Xorkl000 12:11, 25 May 2005 (UTC)
  1. In some publications, I see Ratu Josefa Iloilo's last name spelt with "vatu" tacked onto the end. Is that a title or a variant of the name? If it is part of the name, why doesn't he always use it? Also, I've found some publications listing his last name as "Uluivuda." Can you enlighten me as to what's going on?
  1. I notice that Ratu Mara's father's last name was not Mara. Do surnames not follow from father to son in Fiji?
  2. I've seen in several newspapers reports of Ratu Epeli Nailatikau's brother, whose last name is not Nailatikau. Moreover, their father's last name appears to have been "Cakobau." What's going on?

I'm just curious. Is there some pattern to all this? David Cannon 01:02, 24 May 2005 (UTC)


I think if you look at his Birth Certificate it would probably say Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda, and from memory that was the name he used at his swearing in. Uluivuda was probably his father's name which was passed as a sort of surname. Use of surnames is not traditional in Fiji and he thus probably just did not use it.
In the old days you got a christian name (usually sourced from the bible) and a traditional name, both were given names - e.g "Josefa" christian name, "Iloilovatu" traditional name. Generally speaking Tui Vuda's generation is probably the first to get surnames, usually from thier father's traditional name, but the adoption has been no means universal, many who are baptised with surnames don't use them, or abandon them and then start using them again, and even some who were not baptised with surnames start adding thier father's traditional name for no real reason that can be ascertained.
One remebers a young soldier playing club rugby in Suva in the early 70's who was always listed in programs as "Lt. Sitiveni Ligamamada" - 15 years later he was leading coups as "Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka".
A lot of fijians often shorten their names - in New Zealand you are probably familiar with Rupeni Caucau, whose full name is Rupeni Caucaunibuca. Another well known footballer was Tomasi Camaneisenirosi, better known as Tomasi Cama. Ro Lady Lala (as opposed to "Lalabalavu") is another example.
The above phenomena are used to great effect by many fijians to hide past indescretions from nosy bureacrats.
So the honourable speaker, and the late Tui Nayau are named according to traditional practice, although they did not follow it themselves when they named thier own children.
I am opposed to surnames, as a pernicious western introduction, even though i have one myself, and am far too lazy to get rid of it. --Xorkl000 12:11, 25 May 2005 (UTC)
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation. I think I'll use it for an article on Fijian naming conventions (as part of a project which already has articles on naming conventions for various countries). It makes much greater sense to me now. David Cannon 23:05, 25 May 2005 (UTC)
i think the correct description of fijian naming conventions is that there aren't any! --Xorkl000 06:15, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Fijian names - article

Hello again,

Using mostly the information you provided, I have put together an article on Fijian naming conventions. I would be very grateful if you'd check it for errors or omissions, etc.

The title "Fijian name" sounds quaint, I know; I would have preferred "Fijian naming conventions," but decided to conform with other articles in the project (about conventions in other countries). If I wasn't so lazy, I'd rename those articles too, I suppose. David Cannon 14:21, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words. The reason I didn't say more about Indo-Fijian names is that somebody else has already written an article about Indian names (though it needs to be cleaned up a bit), so rather than reinvent the wheel I thought it best to provide just a brief paragraph, together with a link to the other article. It's interesting what you said about names previously used by Ratu Mara and Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau. If I remember right, Ratu Mara mentions the latter quite a bit in his autobiography. I'm still waiting for it to arrive from the library's interloan service (I ordered it in order to check up on a couple of other points we've discussed, so when it arrives I'll check whether he mentions his father's name or Ratu Sir Edward's baptismal name also). David Cannon 00:56, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
good stuff, please report your findings when you are ready --Xorkl000 05:24, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Tui Cakau

I could be wrong, but I saw some sources that stated that Tui Cakau is the paramount chief of the Tovata Confederacy. Now if the Vunivalu of Bau is the supposedly the highest chief (Kubuna Confederacy) and the Roko Tui Dreketi the second (Burebasaga Confederacy), the head of Tovata must be the third, I supposed. Please delete what I wrote if I'm wrong. David Cannon 30 June 2005 08:58 (UTC)

Can't argue with Tui Ca'au being head of Tovata, just disagree that Roko Tui Dreketi has precedence over Tui Ca'au or vice versa. --Xorkl000 1 July 2005 06:36 (UTC)
Okay then. By the way, I notice you spell Tui Cakau as "Tui Ca'au" - is that the variant in the local dialect? Just curious:-) David Cannon 1 July 2005 11:08 (UTC)

[edit] Suva City Council

Hi there! I wonder if you could take a look at Suva City Council and identify the political affiliation of the councillors, if you know them. I have figured that the Samabula Ward councillors are all FLP, because I read here and elswehere that the FLP won all Samabula seats last time. I have also been able to identify Ratu Volavola as SDL and Chandu Umaria as NFP, but have no idea what parties the others belong to. Thanks! David Cannon 09:04, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

Sorry mate, this is a topic of absolutely no interest to me. I did not even know that Chandu was no longer the mayor. This astounding ignorance of the affairs of my own city council is indicative of how little i care about the affairs of the twenty biggest wankers in suva.--Xorkl000 06:46, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

Okay, fair enough:-) If truth be told, I couldn't even identify the names, let alone the political affiliations, of most of my city councillors either! David Cannon 11:07, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] THANKS!

Thank you so much for that barnstar! This is the first barstar I've received in my 20 months on Wikipedia. While I haven't worked with a view to getting one, it's heartwarming to know that somebody has seen what I've been doing and appreciated it. That's just the encouragement I need to keep going. Again, thanks! David Cannon 11:54, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Senate of Fiji

Bula! (That's the only Fijian word I know :-) I wonder whether you could solve the mystery of the Provinces the various Great Council of Chiefs Senators come from. I have been able to identify the provincial origin of about half of them, but several have eluded me. Thanks! David Cannon 09:11, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Email

Hi there! I sent you an email in reply to yours - please let me know if you don't get it. (I've had some weird things lately with email not getting through, so I'd like to be sure). I hope you had a great Christmas! David Cannon 11:24, 26 December 2005 (UTC)