Editing Rotuma (section)

== Politics and society ==

===Political offices===

Rotuma is divided into seven districts, each with its own chief ([[gagaja|Gagaj {{okina}}es Itu{{okina}}u]]). The district chiefs and elected district representatives make up the [[Council of Rotuma|Rotuma Island Council]]. The districts are divided into subgroupings of households (ho{{okina}}aga) that function as work groups under the leadership of a subchief (gagaj {{okina}}es ho{{okina}}aga). All district headmen and the majority of ho{{okina}}aga headmen are titled. In addition, some men hold titles without headship (as tög), although they are expected to exercise leadership roles in support of the district headman. Titles, which are held for life, belong to specified house sites (fuạg ri). All the descendants of previous occupants of a fuạg ri have a right to participate in the selection of successors to titles.

[[Image:White tailed tropicbird.jpg|300px|thumb|upright|left| Participants of the formal [[tautoga]] dance sometimes wear the lengthy tailfeathers of the [[white-tailed tropicbird]], called the "täväke" in [[Rotuman language|Rotuman]]]]

On formal occasions, titled men and dignitaries such as priests, ministers, government representatives, and distinguished visitors occupy a place of honor. They are ceremonially served food from special baskets and [[kava]]. In the daily routine of village life, however, they are not especially privileged. As yet no significant class distinctions based on wealth or control of resources have emerged, but investments in elaborate housing and motor vehicles by a few families have led to visible differences in standard of living.

At the time of arrival by Europeans, there were three pan-Rotuman political positions created by the Samoan invaders: the [[fakpure]], the [[sạu (Rotuman king)|sạu]], and the mua. The fakpure acted as convener and presiding officer over the council of district headmen and was responsible for appointing the sạu and ensuring that he was cared for properly. The fakpure was headman of the district that headed the alliance that had won the last war. The sạu's role was to take part in the ritual cycle, oriented toward ensuring prosperity, as an object of veneration. Early European visitors referred to the sạu as "king", but he actually had no secular power. The position of sạu was supposed to rotate between districts, and a breach of this custom was considered to be incitement to war. The role of mua is more obscure, but like the sạu, he was an active participant in the ritual cycle. According to some accounts the mua acted as a kind of high priest.

Following Christianisation in the 1860s, the offices of sạu and mua were terminated. Colonial administration involved the appointment by the governor of Fiji of a Resident Commissioner (after 1935, a [[District Officer]]) to Rotuma. He was advised by a council composed of the district chiefs. In 1940 the council was expanded to include an elected representative from each district and the Assistant Medical Practitioner. Following Fiji's independence in 1970, the council assumed responsibility for the internal governance of Rotuma, with the District Officer assigned to an advisory role. Up until the first coup, Rotuma was represented in the Fiji legislature by a single senator.

===Elections===

Administratively, Rotuma is fully incorporated into Fiji, but with [[Local government in Fiji|local government]] so tailored as to give the island a measure of autonomy greater than that enjoyed by other political subdivisions of Fiji. At the national level, in the past Fijian citizens of Rotuman descent elected one representative to the Fijian [[House of Representatives of Fiji|House of Representatives]], and the Council of Rotuma nominated one representative to the [[Senate of Fiji|Fijian Senate]].  Rotuma was also represented in the influential [[Great Council of Chiefs]] by three representatives chosen by the Council of Rotuma. For electoral purposes, Rotumans were formerly classified as [[Fijians]], but when the [[1997 Constitution of Fiji|Constitution]] was revised in 1997–1998, they were granted separate representation at their own request. (The majority of seats in Fiji's House of Representatives are allocated on a [[Communal constituencies|communal basis]] to Fiji's various [[Demographics of Fiji|ethnic groups]].)  In addition, Rotuma forms part (along with [[Taveuni]] and the [[Lau Islands]]) of the [[Lau Taveuni Rotuma (Open Constituency, Fiji)|Lau Taveuni Rotuma]] [[Open constituencies|Open Constituency]], one of 25&nbsp;constituencies whose representatives are chosen by [[universal suffrage]].

===Social control===

The ''ho{{okina}}aga'', a kinship community, was the basic residential unit in pre-contact Rotuma.<ref name="HOW1">{{cite journal|last1= Howard |first1= Alan |url= http://www.rotuma.net/os/howsel/5landchange.html |title= Land Tenure and Social Change in Rotuma |year= 1964 |volume=73 |journal= Journal of the Polynesian Society |pages=26–52 }}</ref> The basis for social control is a strong socialisation emphasis on social responsibility and a sensitivity to shaming. Gossip serves as a mechanism for sanctioning deviation, but the most powerful deterrent to antisocial behavior is an abiding belief in imminent justice, that supernatural forces (the {{okina}}atua or spirits of ancestors) will punish wrongdoing. Rotumans are a rather gentle people; violence is extremely rare and serious crimes nearly nonexistent.

===Conflict===

Prior to cession, warfare, though conducted on a modest scale, was endemic in Rotuma. During the colonial era political rivalries were muted, since power was concentrated in the offices of Resident Commissioner and District Officer. Following Fiji's independence, however, interdistrict rivalries were again given expression, now in the form of political contention. Following the second coup, when Fiji left the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], a segment of the Rotuman population, known as the "Mölmahao Clan" of [[Noa{{okina}}tau]] rejected the council's decision to remain with the newly declared republic. Arguing that Rotuma had been ceded to the United Kingdom and not to Fiji, in 1987 these rebels attempted to form an independent aristocratic maritime republic which they called the [[Republic of Rotuma]] but they were promptly charged with sedition and the entity disintegrated almost immediately. It did not have any substantive support and while majority opinion appears to favor remaining with Fiji some rumblings of discontent remain.