by 
(Native Lands Trust Board)

               DEED OF SOVEREIGNITY
    Vola yabaki ni lewa vakavanua vakaturaga


INSTRUMENT OF TAKING AND ASSERTION OF SOVEREIGNTY AND CESSION TO MATANITU VANUA OR TAUKEI CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT by various chiefs of Fiji.

WHEREAS from time immemorial our ancestors had exercised full independent sovereign rights with our independent domains under various tribal kingdoms that existed independently according to the laws and customs of our lands.

WHEREAS our ancestors had accepted Christianity and through this the Lord God Almighty has blessed our ancestors and bestowed upon our lineage as Chiefs for generations the wisdom to lead and be custodian of the rights and interests of our people the Tuekei in the Island of Fiji with due regard also for His children born into other races who had come to our land and fully recognizing our group rights as an indigenous people and the rights of individuals.

AND WHEREAS we the Taukei through the concept of Vanua (chiefs, tribes, land waters, seas, and possessions) and Veivakaturagataki (chiefly system) are by custom, tradition and practice united for a common purpose and destiny to protect and promote our rights for the benefit of the Taukei, their future generations and other peoples.

AND WHEREAS our ancestors by the Grace of God has found it opportune that such sovereign rights be exercised in the best interest of our people in the Islands of Fiji at all times and for generations to come and also with due regard to other peoples in our lands.

AND WHEREAS such sovereign rights over our Vanua and it's members were ceded to Her majesty and Defender of the Christian Faith, Queen Victoria of England and Her Heirs and Successors by the Instrument of Cession of the 10th day of October, 1874, on the advice of Christian missionaries who came to our shores that as a more powerful Sovereign she would look to the care and development of our islands and people and the Crown willingly and with due assurance accepted cessions for the primary purpose of protecting their rights as indigenous people, protecting their rights to land and development and guiding indigenous Fijians in the process of change and adaptation through the establishment of a modern form of Government.

AND WHEREAS Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second as Successor to the tribal and Sovereign authority of our Chiefs was endowed by virtue of the Deed of Cession of 1874, subsequent conventions, policies and statutes with a fiduciary duty to always protect and nurture the indigenous rights of the Fijian people and to further prescribe the form or Constitution of Government for our said people and Vanua.

AND WHEREAS such prescribed Constitution being the Constitution of 1970 our tribal authority and sovereignity were surrendered to the sovereign power of a new parliamentary government and our paramount and indigenous rights thereby disregarded, ignored or impaired resulting in civilian unrest of our indigenous people and military intervention and abrogation of the said Constitution by the Constitution Abrogation Decree of 1987.

AND WHEREAS the 1990 Constitution was brought into being for the protection and promotion of certain goals rights and interests of our people and our Vanua with specific time frame of seven years for the achievement of these goals and with such Constitution offered them hope and with faith placed on their elected representatives to perform and deliver promised benefits and goals particularly with its affirmative provisions to bring the I Taukei to par with other races in Fiji in the economic and social field and to ensure the return of all our God given resources and inheritance.

AND WHEREAS such protections and promise were watered-down and some removed by the1997 Constitution and some not achieved before the promulgation of said Constitution which Constitution did not receive the full support of the Taukei resulting in civil unrest and the Taukei Civilian Takeover of Parliament making it impossible for the elected government to discharge its duties creating impasse between parties claiming to exercise our said sovereign rights.

AND WHERAS such impasse and possible escalation of unrest will result in the sufferance and division of our people and it being our desire that they be not separated on the current political issues facing them and the survival of our Vanua as a unit being paramount and necessary and recognising as Ratu Seru Cakobau of Bau said after much war and unrest and receiving Christianity that peace is the most priceless possession of our people and believing that this will be achieved by setting out definite objectives which we hereby do.

AND WHEREAS PRAYING TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD for the blessings of our forebears and hoping for the welfare of our children in our said beloved Vanua so that our long-suffering, tears and pains may be removed and our future generations in our beloved Vanua receive God's blessings that other people may also enjoy peace when our people are at peace.

AND WHEREAS it is our experience from 1987 that military officers cannot attain these objectives when they take on civilian rule as ministers, it is therefore our desire that meritorious civilian Taukei except for soldiers with skills desired be found for the attainment of the said objectives by the exercise of these our sovereignity which we now assume and grant to a Matanitu Vanua or Taukei Civilian Government to govern Fiji with the hope that our people will be brought to par in areas where they lag behind and that in the recognition and exercise of our rights, other peoples rights be safeguard and honoured before Almighty God.


NOW THESE PRESENTS WITNESS AS FOLLOWS:

1. THAT we do take back the possession of our full sovereignty and dominion of our people and Vanua wherever it may have been ceded and or assigned or exercised whether with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, His Excellency the President under the1997 Constitution of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of the Fiji Islands or what is commonly known as the Chaudhary Government elected under the said Constitution or in any other form whatsoever and commit, give, cede and assign our said possession f sovereign power and dominion over our people and Vanua to the Matanitu Vanua otherwise known as Taukei Civilian Government that we may rule ourselves and determine our own destiny for the safety, peace and good governance of our people and Vanua and ensure that social, economic and political power shall not fall into the hands of other races to the detriment of our people and Vanua.

2. THAT we do give to the said Taukei Civilian Government possession and full Government Sovereignty and power over our Vanua and people and power to abrogate wholly and in totality the 1997 Constitution of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of the Fiji Islands and if already abrogated at law our support thereto, and full right to form a Matanitu Vanua otherwise known as Taukei Civilian Government consisting of persons in whom the trust of the Taukei can and shall be bestowed to further the collective and individual interest of the Taukei, and to prepare a Constitution that we can agree in for the welfare of our people and Vanua and other races to fully restore the paramount right and interest of indigenous Fijians now recognized and in line with the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (annexed here as Schedule 1) in consideration with the individual and group rights of others and our right to govern our own lands and protect our interest therein and power to grant full, absolute and whole some amnesty to all such persons taking part or in anyway whatsoever connected to the Civilian takeover from May 19th 2000 and those involved in the previous two military coup of 1987.

3. THAT pending the making of a Constitution to replace the said 1997 Constitution the said Matanitu Vanua otherwise known as Taukei Civilian Government shall establish such temporary or provisional Government which shall protect the best interest of our people and other races in our Vanua.

4. THAT in addition the said government is to put in place such measures, policies and institution, tribunal and or constitutional provision for correcting any historical errors of the Crown and or past Governments with regard to the alienation of ancestral lands, removal of any unfair or discriminatory provisions against owners of native lands in legislation regulations or leases of land registered in proprietary units in our Vanua in the Register of Native Lands and bring back into our ownership mineral resources under the ground up to economic zone and resources on to of ground inclusive of mahogany forests on our soil and sand in our foreshores and marine life within our island's territorial economic seas and ensure proper equitable return thereon for the use and maintenance of our people and Vanua and protection of our cultural properties at the same time make provision for the welfare of other races in the country and the placement of our people in the international community in accordance with conventions we wish to ratify.

5. THAT the said Matanitu Vanua or Taukei Civilian Government shall review all Lands taken for Public purposes and return all such Lands that are no longer needed for public purposes to the owners being Descendants or Heirs of the Ancestors who originally owned said Lands inclusive of Reclaimed Land over Fishing Rights to ensure fair share of ownership and income between the State and the Fishing Right Owner and to ensure that an equitable annuity sum is paid for all Lands in the Hands of the State for public purposes.

6. THAT the said Government shall put in place provisions for the Institution of Christianity as the Religion of our Vanua of Fiji but that Citizens of Fiji and visitors as may be in our Vanua shall be free to practice their Religion and of worship except that which takes away life or dignity of the human person.

7. THAT all public funds, that existing public buildings, houses, and offices, all enclosures and other pieces or parcels of Land now set apart, or being used for public purposes, and public vehicles, machines, plants, stores, fittings, articles, chattels, accessories, stock amenities, fixtures, and all public utilities and objects in our Vanua are hereby assigned, transferred and made over to the said Government or governmental arrangement and Civil Servants and Judiciary take note thereto this our taking and Cession of Sovereignty for the above cause for the welfare of our people, Vanua and other races in this our lands the Islands of Fiji.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have read the Fijian version above and certify that the English version has been explained to us we do HEREBY sign our names praying to God Almighty that He will bless this our document in trust for our Vanua and people and other races in these our Islands of Fiji hoping that our ancestors and people and posterity will extend their blessings thereon and that all peoples in our land and other lands may feel this our grace to which we pray to God Almighty the Father of all our spirits to grant His blessings thereon by the Grace of His Son Jesus Christ and if in anyway we have hurt and alienated people in these our above purposes we pray that God Almighty and such people may forgive us through their grace and understanding of the limitations and foibles of human kind.

NAME                     POSITION                     SIGNATURE

DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
OF TAUKEI RIGHTS

These are the principles adopted by the Taukei Civilian Government [Matanitu Vanua] which are consistent with the principles of indigenous rights adopted by the Fourth General Assembly of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, Panama, September 1984 and as reaffirmed and amended by representatives of indigenous peoples and organizations meeting in Geneva, July 1987, in preparation for the working group fifth session and currently adopted as the Draft United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In these declarations the "Taukei of Fiji" means all Fijian registered in the vola in Kawa Bula [VKB] and all their future generations.

Principle 1

All the Taukei of Fiji have the right of self-determination. By virtue of this right they may freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, religious, and cultural development.

Principle 2

All states within which indigenous people lives must recognize the population, territory and institutions of the Taukei of Fiji.

Principle 3

The cultures of the Taukei of Taukei of Fiji are part of the cultural heritage of mankind.

Principle 4

The tradition and customs of Taukei of Fiji must be respected by the states, and recognized as a fundamental source of law.

Principle 5

All the Taukei of Fiji have the right to determine the person or groups or persons who are included within its population.

Principle 6

Each individual Taukei and Tribal Taukei Groups of Fiji has the right to determine the form, structure and authority of its institutions including the Governnance of Fiji.

Principle 7

The Chiefly institutions of the Taukei of Fiji and their decisions, like those of states, must be in conformity with internationally accepted human rights both collective and individual.

Principle 8

The Tribal Taukei Groups of Fiji and their members are entitled to participate in the political life of Fiji.

Principle 9

The Taukei of Fiji shall have exclusive rights to their traditional lands and its resource: Where the lands and resources of the Taukei of Fiji have been taken away without their free and informed consent such lands and resources shall be returned.

Principle 10

The land rights of the Taukei of Fiji include surface and subsurface rights, full rights and interior and coastal waters and rights to adequate and exclusive coastal economic zones within the limits of international law.

Principle 11

The Taukei of Fiji may, for their own needs, freely use their natural wealth and resources in accordance with Principle 9 and 10.

Principle 12

No action or course of conduct may be undertaken which, directly or indirectly, may result in the destruction of land, air, water, sea, wildlife, habitat or natural resources without the free and informed consent of the affected Taukei of Fiji.

Principle 13

The original rights to their material culture, including archaeological sites, artifacts, designs, technology and works of art lie with the Taukei of Fiji.

Principle 14

The Taukei of Fiji have the right to receive education in their own language or to establish their own educational institutions. The languages of the Taukei of Fiji are to be respected by the Government of Fiji in all dealings between the Taukei of Fiji and the Government on the basis of equality and non-discrimination.

Principle 15

The Taukei of Fiji and their authorities have the right to be previously consulted and to authorize the realization of all technological and scientific investigations to be conducted within their territories and to be informed and have full access to the results of the investigation.

Principle 16

The Taukei of Fiji have the right, in accordance with their traditions, to move freely and conduct traditional activities and maintain kinship relationships across t5ibal and international boundaries.

Principle 17

Treaties between indigenous nations or peoples and representatives of States freely entered into, shall be given full effect under national and international law.

These principles constitute minimum standards, which the Taukei Civilian Government shall respect and agree to for and on behalf of the Taukei of Fiji.

MATANITU VANUA+