Drifting Identity Formation: A Disaggregation of Indo-Fijian Ethnic Labels

Approximately 37.6% of Fiji’s population is comprised of individuals that have\ud Indian descent (2007 census). This is primarily due to the recruitment of Indian\ud indentured servants to work on the sugar plantations of Fiji during British colonial\ud rule in the 1880s. Many descendants of these servants have since moved to\ud industrialized nations including the United States of America. The ethnic identity of\ud this immigrant population and their children is hard to distinguish when taking into\ud consideration the cross-cultural influences of both Indian and Fijian culture and there\ud residence in the US. Factors that contribute to ethnic identity formation, such as:\ud parent-child relationship, gender, language assimilation, co-ethnic members in\ud community, and location of birth. A survey was conducted in order to learn about the\ud variety of ethnic labels used by these individuals and assess their identity formation.\ud A total of 14 different ethnic labels were provided, with the majority of individuals\ud using ‘Indian’, ‘Asian’, or ‘Indo-’, to provide their ethnic identity. This thesis\ud contributes to the general knowledge of Indo-Fijian identity