Tribewanted: Vorovoro to Vegas

Home to Tribewanted - Vorovoro island, Fiji

It felt weird, wrong almost, as the taxi swung down the freeway and  onto the fabled strip in the desert.

A different kind of social experiment has been built here, on the back of the dream of a giant, larger than life, playground. And in amongst the fake plastic trees, cascading casino’s, Roman edifices and Elton John shops I wondered how I had come to this place? How would the story of a community on a Fijian island fit in here?

I was here because a ‘cyberinfluence’ conference for the federal government of the United States of America wanted to know about the tribe. They wanted to hear our story. And I thought this would be a good way to share it. So I went, to tell of a group of people connected by a place, a place where we build with our hands, and eat from the sea, and where the currency is a kava root.

They smiled, laughed, clapped and questioned. Endless questions. How did the on-line and on-island communities relate? Did I believe in the prophecy Tevita made to Tui Mali about the world coming to Vorovoro? How could I live on an island with no electricity?

Next up at the podium was a lecture on ‘law on the internet’, followed by ‘gaming: where next?’ I wandered out onto the shiny streets, won at black jack, gasped at cirque de soleil, and watched the energetic spending of millions of dollars. I found a small piece of grass, laid down, closed my eyes, and imagined I was back on Vorovoro.

Vorovoro gives us perspective on the world we’ve left behind. Vegas gave me perspective on the life I’d left on Vorovoro. I know where I’d rather be.