01690nas a2200205   4500000000100000000000100001000000100002008004100003653004800044653003900092653003500131653002300166653001400189100002000203245010600223300001200329490000700341520112200348022001401470       2010                            d10aEconomic and social development (THE\_5342)10aIntellectual property (THE\_12504)10aIndigenous peoples (THE\_1844)10aTourism (THE\_202)10aFiji (FJ)1 aGuido Pigliasco00aWe Branded Ourselves Long Ago: Intangible Cultural Property and Commodification of Fijian Firewalking  a161-1810 v803 aThe Fijian firewalking ceremony (vilavilairevo), traditionally performed only by members of the Sawau people on the island of Beqa, is a prime example of a propitiation ritual that has become commodified to suit the requirements of tourism. The Sawau ‘gift’ of walking on white-hot stones introduces another dimension of the gift practice. Although gifts and commodities are often treated as ideal-type opposites, and a tradition of Melanesian scholarship has focused attention on the inalienability of gifts, I argue that the self-consciously traditional firewalking practice of Beqa Island, Fiji, is an inalienable sui generis commodity that becomes effective by ‘branding’ Fijian concepts of different places  distinct custodianships. Over the last two centuries, the gift of firewalking has transmuted itself into a sociocultural tool that has consistently indigenized the power of the foreign. The gift of firewalking has allowed its custodians to locally sustain their community, to gain a reach and respect across the nation and beyond, and to intensify the group s social sentiment and social capital.  a0029-8077