Hair Form

StraightLow WaveDeep WaveCurlFrizzWoolTotal
No. %No. %No. %No. %No. %No. %
Total sample0 07 0.113 0.291 11.0702 8620 0813
Interior0 00 00 04 3149 970 0153
East0 01 110 837 3172 600 0120
Coast0 00 13 018 9188 900 0209
N.W.0 02 30 07 970 890 079
Fiji II0 00 00 019 1638 3359 51116
Solomons2 3.31 1.60 016 2617 2825 4161

Frizzly hair is the condition of over 85 per cent of Fijians; 11 per cent are curly-haired, whereas over twenty individuals have wavy hair. Straight hair is absent. The Fiji II series of Howell distinguishes between frizzly and wooly hair, which I do not. Their combined incidence is 83 per cent, quite close to my frequency of frizzly. Whether one does or does not distinguish between frizzly and wooly hair, there is no doubt that most Fijians have Negroid hair form. The Solomon Islanders are surprising with somewhat less Negroid hair form than the Fijians. Their combined percentage of frizzly and wooly is 69, which is nearly 20 per cent less than that of the Fijians. Twenty per cent have curly hair against 11 per cent among Fijians. Also, the only instances of straight hair occur in the Solomons.

In the Fijian breakdown, the interior groups have the most Negroid hair; 97 per cent have frizzly hair and 3 per cent have curly hair. The eastern people are the least Negroid in this respect; frizzly hair drops to 60 per cent, whereas curly hair advances to 30 per cent and wavy hair to 9 per cent. The coastal and northwestern series are closer to the interior groups with about 90 per cent frizzly hair.

Hair Texture

CourseMediumFineTotal
No. %No. %No. %
Total sample804 999 10 0813
Interior153 1000 00 0153
East116 974 30 0120
Coast208 1001 00 0209
N.W.78 991 10 079

Hair texture is prevailingly coarse; only 1 per cent of the total series shows medium coarseness and none have fine hair. This preponderance of coarse hair is much the same in all the provinces, although the eastern people do depart slightly with a 3 per cent incidence of medium-coarse hair.

It might be added that Fijian hair is quite stiff or wiry. For example, when the hair is unshorn, it stands out like a mop. A Fijian can insert a long stemmed flower in his hair and it will stay in place with no additional fastening.

Head Hair Quantity