Matai: A Complicated System of Chiefs
Matai is the Samoan word for leader, or chief, or even (in the poetic sense) father. Samoan society is organized by family, and each family has its own matai titles, which are connected to certain districts, villages and plots of family land. And that was the short...
The Creation Story in Samoan (with audio)
The best way to learn a language is to just dive in and learn it, right? As part of my goal to speak Samoan like a matai, I've been trying to stay immersed in the Samoan language - as much as I can in New Zealand. I've been hanging out with my matai uncles, listening...
How to Greet a Samoan Matai (Chief)
The heartbeat of Samoan culture is love and respect, or fa'aaloalo. How we greet people is a very public demonstration of this respect. Like a lot of languages, we have informal greetings for our peers and friends and then formal greetings for people we don't know as...
12 Alagaupu (Samoan Proverbs) about Family
A few years ago I told you about my grandfather's api (notebook) full of alagaupu that I wanted to study and really understand. I was going to look at twelve of those proverbs, consult with the Samoan cultural experts in my life then share with you what I had learned....
![Matai – How to become a Samoan Chief [Part 2]](https://i0.wp.com/1samoana.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1samoana1.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Matai – How to become a Samoan Chief [Part 2]
This is the second part of our series on The Path to Becoming a Samoan Chief. Please read Part 1 first, if you haven't already. Part 1 gives you a bit of background - where do matai titles come from? Who decides how your family's titles are distributed? How do you...
20 Most Asked Questions About Samoa – Answered by Samoans
We've all seen it. You're Googling something to do with Samoa and you see from the search results that others have been asking questions about Samoan people, too - but they're really basic questions that you thought everybody knew the answers to by now. Surely! But...
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