I should really put the word “traditional” in quotation marks, because what is traditional anymore? I’ve heard some stories about weddings back in the ancient, less Christian days of Samoa. Don’t quote me on this stuff, cause I can’t remember who told me these tales, but apparently… True(ish?) Story Time In the old days, a […]
Stories from a German Samoa
German Samoa (1900-1914) was also Chinese Samoa. Apparently, German landowners couldn’t find many local Samoans willing to work for them, so they immigrated almost 4000 Chinese laborers on temporary (usually 3-year) contracts. This time in our history – plus the upcoming Spanish influenza outbreak (1918) that killed thousands – forever changed the genetic make up […]
Walk down the Samoan History Lane
Our guest blogger Anna Taylor shares a quick snapshot of (Western) Samoa’s history – from our origin story, to European colonial rule, to independence. Come take a walk with her back in time… The History of the Samoan people is one that is shrouded in a lot of ambiguity. Several theories have been put forward […]
Samoan Independence Day – Memories and Contemplation
Today marks the 51st year since (Western) Samoa gained independence. (Well, it actually happened on the first of January, 1962, but we celebrate it in June). For a relatively young island nation, Samoa has a rich and spirited history, and every year on this day we remember with gratitude the long and painful protests our […]
Old photos from the Samoana Newspaper
Some of you might remember the Samoana Newspaper which ran in New Zealand from 1979 to 2006. One Samoana inherited a bunch of old photos from the paper – 4 boxes full even – that we’re only now beginning to sort through. As many of those who operated the newspaper (and took these photos) have […]
O LE TAUA MA TOGA. TUNA, FATA, ULUMASUI, TAPULOA, SAVEA
Ua uma ona outou silafia o Asoaitu na ia mua’i faatoilaloina Samoa. Na mavae atu ia, ae solo lelei pea le faiga a ona sui ia Samoa. O le avea o Talaaifeii ma tupu o le malo o Toga, na liliu ai le tulaga o mea, ma ua vevesi ona o le saua o lenei […]
FEEPO ma ATIOGIE
Toe faatalofa atu i le mamalu o Samoa atoa e amata mai Saua se’ia pa’ia le Fafa o Saualii. O se tasi lenei o tala ta’uta’ua i le Tala Faasolopito o Samoa. Usi mai loa lau faafofoga. O Feepo le tupuaga o le Malietoa, e to’atolu lana fanau, e toalua tama ma le teine. O […]
O le Tala o Pili i Samoa i Sisifo. Ulua’i Ava
Talofa lava! E lua tala o Pili na tusia. O le tala na tusia e Kramer ma le tala sa tusia e Mr. Stuebel. O le tala lenei sa tusia e Mr. Stuebel ua lau silafia e faitau laulu o le atunu’u. E toalua afafine o Faleaseu, o Tinopoula ma Sinaafalua. Na alu Sina i […]
O LE ULUA’I TAUA – O LE TALA I LE TAUA O LE AU USO
Na uma le mavaega a le alii matua o Pili i ona atalii, ona taitasi lea o le tama ma lau i le vaega o Upolu (po o Manono) ua tofia i ai. Sa tausia pea i nisi tausaga lo latou fealofani ma le filemu i le va o o latou itumalo. Ae peitai, na […]
Super Samoan
I’m not sure if it was exactly brainwashing by my parents, but growing up us kids we always felt proud to be Samoan. But it always seemed to be more than a feeling. It felt like it was in our blood. This supposed biological trait ’special only’ to Samoans were confirmed by the reaction of other Samoans I met throughout my life. We all felt there was something special to being Samoan, something inherent, something born in us.
Therefore, it isn’t hard to see how other people could interpret that Samoan pride into Samoan arrogance. Of course some of us Samoans would cheekily quip back with that line on my favourite t-shirt: “you’re just a wannabe Samoan”. Hence the popularity of the t-shirt.
