Samoan History and Culture - Essay Example

SAMOAN HISTORY AND CULTURE INTRODUCTION Etymology of the word SAMOA signifies sacred center where sa means "sacred" and moa means "center Centrality which is a very observable feature of Samoan culture is a very important aspect of Samoan Identity. Mageo stated that even the Prehistoric Samoan petroglyphs feature a centrality motif - a perfect ring of indents around an open space (Kikuchi 1964). This centrality motif is also revealed in the political domains of Samoans. The topography of their villages shows an ellipsis with the titular head in the center or the malae. In terms of geography Samoa or the Samoan islands is an archipelago in the Central South Pacific forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania. The people of the Samoan Islands share a common language – Samoan, a common culture – fa’a Samoa and an indigenous form of governance called fa’amatai.2 “Due to colonialism, the Samoa Islands and people were divided by Western powers. Today, politically the islands have two jurisdictions, the independent country of Samoa at the western half of the islands, and the territory of American Samoa comprising the islands to the east. The two regions are separated by 64km of ocean. Most Samoans are full-blooded and comprise one of the largest Polynesian populations in the world.3 THE SAMOAN WAY Fa’a Samoa means the Samoan Way.4 Fa’a Samoa dictates how Samoans should conduct themselves. This brings out the Samoan Identity and how they should fulfill their obligations towards their families, their communities, the Church and their fellow Samoans. At the heart of the Samoan Identity is Respect, an unquestioning respect for their established institutions, their systems and their elders. Samoan culture is composed of three main parts – faith, family and music. THE SAMOAN FAITH Religion is a very important part of the Samoan Culture. Samoa’s motto in fact is based on religion – “Samoa is founded on God”5 Originally Samoans had a polytheistic religion. This belief is divided in to two – the Atua (non-human) and Aitu gods (human) which also include ancestor worship.6 “The Samoan religion however contained the seeds of its own destruction because the war goddess (Nafanua) had prophesied that a new religion will come which would end the rule of the old gods.”7 Thus, when religious expeditions arrived in Samoa, assimilation of the new world was not met by too much resistance. Today, the main religions in Samoa include Congregational, Catholic, Methodist, Assembly of God, Seventh Day Adventist, Bahai,, the Latter Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses.8 Paganism was replaced by the promise of eternal life of these new religions. But what remains is that religion plays a central part in the lives of Samoans. THE SAMOAN FAMILY In Samoa, the aiga (extended family) is all important.9 Villages are composed of aiga’s and the greater the number of members each aiga has, the more powerful and influential an aiga becomes over the village affairs. Usually, Samoan families are large with 12 or more children. Because families play an integral part in the lives of Samoans, most activities are done together. They even have this living quarter, relaxing and chatting area during the day and sleeping quarters of about 20 people during the night. This place is called the fale or the Samoan house. What is very unique about the Samoan house is that it has no walls and the extended families sleep together on the ground. Another unique characteristic of the Samoan Family System is their fa’amatai. This is a centuries old system of local government that has chiefs or matai, who are nominated as leaders of the aiga.10 The family life of a Samoan is a linkage between aigas, villages and the whole community. Samoans take pride in their collective status and identity. They have an interdependent relationship between all the members of the aigas. Nowadays, it can be observed that a large number of Samoans no longer live in the islands. The distinctness of the Samoan culture and the strong influence it has on the family members has caused a strain in the lives of the migrant Samoans. A study conducted by Halaevalu F. Ofahengaue Vakalahi, Ph.D., MSW and Meripa T. Godinet, Ph.D., MSW on the Family, and Culture and the Samoan Youth11 reveals that Samoan family ties, tradition has become a catalyst to the rising delinquency among the Samoan colored migrants. The study has posited that there are positive and negative sides to the family set-up. First is the cohesiveness of Samoan families which may serve as a protective mantle against delinquency. But in the mind of a growing Samoan adolescent the conflict of an interdependent family and community system versus the very individualistic American culture poses some confusion. This is the big challenge both to the adolescent and the Samoan family. Further, the economic level of Samoan families may also push adolescents to delinquency. The paper however concluded that family cohesiveness, church and spirituality can be strong sources of protection against the different forms of deviant behavior among Samoan adolescents. SAMOAN MUSIC Like all other cultures, music is integral to Samoans. Songs reflect their innermost feelings and emotions. In Samoa, inhabitants sing together, share experiences of the past and of the present and their aspirations for the future thru their songs. They sing their songs with their traditional musical instruments like the pate ( hollowed-out log), a fala (rolled up mat beaten with sticks), a conch shell blown for signaling, a Jews harp, a raft panpipe and a nose-blown flute. Samoans have special musical, theatrical presentations such as the fiafia. The traditional dances like the Siva Samoa and Sasa are incorporated in these presentations. Stories and themes about everyday life are enacted in these performances. The Siva Samoa is a group dance particularly reflecting Samoan Culture thru delicate and gentle movements. Siva in Samoan Language means dance.12 Before, this dance was used to be danced by the Matais or the society head. But now this dance has several versions and danced by Samoans from all levels. “When performing a Siva dance, the performers have to wear a particular dance dress – the Siva dance dress with the head dress that is made out of hair of human hair and also feathers. The Samoan term to describe this special head dress during Siva dance is, Tuiga.”13 Another traditional ceremonial Samoan dance is the Siva Afi. This dance is composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing or Siva Afi dance while twirling the knife and doing other acrobatic stunts.14 This dance has its roots in the Samoan exhibition called “ailao”. Ailao is a presentation of the battle expertise of a Samoan warrior thru artful dancing, throwing, twirling and catching with a war club. THE SAMOAN CEREMONY The Ava Ceremony is one of the most important customs of the Samoa Islands involving a solemn ritual where a ceremonial beverage is drunk to mark most important occasions in Samoan society.15 All important events, occasions and undertakings like bestowal of chiefly titles and welcoming and farewells of visitors always include this ceremonial drinking. THE SAMOAN CLOTHING The traditional Samoan clothing is the PULETASI. It is worn by Samoan women on cultural and formal events, in going to church and on other formal events. Originally, puletasi is a matching skirt and tunic with Samoan designs. But variations of the dress are now developed such as the female full dress and other improvisations. Another type of traditional Samoan clothing is the lava lava which is a sarong and can be worn by men or women. THE TATAU The word tattoo in the English Language is believed to have originated from the Samoan word tatau.16 Tatau is a process for the Pe’a the body tattooing of Samoans which uses traditional handmade tools of bones, tusks, turtle shell and wood. The female version of Pe’a is Malu. Since this traditional tattooing does not use anesthesia, this is regarded with cultural identity, pride and great respect for the courage of those who complete the ritual. Pe’a may take a week to years. Hence the ritual is viewed as a hallmark of manhood and womanhood among Samoans. Three persons work on a Pe’a – the Tufuga ta tatau (master tattooists) and the two assistants. The ink used is black which starts from the back to the belly with symmetrical patterns, lines and blocks of dark covers. Body tattooing serves many purposes for different peoples and different cultures. But for the Polynesians tattooing mediates relations between persons, the sacred, the past and the present.17 With tattooing the body multiplies, negotiates societies, individuals, the human and the divine. HOW THE CULTURE FLOURISHES Polynesian prose and poetry including that of the Samoans are great contributory factors to the preservation and flourishing of a whole culture and tradition. John Charlot in fact, wrote in his book entitled Some Uses of Chant in Samoan Prose that myths, “were taught to the children of the family with great secrecy, and the different parts of a myth and its song were committed to the special care of the different members of the family; so that a young man would have the special care of the prose part, and a young woman that of the poetic part, while to the older members, and especially the head of the family, belonged the prerogative of explaining the meaning of the various allusions of the poetic lines.”18 With this arrangement parts and parcels of prose and poetry is held with utmost reverence and treated as a legacy. Hence a single line of this prose and poetry would often convey the history and the tradition of a great generation. Samoans indeed have a very unique understanding of the world and the person. Their spirituality is so deep that it is written in all of their traditions. Their systems and social control are advanced, constituted and hardly encouraging conflicts among constituents. But as Brad Shore wrote in his book, Reading Samoans through Tahitians19, cultural symbols and meanings could not possibly encompass all that mattered in human experience, what is far more important for a SAMOAN is how to render certain experiences more easily communicable to both the self and to others. Culture therefore does not construct reality.20 Read More