Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, consisting of two main islands ; two smaller, inhabited islands ; and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands. Samoa is located 64 km (40 mi) west of American Samoa, 889 km (552 mi) northeast of Tonga, 1,152 km (716 mi) northeast of Fiji, 483 km (300 mi) east of Wallis and Futuna, 1,151 km (715 mi) southeast of Tuvalu, 519 km (322 mi) south of Tokelau, 4,190 km (2,600 mi) southwest of Hawaii, and 610 km (380 mi) northwest of Niue. The capital and largest city is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity.
Savaiʻi is the largest and highest island both in Samoa and in the Samoan Islands chain. The island is also the sixth largest in Polynesia, behind the three main islands of New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands of Hawaii and Maui. While it is larger than the second main island, Upolu, it is significantly less populated.
A lavalava, sometime written as lava-lava, also known as an 'ie, short for 'ie lavalava, is an article of daily clothing traditionally worn by Polynesians and other Oceanic peoples. It consists of a single rectangular cloth worn similarly to a wraparound skirt or kilt. The term lavalava is both singular and plural in the Samoan language.
Samoans or Samoan people are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language. The group's home islands are politically and geographically divided between the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. Though divided by national border, the culture and language are the same.
Polynesian culture is the culture of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. The development of Polynesian culture is typically divided into four different historical eras:
The Tongan archipelago has been inhabited for perhaps 3,000 years, since settlement in late Lapita times. The culture of its inhabitants has surely changed greatly over this long time period. Before the arrival of European explorers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Tongans were in frequent contact with their nearest Oceanic neighbors, Fiji and Samoa. In the 19th century, with the arrival of Western traders and missionaries, Tongan culture changed dramatically. Some old beliefs and habits were thrown away and others adopted. Some accommodations made in the 19th century and early 20th century are now being challenged by changing Western civilization. Hence Tongan culture is far from a unified or monolithic affair, and Tongans themselves may differ strongly as to what it is "Tongan" to do, or not do. Contemporary Tongans often have strong ties to overseas lands. They may have been migrant workers in New Zealand, or have lived and traveled in New Zealand, Australia, or the United States. Many Tongans now live overseas, in a Tongan diaspora, and send home remittances to family members who prefer to remain in Tonga. Tongans themselves often have to operate in two different contexts, which they often call anga fakatonga, the traditional Tongan way, and anga fakapālangi, the Western way. A culturally adept Tongan learns both sets of rules and when to switch between them.
Tapa cloth is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. In French Polynesia it has nearly disappeared, except for some villages in the Marquesas.
Malu is a word in the Samoan language for a female-specific tattoo of cultural significance. The malu covers the legs from just below the knee to the upper thighs just below the buttocks, and is typically finer and delicate in design compared to the Pe'a, the equivalent tattoo for males. The malu takes its name from a particular motif of the same name, usually tattooed in the popliteal fossa behind the knee. It is one of the key motifs not seen on men. According to Samoan scholar Albert Wendt and tattooist Su'a Suluape Paulo II, in tattooing, the term 'malu' refers to notions of sheltering and protection. Samoan women were also tattooed on the hands and sometimes the lower abdomen. These practices have undergone a resurgence since the late 1990s.
A grass skirt is a costume and garment made with layers of plant fibres such as grasses and leaves that is fastened at the waistline.
Sasa is a Samoan word for a particular group dance. The sasa can be performed by both males and females in a seated position or standing. Hand movements are used to depict activities taken from everyday life.
The Peʻa is the popular name of the traditional male tatau (tattoo) of Samoa, also known as the malofie. It is a common mistake for people to refer to the pe'a as sogaimiti, because sogaimiti refers to the man with the pe'a and not the pe'a itself. It covers the body from the middle of the back to the knees, and consists of heavy black lines, arrows, and dots.
The architecture of Samoa is characterised by openness, with the design mirroring the culture and life of the Samoan people who inhabit the Samoa Islands. Architectural concepts are incorporated into Samoan proverbs, oratory and metaphors, as well as linking to other art forms in Samoa, such as boat building and tattooing. The spaces outside and inside of traditional Samoan architecture are part of cultural form, ceremony and ritual.
The Taualuga is a traditional Samoan dance, considered the apex of Samoan performance art forms and the centerpiece of the Culture of Samoa. This dance form has been adopted and adapted throughout western Polynesia, most notably in Samoa, The Kingdom of Tonga, Uvea, Futuna, and Tokelau. The renowned Tongan version is called the tau'olunga.
Adrienne Lois Kaeppler was an American anthropologist, curator of oceanic ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. She served as the President of the International Council on Traditional Music between 2005 and 2013. Her research focused on the interrelationships between social structure and the arts, including dance, music, and the visual arts, especially in Tonga and Hawaii. She was considered to be an expert on Tongan dance, and the voyages of the 18th-century explorer James Cook.
Indigenous architecture refers to the study and practice of architecture of, for, and by Indigenous peoples.
Oceanian culture encompasses the collective and diverse customs and traditions of art, architecture, music, literature, lifestyle, philosophy, politics and religion that have been practiced and maintained by the many ethnic groups of the geographical region of Oceania since prehistory. Cultures of Oceania reflect not only that of the region's indigenous peoples, but also the cultures brought by European colonisation and the United States, particularly through mass culture such as cinema and TV. Oceania is commonly divided into four geographic sub-regions, characterized by shared cultural, religious, linguistic, and ethnic traits: Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Most Oceanian countries are multi-party representative parliamentary democracies, and tourism is a large source of income for the Pacific Islands nations.
Dan Taulapapa McMullin is an American Samoan artist, known for their poetry, visual art and film. Their major themes are their indigenous Samoan heritage and their fa'afafine gender identity. McMullin has been creating literary and artistic works for over 35 years, and has received numerous awards, fellowships, and grants. They work in a variety of literary styles and visual art modes. In their adult life, they have spent time in Los Angeles, and now live with their partner in Laguna, California, and Hudson, New York.
Chief Sielu Avea is a Samoan-born comedian and ambassador of Polynesian culture. Since 2012 he has been the producer and host of Chief's Luau, a Hawaiian Lūʻau on Oahu.
Mary Jewett Pritchard was an American Samoan textile artist. Pritchard is widely credited with reviving the art of siapo, the Samoan version of tapa, handmade cloth created by pounding the bark of plants.
Pisupo Lua Afe is a pop art sculpture created by the New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery in 1994. It is the first in a series of tin animals, made from the packaging of foods common in Samoa. Addressing his Samoan heritage, neocolonialism and the distress of indigenous peoples in the Pacific, it is one of his most celebrated works.
