WELCOME to the

BEAUTIFUL ISLAND OF
SAMOA

Anastasia Paniani
06.18.09
HISTORY OF AMERICAN SAMOA (Tutuila)

• American Samoa has been a territory of the United

States since April 7, 1900 when the High Chief signed the
first 2 deeds to the United States
• Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa
• The population isn’t very large - It’s about 57,663 people
• The language spoken is Samoan & English - most people
are bilingual.
• The religions are Christian Congregationalist (50%),
Roman Catholic (20%), & Protestants/other (20%)
• U.S. $$$
 HISTORY OF WESTERN SAMOA
• The capital of Samoa is Apia
• In 1962 Samoa was the first island to gain
independence
• In 1970 it became a member of
Commonwealth
• In 1997 Western Samoa adopted the name
Samoa
 Dance/Siva Fa’asamoa
• “Talofa Lava Ulufale maia ile tatou Fale Malo.” Alala maia sei palu le
Ava. “Hello, come in & let’s start the kava ceremony”
• A tapou is a daughter of the high chief [matai]. Her key role is she
dances the taualunga as the finale of any celebration of the Samoan
Culture. The taualunga & the taupou is a dance that portrays the
beauty & elegance & the dignity of the Samoan Culture. The mania is
the high chief’s son. He also can perform the taualuga
• The tuwinna headdress has three parts: A shell headband , a human
hair head cover, & three sticks that symbolize the importance of a
taupo.
• These dances are usually performed at birthdays, weddings,&
Samoan celebrations
 SAMOAN LANGUAGE/TAUTALA SAMOA

• Talofa Lava-Hello
• Ua mai oe lenei aso-how are you doing today?
• Aulelei-Beautiful/Pretty
• Fa’afetai-Thank you
• Soia/aua- Stop
• Teine/Tama-Girl/Boy
• Fa’afine/Tamaloa-Woman/Man
 TATTOO’S/PE’A
• Taulima/Tauvae-is the hand bracelet tattoo &
the ankle tattoo.
• Pe’a/Malu- the matai/chief gets the pe’a
tatted from stomach to a little bit above the
knee. The woman gets the malu tatted, which
is very similar to the men. The only difference
is that it’s from waist down to a little bit above
the knee
 FOOD/MEA’AI
• FOOD IS A VERY BIG THING IN THE SAMOAN
CULTURE
• Oka-is raw fish w/ onion, coconut milk, & salt
• Umu-is a way Samoans cook food. It’s outside.
• Sea-seafood made from the innards of a sea
slug. It is normally sold in coke bottles at the
food markets.
 CLOTHING/OFU
• The traditional clothing Samoan clothing for
woman is called puletasi. Usually worn for
church & special occasions. The ie’faitaga is
what men wear. The lava lava is like a sarong
worn by man or woman. It’s made with
different patterns & designs.
BEAUTIFUL BEACHES OF SAMOA