Faʻa Samoa

Aloha nō

Iʻm not sure if most of you know this but I am a member of an aiga from the fono of Faleniu on the island of Tutuila. My mother married a Samoan man who was of the Tiliʻaia family.  They are a very traditional family from American Samoa. His father was from the Villiage of Vaitogi. I was adopted by their family when I was a child. I can remember my grandmother on their side explaining the meaning of Faʻa Samoa to us. Faʻa Samoa from what I was told is very basic, its eloquence is based in its simplicity.  Go to church, go to work, fulfill your duties, and take care of your aiga, and they will take care of you in return. It is exactly like the traditional views of reciprocation held by our kupuna. 

Money is important but I would much rather work work the land and feed my family in that way. Everyone has a well defined role in the family. It was really funny in my house. The boys never really mixed with the girls, they slept in the house and we slept in the garage, we had our own bathroom and refrigerator. When we werent working we spent our time drinking ʻawa with the other men in our family. Strengthening our bonds by cracking jokes and listening to the adults talk out there problems, doing this helped guide us in the best ways to handle our future issues.

While I was in the army I lived with my families matai, he is my uncle Utisoni. He is a very quiet man, who displays unmatched generosity. I remember going with his to family reunions and his wearing his lawa lawa displaying his peʻa , he only did this during these events. He would stand proudly and accept finely woven mats, boxes of kalo, bundles of ʻawa and other things. He would then either call for my or my cousin Soni, to tell us what to give the gift giver in return, then he would speak in Samoan openly displaying his affection and respect for the person. 

If I had a dream job it would be to simply live off of our land and try to up hold the values that our kupuna held. Social capital to me is much more important than money. Social capital in forms of relationships are far more fulfilling to me then a pocket full of money. I love serving my kupuna, ʻaumakua and my akua. Humbling myself for the greater good of the ohana is so important to me. I really dont know if the society that is currently occupying us will allow us to live in the ways of our ancestors, because there is to much power in that.