SAMOAN HISTORY

By: Isabela Chavez

Table of Contents:

Housing
Clothing
Climate
Family history
language
Samoa Housing
Most Samoans live in villages in
traditional Samoan houses called
fales. A fale is usually round or oval,
with pebble floors and a thatch roof.
It has no walls, being supported on
the sides by posts. Coconut-leaf
blinds can be lowered to exclude
wind and rain. In areas more affected
by contact with Europeans, the fale
may have a concrete floor, corrugated
iron roof, and lattice-work walls.
Another fused Samoan-European
type, much used by chiefs and
pastors, is an oblong concrete house
with some walls, often with separate
rooms in each corner; like the fale it
is open at the sides. Fales are
grouped around an open area in the
center of the village and have
separate cookhouses behind them.
 Clothing
The Samoan archipelago consists of 15
inhabited islands in the South Pacific that are
located approximately 14 degrees south latitude
and between 171 and 173 degrees west longitude.
The archipelago is a politically divided one. The
eastern group of islands is known as American
Samoa, a U.S. territory with a population of
41,000. The total land area of American Samoa is
77 square miles and includes seven major
islands: Tutuila (which includes the territorial
capital of Pago Pago), Aunu'u, Ta'u, Ofu,
Olosega, Swains Island, and Rose Atoll.
American Samoa is administered by an elected
governor and territorial legislature as well as a
non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives. The native-born residents of
American Samoa are considered American
nationals. While they do not pay U.S. income
taxes or vote in U.S. presidential elections, they
may serve in the U.S. armed services.
 Climate
 Western Samoa's climate is tropical. Although it is in the
southern hemisphere, because of it's proximity to the equator
there is no major seasonal difference such as the summer and
winter that occurs in more temperate regions. There is however
a rainy and a dry season and a slight difference in temperature
associated with these. Another effect of being in the tropics is
that the days and nights are of almost equal length, so if you
want to get the most out the day you should really be an early
riser.
 Occaisonally Samoa is affected by a cyclone, most recently in
1993 the damage from that cyclone still being visible in some of
the more remote areas such as Falealupo on Savai'i.
 The islands are volcanic and there is an active volcano on
Savai'i. The region does have occasional small tremors.
Family History
In Samoa the aiga (extended family) is
all important. Every village is
composed of several aiga. The larger
the aiga the more important it is and
more power it can wield in village
affairs. This leads to, what is a
usually, healthy competition between
aiga.
Samoan families are usually large; it is
not unusual for there to be 12 or more
children. Traditionally members of
the family would work land that was
allocated to them by the matai, but
now it is increasingly common for
families to encourage their children to
work in Apia so they can earn a wage.
There are now more Samoans living
outside of Samoa than in the islands
themselves. Most of these send money
back to the family on a regular basis.
Last Modified: 23/11/97
 Samoan Language
Samoan English Samoan alphabet:
aso- day Aa, Āā Ee, Ēē Ii, Īī Oo,
vaiaso- week Ōō Uu, Ūū Ff Gg Ll
Aso Gafua- Monday Mm Nn Pp Ss Tt Vv
Aso Lua- Tuesday (Hh) (Kk) (Rr) ‘
/a/, /aː/ /ɛ/, /eː/
Aso Lulu- Wednesday
/iː/ /o/, /ɔː/ /ʊ/,
Aso Tofi- Thursday
/uː/ /f/ /ŋ/ /l,
Aso Faraile- Friday
ɾ/ /m/ /n, ŋ/ /p/
soTo'ona'i- Saturday
/s/ /t, k/ /v/ (/h/)
Aso Sa- Sunday
(/k/) (/ɾ/) /ʔ/