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The earliest history of Samoa concerns a political center in the easternmost Samoan islands of Manu'a, under the rule of the Tui Manu'a. In the Cook Islands to the east, the tradition is that Karika, or Tui Manu'a 'Ali's, came to the Cook Islands from Manu'a; suggesting that the rest of Polynesia was settled from Manu'a and Samoa.
Samoans or Samoan people (Samoan: tagata Sāmoa) 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.
Samoa, [note 1] officially the Independent State of Samoa [note 2] and known until 1997 as Western Samoa (Samoan: Sāmoa i Sisifo), is an island country in Polynesia, consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono and Apolima); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nuʻutele, Nuʻulua, Fanuatapu and Namua).
The traditional culture of Samoa is a communal way of life based on Fa'a Samoa, the unique socio-political culture. In Samoan culture, most activities are done together. The traditional living quarters, or fale (houses), contain no walls and up to 20 people may sleep on the ground in the same fale. During the day, the fale is used for chatting ...
In Samoan culture, a family is more prestigious if they own a lot of land; and family members (especially males) receive greater titles and a bigger share of the land. According to oral tradition, when High Chief Lilomaiava caught anyone from the east side on the west side of the island, he would force them to climb a coconut tree upside-down ...
Queen Salamāsina (fl. in the 1500s) was a powerful and high-ranking woman in Samoan social history. She held the four papā (district) titles which gave her the paramount status of Tafaʻifā ('one supported by four') on the western islands of Samoa. [1]
In Samoan mythology, Tagaloa (also known as Tagaloa-Lagi or Tagaloa, Lagi of the Heavens/Skies) is generally accepted as the supreme ruler, [1] the creator of the universe, the chief of all gods and the progenitor of other gods. Tagaloa Lagi dwelt in space and made the Heavens the sky, the land, the seas, the fresh water, the trees and the people.
The Samoan taualuga is known for its graceful refinement, subtle hand and facial gestures, and the stately poise of the dancers movements and postures. [23] The elegant nature of the dance is emphasized by the contrasting "aiuli" or "fa'aluma" performers who, often spontaneously, dance alongside and behind the taupou with exaggerated gestures ...