Every time I visit the ruggedly beautiful islands of Samoa, I find myself having a similar conversation with my Samoan friends. I playfully remark, "Well, it's good to be back in the thick of Polynesia again."
But their response is always the same, correcting me with pride, "Polynesia? You caught the wrong plane. You're in Samoa. These Polynesians you write about, they might have come from somewhere else. But we didn't. We come from Samoa."
I attempt to suggest that they, too, could have made those great Pacific voyages, but they firmly reject the idea. "No, we'll leave that to the other Polynesians. We Samoans have always been here, and don't you go forgetting it again!"
With those words, the solemn expressions on our faces dissolve into laughter. We raise our glasses to the Samoans of Samoa, and the rest of Polynesia becomes a distant thought.
Early Samoans held such a strong belief in their island's origin that even the arrival of the Bible's account of man's beginning in the Garden of Eden didn't faze them. For Samoa, in their eyes, was the true paradise.
In any Samoan conversation, you're sure to hear the phrase "fa'a Samoa" - the
Samoan way. It stands in contrast to the "papalagi" - the white man's way.
David Vaoifi Tusa, illuminated by swirling torches, gracefully performs an ancient knife dance against the backdrop of a cascading waterfall on Upolu Island. Samoans take immense pride in their heritage, striving to preserve "fa'a Samoa" - the Samoan way.
By Maurice Shadbolt and Olaf Ruhen.
