15+ Samoan names for your lover (from old Samoan love songs)
What is your favourite loved up pet name for your significant other? It is babe? Baby? Bae? Honey? Hun? Sweetheart? Sweetie? Darling? Dear? So many Samoan couples I know have adopted these English terms of affection, but until quite recently, I had no idea how many mushy pet names we also have in the Samoan […]
7 Reasons you should watch ‘Return to Paradise’
Want to see real Samoans on screen but from 70 years ago? How about… wanna hear the Samoan language spoken beautifully (mostly) on a Hollywood film? You gotta watch Return to Paradise (1953). You can watch right now, even, on YouTube. Why I Love Return to Paradise During a family reunion in Samoa ages and […]
Secrets of the Samoan-style pineapple custard pie
This article was first posted in March 2013 on our previous website, One Samoana.
How to Greet a Samoan Matai (Chief)
The heartbeat of Samoan culture is love and respect, or fa’aaloalo. How we greet people is a very public demonstration of this respect. Like a lot of languages, we have informal greetings for our peers and friends and then formal greetings for people we don’t know as well, or for those in authority over us […]
Why you shouldn’t become a Samoan matai (and also why you should)
While a Samoan matai does not wield the kind of supreme authority you might expect of royalty in other cultures, our fa’amatai – our system of government, our network of chiefs – is still fundamental to the Samoan way of life. For this reason, the bestowing of a matai title should not be taken lightly […]
Matai – How to become a Samoan Chief [Part 2]
In the first article of this series, we looked at what it means to be a matai and how you could begin the process of becoming a Samoan chief. So now, let’s say your family has finished deliberating and you are the chosen one… then let’s say you did some soul-searching and ultimately decided that, Yes. You will accept the […]
Matai – How to Become a Samoan Chief [Part 1]
How does one become a matai, or Samoan chief? The process is a fascinating mix of inheritance and election. You have to be an heir to a title – but all Samoans are heirs to at least one matai title – and then your family has to elect you to the role. That’s generally how […]
15+ pretty Samoan girl names, with nice meanings [and audio]
A relative once asked my mom for baby names. He and his wife were expecting a girl and wanted to give her a beautiful, meaningful Samoan name. My mom delved into the family history and over a few days she came up with a list of names. Each of these Samoan names carried so much […]
Fa’alifu Kalo: Make Samoan style coconut cream taro
We start by choosing a good piece of taro and end up with a delicious Samoan staple that goes great with your favourite meat dish.
Beautiful Samoan Words… that make great baby names too!
My Receipts I am a student of linguistics who’s a little bit obsessed with the semantics and pragmatics of the Samoan language. This post is a product of several conversations with my mother, who used to run a Samoan language newspaper and is currently a professional Samoan translator, plus a trio of Samoan-born cousins. One […]