While tattooing originated centuries before the Pacific Islands were even populated, tatau - the Samoan tattoo artform - has been...
The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo (Tatau) – Part III
This is Part III of a series of posts about the Samoan tattoo - tauau. If you haven't already, please check out the previous articles in...
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Ie Sina – a lost Samoan art
Ever heard of an ie sina? Quick Samoan language lesson: Ie means sheet or a piece of fabric, like a mat. Sina, can either be short for sinasinā, which is a respectful way to refer to something white, for example: "Ua sinasinā le ulu a le lo'omatua" ...means, "The old lady's...
How the German bun got its name
I was hanging out with some new friends today over at the Auckland museum (they were celebrating the end of Samoan Language Week in New Zealand) when someone heated up a plate of mmmmmmm German buns. In case you don't know what they are, German buns are a deep fried, crispy on...
Matai: A Complicated System of Chiefs
Matai is the Samoan word for leader, or chief, or even (in the poetic sense) father. Samoan society is organized by family, and each family has its own matai titles, which are connected to certain districts, villages and plots of family land. And that was the short version of...
Recipe: REAL Samoan Panipopo!
I heard something disturbing this morning. One of my girls told me that she was Googling recipes for panipopo and came across some that called for store-bought, ready-made dough.. which you would then proceed to roll into dough balls… NO!!! NO NO NO!!!! Oh, and NOOOOO!!! It’s...
The Taualuga dance
Yes, I know. I could register at You Tube and put together a collection there of all my favourite clips, but I'm the cool dude (chick) that's going to be different and post my faves here. Why? Because as you can probably tell already, I like to talk / write and bringing the...
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