Trent+-+CA+-+SP10

**fa'a Samoa-** is what the Samoans call the way of the Samoan. It is how a Samoan should behave, believe, customs, traditions, and includes their language.
 * The Samoans- live on two different islands in the South Pacific**

The Samoans worship many gods. There most powerful and head god is Tagaloa. They believe that Tagaloa created everything and is supreme ruler of all. However they believe that none of their gods needs a human sacrifice or bloodshed as a tribute. The Samoans also don't have many idols or alters, but connect with the nature around them. The Samoans are dedicated and believe whole-heartedly in their fa'a Samoa. The first things learned as a Samoan child are respect, knowledge of fa'a Samoa, and their belief in their gods.
 * Beliefs-**

Cannibalism was practiced by the Samoans in their earlier days. According to legend this behavior stopped after a Samoan king's son presented himself to his father, alive and wrapped in coconut leaves. The coconut leaves are a result of their lush tropical coastline. Unlike western civilization female breasts are not a sexual symbol for the Samoans. In fact, Traditional Samoan women would dress as the men. Neither gender would wear shirts, and the men may have even worn less when hunting. Fishing in canoes is also common for these coastal people. There houses are constructed of local wood fromtropical trees and palm branches. With modernization of the world around them they continue their traditional way of living. Being mainly located on an island allows them to be suspended in time, so to speak. __Fa'a Samoa__ is the way of the Samoan, __Faiga uo__ is Samoan for making friends, __aiga__ is a large family that lives together, and __mat__ __ai__ is the leader of an aiga. The Samoans use a formal language, or "respectful" language for praying. This is learned at an early age. There are also several Samoan poems. Music is a big influence on this group of people. War songs, celebration songs, religious songs and chants are a portion of these peoples' use of their language. Some songs are rowing songs, and are taught as well as picked up by children. Their poetry as well as their songs are mainly responsive. The only forms of poetry that we would consider to be poetry they have is rhyme. Otherwise we would just think that they were trying to tell a story.
 * Behaviors-**
 * Language-**

The Samoans value their older members. They look to their great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and close older friends for guidance. Families include extremely extended blood-relatives and even friends living under the same roof. The Samoan word for these large families is aiga. In each aiga there is one matai, or leader. However this position may be taken away if the leader does not meet their obligations, or if the house does not run smoothly. Friendship and trust is very important to the Samoans. They try very hard to build and keep strong relationships with each other. This is all part of fa'a Samoa. Being friends, to a Samoan, is like being family.
 * Values-**


 * Works Cited-**
 * Secondary:** Byers, Charette G. "Fa'a Samoa: the Samoan way: for the children the 'obey without question' rule is hard to understand."Faces: People, Places, and Cultures Mar. 2010: 20+. Student Resource Center - Gold. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. - This website gives very good descriptions on the beliefs, values, and the way of the Samoans. This source was important in making my webpage for multiple topics.


 * Primary:** "MedLibrary.org -- Welcome to the Consumer Medication Information Library." MedLibrary.org -- Welcome to the Consumer Medication Information Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. - This photo was the first photo i found on Samoa when I looked in Wikipedia to get an initial understanding on these people. I am a firm believer in first impressions and this was my first impression of these people. So I found it important to include in my webpage.

**Journal:** North, Rosemarie. "Humanitarian diary: Tears and generosity in Samoa - Red Cross Red Crescent - News."International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). N.p., 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. - I chose this diary because not many diaries/journals have been written about Samoa in English. Also this disaster relief report gave me an understanding as to the nature that surrounds these people.

**Primary:** "Samoan Poetry | NZETC."New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-PraDict-c2.html - This collection of poetry gave me an insight into the language of the Samoans. This was very interesting and also important for my webpage.

**Primary/Print:** Webb, Virginia-Lee. "Picturing paradise: photographs of Samoan life and culture, 1875-1925." USA Today [Magazine] July 1996: 68+. Student Resource Center - Gold. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. - This was essential to understand exactly how these people live. The images of the Samoans fishing and building houses was a very fortunate and helpful find. These images allowed me to actually see what I had been researching.