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__** Samoan Culture **__ Samoan culture is greatly based on Fa'a Samoa, or the Samoan Way. Samoans follow Fa'a, as they were taught this at a very early age to carry on with them for the rest of their lives. Fa'a is what what seperates Samoans from other cultures (Byers). The Samoans hold tight to this way of life, even if another way of life is put onto them (Hamilton).

__Languauges__: People in this culture speak Samoan, with English as a secondary language. Children of the Samoan culture are taught a type of formal language called "respectful" language. This language is carried with them throughout life (Byers). The Samoan language is dominant across the Samoan Islands and is spread throught New Zealand, where they just recently started to recognize the language with a new holiday, Samoan Language Day (Scoop).

__Beliefs__: The Samoan culture has a celebration for the children. They have White Sunday and White Monday. White Monday follows White Sunday, which is the second sunday in October. There are two parts to the Samoan islands; Independent Samoa and American Samoa. In Independent Samoa, they have a week devoted to Independence in which they are given speeches from the tulafale, or "talking chiefs". They also include dancing, feasting, and other sporting events to carry out this celebration. In American Samoa, they celebrate Flag Day which is on April 17th. This celebration includes traditional sports, an arts festival, singing, dancing, and much more festive activities (Stalcup). Samoan culture worshiped multiple gods. The supreme god, Tagaloa, was the creator of everything. They do not believe in human sacrifice (Byers). Samoa is dominantly Christian belief.

__Values__: Traditional dress is worn at festivals. The men and women both wear wraparound skirts, known as lavalava. These cover the tattoos of the people. The people of this culture are very into tattoos. Samoan men are usually tattooed from waist to knee. Samoan women are usually tattooed only at the thighs. The tattoos of the women are only exposed during community occasions, like 'ava ceremonies. Other than that, women are well covered most of the time (Stalcup). Samoan families live a lifestyle where everyone in the family shares with one another. The family can be any immediate family as well as close friends or anybody living in the household. A matai is selected from each household to support the members of it. They are treated with great respect, but can lose the privelege if they don't provide. Children do what they're told, no questions asked (Byers).

__Behaviors__: The Samoans have a ritual of harvesting the palolo reef worm every year this is considered to be the highlight of their year. The palolo reef worm is spawned from reefs in abundance once a year. Samoans wear yellow flowers of the moso'oi for this tradition. The palolo worm is considered a great delicacy (Stalcup). Legend says that cannibalism was practiced in the very beginning until King Malietoa Faiga banned it because his son offered himself to him (Byers). In Samoan culture, the people use touching to show affection towards each other. This does not only apply to those you are attracted to, but it is used when with your family. Family is greeted with kisses (Brown). When people come to visit the islands, they are greeted with dance (Caitlincorrine).

__Impact of Factors on Cultural Change__: Even with all of the factors of cultural change, the Samoan culture is very reluctant on their beliefs and values. With travel, they have started to attract a heavier tourist attendance, but they still choose to live their life according to the fa'a Samoa as they have from the beginning. They use technology for communication. Evidence of globalization can be seen with there being a McDonalds in the capital of Samoa, which is mostly used by the tourists. They now have trade relations with New Zealand, Austrailia, Germany, and the United States (Machpherson).

__Sources__:

Brown, Nina. "My Samoa Experience: Round 2." Web log post. I Am Nina Brown. Nina Brown, 03 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. -This blog was created by a girl that traveled to the Samoan islands and documented it. This helped me because it showed me why the people of this culture do the things they do, such as how they show affection.
 * Web blog post.

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. 26 Jan. 2011. -This article focused on the values of the Samoan culture. It was useful because I could understand what a lot of these values were.

Caitlincorrine. "Talofa Samoa." Web blog post. Hello World! WordPress.com. 05 Oct. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. -This blog explained this women's trip to Samoa. She explained how everyday life in Samoa was, and gave me an understanding of how these people carry out life. It also helped me by informing me about how she was greeted with dance.

Hamilton, Andrew. "Nineteenth-century French missionaries and 'fa'a Samoa.'." //The Journal of Pacific History// 33.2 (1998): 163+. //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. -This journal focused on people of the Samoan culture following the fa'a Samoa. This showed me how important it is for this culture to follow the fa'a Samoa. They follow the fa'a Samoa very strongly.

MACPHERSON, CLUNY. "Samoa." //Countries and Their Cultures//. Ed. Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. 1907-1912. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. -This reading covered almost all aspects of the Samoan culture. This was really helpful because i could pull information from this and compare it with my other findings to back up that information.

"Samoan Language Week Coming Soon." //Scoop Media// 17 May 2010. //InfoTrac Newsstand//. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. -This article is explaining how the Samoan language is being celbrated with a holiday over in Samoa's neighbor, New Zealand. This showed me that the Samoan language must be spreading if it is being recognized in another country.

Stalcup, Ann. "Holidays galore.(Samoan holidays)." //Faces: People, Places, and Cultures// May 2002: 22+. //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. -This print document came from a magazine published to make people aware of the different cultures around them. This helped me by informing me about the holidays of this culture, which gave me an idea about their beliefs and values.