Culture of Samoa

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The Culture of Samoa defines how Samoans have a communal way of life with little privacy: they do all their activities together and even traditional fales (houses) have no walls, and just use blinds made of coconut leaves during the night or bad weather. Up to 20 people may sleep on the ground in the same fale; during the day the fale is used for chatting and relaxing. Family is viewed as an integral part of life. The aiga or extended family lives and works together. Elders in the family are greatly respected and hold the highest status, and this may be seen at a traditional Sunday umu (rock oven).

Sundays are traditionally a day of rest, and many families congregate to share an umu together for a Sunday afternoon meal. In a traditional household, the older members of the family will sit and eat first, and as the meal continues the younger members and then children are invited to eat. The umu contains an abundance and variety of dishes ranging from fresh seaweed and crayfish to baked taro and rice. Coconut appears in many Samoan dishes, for example palusami, a parcel of corned beef, breadfruit, onions, taro leaves wrapped in breadfruit leaves and coconut cream and baked in the umu. This is eaten in its entirety including the leaves, and is rich in taste due to its coconut content.

Samoa is at present a deeply religious Christian country, despite traditional Samoan culture being characterized by and tolerant of behaviors contrary to the doctrines of Christianity. Protestant Christianity has become the main religious influence in Samoa since Missionaries from the London Missionary Society began proselyting there in the early 1830s (among them was Reverend George Pratt, who also wrote the first Samoan grammar). There are many churches to be found around the islands, which are often full on Sundays.

Samoan handicrafts can be found at the craft market and some shops. These include the siapo (equivalent to the Fijian tapa) which is made from beaten mulberry bark, and then patterns or pictures are painted on with a natural brown dye. Examples of pictures depicted are: fish, turtles, hibiscus flowers. The siapo may be used for clothing, for wrapping objects and even simply for decorative reasons. Kava bowls are sturdy, round wooden bowls made of varying sizes, and have many short legs around it. Kava is made up with water in the bowl and drunk socially using coconut shells to scoop up the drink. It is a ground natural extract from the pepper plant root and is used for medicinal and slightly anaesthetic properties. Other handicrafts are fine mats, ornaments or jewellery and hair accessories using naturally occurring materials such as sea shells, coconut and coir.

The traditional Samoan dance is the Siva. This is similar to the Hawaiian dance, with gentle movements of the hands and feet in time to music and which tells a story. Other types of dance are modern dance by the younger generations, at bars or nightclubs.

Traditional Samoan medicine is often practised as a first-line before hospital medicine. This is a type of alternative medicine using plant leaves to massage the affected area.

The traditional ladies clothing is the puletasi which is a matching skirt and tunic with Samoan designs. The lava lava is a sarong which may be worn by men or women. They are of different patterns and colours, but tend to be plain for men who may wear it as part of an official uniform. Some men have intricate and geometrical patterns tattooed onto their lower body and upper legs. The tattooing process is performed without any anaesthesia and is said to be painful.

[edit] Sports

See also Rugby union in Samoa

The main sports played in Samoa are rugby union and Samoan cricket. About 30 ethnic Samoans, many from American Samoa, currently play in the National Football League. A 2002 article from ESPN estimated that a Samoan male (either an American Samoan, or a Samoan living in the 50 United States) is 40 times more likely to play in the NFL than a non-Samoan American. A number have also ventured into professional wrestling.

Rugby union is very popular in Samoa and the national team is consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations. Samoa have competed at every Rugby World Cup since 1991, and have made the quarter finals in 1991, 1995 and 1999. Samoa also play in the Pacific Nations Cup and the Pacific Tri-Nations The sport is governed by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, who are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, and thus, also contribute to the international Pacific Islanders rugby union team. At club level there is the National Provincial Championship and Pacific Rugby Cup Prominent Samoan players include Douglas Faaee, Pat Lam and Brian Lima. In addition there are many Samoans that have played for or are playing for the All Blacks.

Rugby league is also popular amongst Samoans, with Samoa reaching the quarter finals of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Australian rules football, played as Samoa Rules is also growing in Samoa with the national team, the Bulldogs, competing at the Arafura Games and the 2002 and 2005 Australian Football International Cups.

Samoans have been very visible in American professional wrestling, despite the relatively small population of the islands. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Peter Maivia, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Umaga/Jamal, Rosey, Samoa Joe, Wild Samoans, The Headshrinkers, Rikishi, and Sonny Siaki all have a Samoan heritage.

[edit] Sports in American Samoan

Sports in American Samoa is not that different from samoa, basically the main difference is that American Samoan is most likely follow Ameican Sports. Which is football NFL, but Samoa rugby.