Talk:Samoa
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I swapped the section concerning New Zealand's occupation of Western Samoa with the corresponding section in the History of Samoa article since the version in this article was more detailed. of Samoa? Kaldari 17:05, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Link to Wikimedia
There is a Wikimedia category called Samoa with lots of pictures, shouldn't it be linked to this article somehow? Kronocide 01:45, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
Fixed the link of "Baha'is" to point to the "Baha'i" wiki entry
[edit] Badly written
If you read the following, you may notice it was written by someone who has not yet mastered the English language... I neither have the time nor knowledge to rewrite this section of the article on Samoan culture, but if there is someone who does... Please do so :)
Long ago, as songs of the old culture tells us, that Samoans does not have any Gods or Godesses of their own, unlike other cultures like the ancient Egyptians, etc, Samoans does not have any God, but they only believe that there is one chief that was in control for Samoa, and that was "Tagaloa". The Samoan culture is mainly about respect. And ever since the Christian way of life was introduced by the "palagi's" as we call in Samoan: White People(Europeans, Americans etc) Ever since it was introduced in Samoa, most Samoan people were converted and from then till now, 98% of the people are Christians. But the other 2 percent, it's either unreligious, which means they still beleive in the Christian way of life but does not keep it, or does not belong to any congregation. Church or going to church is an important thing for the Samoans, the only ones who stay home on Sunday, are the only ones that's preparing the meal, or doing the "umu" for the Sunday Meal, every Sunday after church.
In the Samoan way of chieves in each village, like other cultures, the Samoan does their way of ruling in an hierarchical order. From the chieves(matai) to the citizens and the "aumaga's"-also known as the ones who does all the work in the village, for instance, cleaning the village each week and prepares a meal in an "umu" for the chief. The "aumaga" service is a volunteer service, and the most important task of the "aumaga's" is to protect the village from any other villages. The aumaga's are like the soldiers of a village, and long ago, the "aumaga's" were the ones who fought wars between villages. The consequences were simple, if anyone breake any rules, he/she will pay the village with giving the whole village "tongan tapas" or what we called in Samoan, "ie toga". These Tongan Tapas are not necesarily made by the Tongans. What we know according to some songs is that during the Tongan invasion of Samoa, they took the chief's daughter, "Sina", and while she was in Tonga, she created the first Tapa, and she calls it, the "Tongan Tapa" because she made it in Tonga, while she was a hostage in Tonga. These "ie toga" tapas were like money if I put it in clearer details, anybody can buy or trade anything with it. So basically when you break any rules, you have to pay for it, today they use money, but long ago they used tapas.
- I've had a go at cleaning up some of the article (History of Samoa). Not sure if I have the energy to continue! Cpl Hicks 15:06, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Map Size
Is it possible to get a map of Samoa where the country is not miniscule? Maybe one to show its location in the South Pacific and then one to show the country itself. Ganymead 05:37, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Explanation of Electoral System and details of Electoral Constituencies
An explanation of the electoral system is needed to explain the criteria that decide who can vote and where as well as who can run for parliament and where (both for the traditional districts and the individual voters seats).
Also it would be useful to have a page that lists the varrious electoral constituencies and the villages that they are composed of and perhaps a history of incumbents and their parliamentary terms and political affiliations. The problem is where to fit this info in.
[edit] Judicial System
Also it would useful to explain the TWO judicial systems that co-exist ie the western based Supreme Court and lowers courts and the Traditional based Lands and Titles Court which deals with traditional land and title (chiefly)issues.
[edit] Religion
The article says that 100% of Samoans are Christians, but that 2% are Bahai - my rudimentary math skills add that up to 102% - which is accurate? Are 98% Christians?
- It seems that at August 13 anonymous user (randomly?) changed all the percentages of of different religious groups. The old percentages were pretty much the same as in CIA World Factbook. Someone with better knowledge should do something to correct the percentages. TommiR 07:56, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
- Fixed info according to 2006 CIA Factbook. Aranhamo 21:28, 14 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Commonwealth Membership
This country is listed as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations at the official Commonwealth site: [1]
[edit] Possible bias
I'm a little concerned with the language that is/was being used in the History of Samoa section. Obviously the author has a very dim view of the period of administration under New Zealand! Anyway, I removed a few subjective terms (such as 'foolish') but have left the most of it untouched, as I'm not an expert in this area. Nonetheless, there is a troublesome tone throughout - though I think some citations would help corroborate the author's opinion. Cpl Hicks 15:11, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Proposed WikiProject
In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Polynesia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Polynesia whose scope would include Samoa. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 17:19, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Confusing dates/times
In the History section, in the paragraph starting Contact with Europeans began in... there are a mish-mash of conflicting dates, time periods, and time-relative terms. Among the (several) possible readings is that 1722 was in the late 19th century, which does not seem to be correct. Paul.w.bennett 12:14, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Complaint/Information Incorrectly Put On Main Page
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- Samoans and Asians arent' the same...just like how every asian says they're "Hawaiian"....there are few FEW pure Hawaiians today!!**** We did not come from Asia...God put everybody where we are now!! (from lil'mo), ps Samoa is known as the heart of polynesia. Some people believe that a temple on the island of Manono has a record, using a system of stone cairns, commemoratating more than 150 wars. Robert Louis Stevenson, who spent the last four years of his life in Samoa, remarked that "War is Samoa's favourite pastime." (It is fair to say that in contemporary times team competition, particularly rugby, volleyball, kirikiti, traditional song and dance, and traditional water sports, have replaced war.)
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[edit] Is Samoa a sovereign nation? Is the Malietoa Tanumafili II the head of state?
Could somebody please clarify these two points. I've seen people assert in Talk:Bhumibol Adulyadej that Samoa is not a sovereign nation, and therefore that the Samoan monarch is not the head of state. Furthermore, it's been stated that Samoa is not even a monarchy. Yet this article states that Mālietoa Tanumafili II is the head of state. I'm confused. Patiwat 20:34, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
- The article states (in the infobox) that Samoa became independent (of New Zealand) on 01 January 1962, making it one of the first independent nations in Oceania.--Ratzer 20:30, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
