Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before

Samoa is the native name of the group of volcanic islands in central Polynesia long known as the "Navigators Islands." They are situated about 3000 miles from Sydney, and stand...

1. The rocks married the earth, and the earth became pregnant. Salevao, the god of the rocks, observed motion in the moa or _centre_ of the earth. The child was born and named M...

The Samoans believed in a soul or disembodied spirit, which they called the _angānga_. Anga means to _go_ or _come_, according to the particle of direction suffixed. Anga _atu_...

1. These gods were supposed to have fallen from the heavens at the call of a blind man to protect his son from a cannibal chief. They were scattered over several villages, but d...

This was the name of a household god, and seen in the moon. On the appearance of the new moon all the members of the family called out: "Child of the moon, you have come." They...

At the birth of her child, the mother had a liberal share in the kind attentions of her friends. Her own mother was almost invariably _la sage-femme_; but, failing her, some oth...

_Tattooing._--"Herodotus found among the Thracians that the barbarians could be exceedingly foppish after their fashion. The man who was not tattooed among them was not respecte...

_Animal and Vegetable Food._--Bread-fruit, taro, yams, bananas, and cocoa-nuts formed the staff of life in Samoa. The lagoons and reefs furnish a large supply of fish and shell-...

In our last chapter we alluded to the food of the Samoans, and now proceed to a description of their clothing, the materials of which it is made, their modes of ornament, etc.

_Dancing_ was a common entertainment on festive occasions, such as a marriage. Some of their dances were in the daytime, and, like dress-balls of other countries, were accompani...

_Infants._--Before the introduction of Christianity probably not less than two-thirds of the Samoan race died in infancy and childhood. This mortality arose principally from car...

Whenever the eye was fixed in death the house became a scene of indescribable lamentation and wailing. "Oh, my father, why did you not let me die, and you live here still?" "Oh,...

The Samoans have a tradition that of old their forefathers had no houses. They say that in those days the people were "housed by the heavens," and describe the ingenuity of a ch...

Next to a well-built house, Samoan ingenuity was seen in their canoes. Any one could fell a tree, cut off the branches, and hollow out the log some fifteen feet long, for a comm...

_Fishing-nets_ of various kinds were in use, and were all manufactured on the islands. Several of the Polynesian tribes excel in this branch of industry. A captain of a ship of...

A hurried glance, from a European stand-point, has caused many passing visitors to conclude that the Samoans had nothing whatever in the shape of government or laws. In sailing...

The murder of a chief, a disputed title, or a desire on the part of one, two, or more of the districts, to be considered stronger and of more importance than the rest, were freq...

1. The Samoans say that of old the _heavens fell down_, and that people had to crawl about like the lower animals. After a time the arrow-root and another similar plant pushed u...

1. The Samoans say that there was a time when their ancestors ate everything raw, and that they owe the luxury of cooked food to one Ti'iti'i, the son of a person called Talanga...

1. Of the group generally, it is said that a couple lived at Pulotu called Head of Day and Tail of Day. They had four children--(1) Ua, or _Rain_; (2) Fan, _Long grass_;(3) Lang...

On Upolu the name of Pili has an early place among the doings of mortals and in the division of the lands. In one of the traditions his history runs thus:--Manga had a daughter...

1. THE FAASALELEANGA.--In prose and poetry this part of the island, and even the whole of Savaii, is often called _Sa Lafai,_ or sacred to Lafai, and among the legends that chie...