'Umu with Matai of Gataivai and Data Collection

Our team was honored to 'umu with several matai of Gataivai, Savai'i. Photo by Tala Esekielu Lealamanu'a.

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Grant Pethel, Josh Lockhart, and I watch Leota prepping food for the 'umu. Photo by Tala Esekielu Lealamanu'a.

When Grant, Josh, and I woke up in the fale tele at 8 am, we were surprised that we'd managed to sleep so late. We were ushered to a shed in the back where Leota and his family were preparing the 'umu. They'd been up since 6am and had already butchered a #2 pig in preparation.

'Umu is food cooked in an earth or stone oven. It's generally prepared on Sunday for after church. The untitled men prepare the feast to be ready when the family returns. Our 'umu would contain pig, taro, yams, and octopus.
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It was raining outside, and we could see the neighbors up cooking as well. They had a spigot out back for water and cooked in rigged cookware suspended over a fire in the rain. We at least had a roof for our cooking.

Leota had purchased an octopus in the market when he arrived from 'Upolu ahead of us Friday. He was about to prep the octopus when we wandered up. Leota's cousin Kalama seared the octopus on the fire to firm the flesh and make it easier to cut.

Leota first cut the tentacles off, then squeezed the ink from the head into a bowl of coconut milk. He cut the entire octopus and all the tentacles into bite sized chunks and put it in the ink coconut milk mixture. Leota then filled taro leaves with octopus and the juice while Kalama held the giant leaf like a bowl, then wrapped it up in foil to seal it. They made probably a dozen of these.

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​Next they prepared the #2 pig. Samoans rate the pigs 1-4 by size. Fours are the biggest and are reserved for fa'alavelave or very special occasions.

The pig's viscera had been previously removed. Kalama used a coconut rib folded in half to make tongs and picked up a hot stone from the fire and crammed it inside the pig. He then stuffed a bunch of wet leaves in the fill the remainder of space, but we were told that we do not eat those leaves. I am guessing they either help maintain the moisture inside or they simply keep the stone from falling out.

The taro and yams had already been prepared and were in baskets around us. Kalama and his wife Tala pulled the wood off and out of the rocks with help from their son and a young cousin. They then spread the rocks out a square sheet of metal, exposing as many red hot coals as possible. They placed the pig directly on top of the coals, then piled all the taro, yams, and packets of octopus.

They covered all of this with fresh taro leaves, then dry taro leaves, then several old mats, and finally an old blanket. This would all cook in about 45 minutes!

Clockwise from left: Saimin, fish, taro, pulasami (taro leaves in coconut milk), pork and chicken, octopus.

​While the food cooked we conducted some pile sorts. 

Then we got dressed to dine with matai. Several families from the village had also contributed to the 'umu meal with the chiefs. We had three #2 pigs, including the one we'd watched being prepared, 4-5 chickens, and twice as many fish. There was also the yams, taro, and octopus! It was all delicious and super filling. I particularly enjoyed the octopus.

We ate with the chiefs, exchanged greetings and took photos, and then several of them stayed to be interviewed and administered the pile-sort activity.

After the pile sort, we received a special gift from the High Chief. He had had his family made a special sweet taro dish that takes over 24 hours to prepare and is a treat (I think it was fa'ausi). We were grateful, though we were extraordinarily full from the 'umu.

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Seated for the 'umu meal in the fale tele. This time we did it appropriately, with the more important person in the center (awkward), flanked by my assistants, with each against a post. Photo by Tala Esekielu Lealamanu'a.

Leota conducts pile sort while Josh and Grant take notes.

​We went to the High Chief's house in the evening to conduct more pile-sorts among his family. It was Sunday, and I wondered how much Christian piety the Samoans would show toward drinking in Savai'i on Sunday. They'd apparently appreciated the beer we'd brought and drank with them on Friday, and we'd had more with them on Saturday night.

The High Chief was drinking a Taula when we arrived, so that answered one question. Then he broke out a bottle of red wine to share with us, which answered the other question. I wasn't really looking to drink while we were collecting data, but I accepted a glass. However, my stomach was full as hell from all the food, and the wine did not sit well with me.

They wanted to feed us too, and even though we were full from the 'umu, they brought us grilled tuna sandwiches. I nibbled down half a sandwich.

As Josh conducted a pile-sort with one of the High Chief's family, I felt the nausea creep up on me, and I started breathing deeply to prevent losing it. I started sweating, and my eyes glazed over as I tried to get a grip. Grant noticed these signs, so when I popped up and stepped into the darkness for a minute, he knew why. The High Chief asked where I was going, and Grant told him I just need to get a little air.

As I stood off behind a car in the dark, I lost the wine, after which my stomach felt better. I stepped back over and continued the interviews without anyone else the wiser. After data collection, we went back to the fale tele and settled down for the night.

I can't recall if it was Saturday or Sunday night, but we got a big storm one of those nights. The wind blew so hard that rain came into the fale tele sideways. I was far enough from the edge that I pulled the sheet over my head and kept sleeping. Leota and Kalama got up in the middle of the night and put up tarps to keep the rain out.

Leota thought we were cold because of the sheet over our heads and brought us more sheets. Leota got a photo of me looking like a mummy under the sheets, but he never did send it to me.

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