Visit Savai'i! A Tour of the Island with a Samoan Folklorist

Saturday, July, 15, 2023

Data collection team: NUS linguist Leota Sanele, UA students Josh Lockhart & Grant Pethel, & me at the entrance of a lava tube.

Leota had slept in the fale tele with us to keep watch over us. At the 'ava ceremony, we were granted protection by the High Chief while in the village, and we were Leota's responsibility. To him, this meant he was doubly responsible, as he was now responsible to Mataiu at NUS and the High Chief in Gataivai.

Josh and I came to life with food and Koko Samoa with coffee singles mixed in, so we were ready. Grant was exhausted from not sleeping all night and would take advantage of our driving around the island to take several power naps over the course of 6 hours. 

We topped the gas off at the first gas station and discovered to Leota's surprise that several new gas stations had been built around the island since he had last been around its entirety.

From there, we first stopped at Alofaaga Blowhole. We paid the local village at the beginning to the road to the blowholes. There were some guys burning a clearing and doing construction who Leota spoke to. One of them walked over and demonstrated the blowhole.

There's great information about these blowholes and other geologic sites and local folklore from this Touring Savai'i with a Geologist guide.

We started at the southeastern most point on this map (bottom right) in Gataivai and traveled clockwise around the island, stopping at the points indicated.

We stopped at a local lover's leap near Fagafau. Leota told us the local story of a mother and daughter who jumped off and another story about a cave at the bottom that is sacred to the local village, though perhaps those were separate locations. I will have to ask him to tell me that again.

Next we went to the Falealupo Church Ruins at Falealupo-Tai. This is the site of the first Catholic missionary landing on Samoa according to Leota. This church was built here to commemorate that landing, marked by the cross (they sailed around to the other side to land and found a church).

The church and village were wrecked in hurricanes in 1990 and 1991, and the church was abandoned.

It's important to remember that everything here still belongs to someone, so don't be surprised when someone appears to collect a fee for the village for taking photos. I note this because I see tourism websites like Lonely Planet refer to this as being "shaken down." I find that rude. It's their property. They need to make a living too.

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Lover's Leap near Fagafau. Strangely, the story locals tell is of a mother and daughter jumping to their death, not lovers.

Catholic Church ruins at Falealupo. The church was destroyed by hurricanes in 1990 and 1991, and the area was largely abandoned, with locals shifting to locations more inland.

This cave is where a small man entered and grew into a giant so he could fight the marauding Fijians. UA student Grant Pethel provides a sense of the scale of the opening.

Further down the road is the westernmost point of Samoa, which is special for a number of reasons. There is a cave that features in local folklore, another star mound, and what was once the end of the day. The fee down here comes with a local guide to help people navigate through the features and give the village story. Leota told us the story of cave.

This star mound features a foaga that the local village explains was brought up from the river side to repurpose as an 'ava bowl. They explain the star mound as being the meeting place of chiefs from all over the islands. These explanations are consistent with the literature on star mounds that I briefed in a previous post. The star mounds likely had many uses over time, including being commonly abandoned eventually.

The end of the day was the last view of the international dateline until it was moved 20 years ago so Samoa could be in the same time zone as New Zealand. It's just a square on the map that's been moved for political reasons. Bizarre.

Leota told us of the celebration to mark the end of the century at its very last point in the world and showed us photos on his phone from the event. It's now no longer the end of the world of course.

Side view of star mound at Falealupo, Savai'i.

We stopped at another site too see the pe'a pe'a birds (white rumped swiftlets) that nest in lava tubes. Pe'a pe'a bird are nocturnal birds that use echolocation to navigate. Again, yes, you have to pay to see these sites, but consider the impact we are all having on the environment through our tourism. The fee is minimal, and I pay for all of us at each site.

Here they get a flashlight per person so we can shine it in the eyes of these poor nesting baby birds. This lava tube is cave not much taller than a human that extends relatively straight off into the darkness, but the nests are all relatively close to the entrance Supposedly this tunnel goes all the way to France, according to another story Leota told us.

Baby pe'a pe'a bird in nest in lava tabe.

Our next stop was the lava fields in Saleaula that covered an old LMS church but did not cover a nearby virgin's grave. Mount Matavanu is a volcano in Savai'i formed during the eruption that started in 1905 and waxed and waned until 1911. The lava flowed overland at a pace that allowed the district of Gaga'emauga to pack up and move to 'Upolu. By 1906 it had largely ceased flowing overland but had destroyed the village. Lava continued to flow through the tubes until around 1911.

Decades later they were able to return and found that the upper story walls of LMS church ruins were still standing and that a mythical virgin's grave had not been covered by the lava. They took these as signs to their land was protected and returned, though they also maintained their new community in 'Upolu. So their family now reside in the two villages on both islands.

The church is made of Samoan concrete, which is made from crushed coral. It's super sturdy apparently. Some of this info I read on the signs, some Leota told us, and some the people running the attractions told us.

NUS linguist Leota Sanele administering a pile-sorting interview.

We were running late getting back to the village in time. Another local chief had asked that we attend a cultural event taking place in family that he had invited me to, but we would not be able to drive back in time, since we were only halfway around the island.

We stopped to buy a fish on the way back. Samoans have fish in the water in front of them, but when they want it for dinner, it is easier to grab it from a stand at the market than go fishing. When one goes fishing, it is easier to sell the fish at the market than try to save it to eat every night. The same seems to be true of eggs and other perishables.

Have I said that hospitality is their ethos in Samoa? It was wonderful. The food was the best we had the whole time we've been in the Islands. Our bodies never thanked us so much for the good quality food.

As middleclass Americans, I think being treated with the courtesy accorded people of high status was a little uncomfortable. Leota and his family served us, and only when we had eaten and were completely finished did they eat. We are grateful for this experience and feel so welcome there.

​The photos below were taken by Tala Eslekielu Lealamanu'a, one of the many lovely members of Leota's family who hosted us. The respect being shown by our host and guide Leota in the center photo is apparent. Again, I am both honored and embarrassed by this, as Leota is a chief in the village. He is one of several chiefs, but he is important here nonetheless.

After eating, we conducted pile sorts with several participants, which I will talk more about in a future post. Then, we went for a swim.

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​Leota had been offering to take us swimming since we'd arrived, but we'd been running late on Friday, then we'd needed to get gas for our tank in the morning. So we finally went in the inlet just across the road from the fale.

We had been getting to know Leota all day. He told us stories as he drove us around. He preferred to do the driving in Samoa, both because it was easier than for him to tell us how to navigate and also because I think he likes to be in control. I understand that myself, but I am happy to work with people who like to take charge of things. Hanging out in the water gave us an even better opportunity to get to know him.

The High Chief had given us special permission to drink beer anywhere we want, including the fale tele and while in the village pools and streams. He'd also given special dispensation for Leota to drink with us. It wasn't something I'd expected though I'd given the money for the beer. Kalama and his son had arrived on the bridge with the beer. We said we were going swimming, and I thought they'd take the beer back to the fale tele. Instead, they walked through the water to a log where we could drink while we were swimming. Apparently, it's a thing. Just like anywhere else in the world--of course it's a thing.

Leota and I talked more about our understanding of each other and goals for this visit and our project while drinking beer and floating in the water. Kalama opened them for us and kept the case of warm Taula afloat while the boy looked on.

He was relieved by our attitudes and we talked about how we could truly collaborate on things. One of the issues according to Leota, is that Samoans don't really value write their history down. They believe that they live it; why should they record it? The only real Samoan historian they have, he says, is Malama Meleisea. Leota is inspired by Meleisea and wants to record some of the true stories that have remained hidden.

But not for palagi, he says, for his own children. When the only stories written in English are the versions told to palagi writers, the children reading those works in school believe them about their own history. So, Leota reasons, it is anti-colonial to be able to resist the complete brainwashing of his children by making sure their legends are also preserved in the colonizer language.

It may seem like a weird duality, but I understand it. Hearing Leota, reading what I have about Meleisea, and meeting him personally, I very much want and need to read more of his work, and I'm really excited by the opportunity to work with Leota more closely.