Samoa

  • Sisi, Fainga'a
    • Sisi, Fainga’a and Their Samoan Slave In ancient times in Tonga there were no people, just gods. There were these two gods named Sisi and Fainga’a and they had a Samoan slave named Pasikole. One day these two gods discovered a new way to travel: they each built a large basket which they climbed into and they had their servant, Pasikole, carry the baskets on a pole that he hefted on his shoulder.
  • Forgive the German Navy
    • The Samoans Forgive the German Navy In the 1880’s the German Navy came to Samoa to take over Samoa. They came into the bay (maybe Pago Pago bay in Tutuila) with all their ships and they waited for the next day before they were going to go onto the land and seize the government. During the night a terrible hurricane struck the island and the ships drug their anchors and ran aground on the beach, or sank.
  • Meeting of Chiefs
    • A Rarotongan Chief and the Samoan Chief There was a Rarotongan chief who was sailing in the ocean with his warriors. They met a canoe being sailed by a Samoan chief. These two canoes of men decided to fight one another, there, in the middle of the ocean. But the Rarotongan chief had the idea that it would be a waste to fight out in the ocean where no one would see them.
  • Talking Chiefs
    • Talking Chiefs In Samoa there are talking chiefs who give talks. Once there was this old man who was giving a talk. He was not very good, but he had a daughter who was good at giving speeches. She sat behind her father and quietly told him what to say and he repeated her words as he heard them. At one point she noticed that he had to adjust or tighten something that he was wearing.
  • Malie Toa
    • Malie Toa! Malie Tau! (Good Fight! Brave Warriors!) Ahoeitu, the half god Tongan king who climbed up into the sky conquered Samoa in about 950. After 300 years of Tongan rule, the Samoans drove the Tongans out. This is the story of how they did it. It was the birthday of the Tongan governor in Samoa and the Tongans and Samoans gathered to have a great feast for his birthday. The Samoans brought lots of food.
  • Le Tala o Le Taua o Le Uso
    • Le Tala o Le Taua o Le Uso (The Story of the War of the Brothers) There were once four brothers who lived in Upolu. There names were Saga, Ana, Tua and Tolufale. They were the sons of Pili, who had come down from the sky. These brothers had started their families in Upolu. One day one brother said that they should put their stuff together so that they could distribute it among themselves.
  • The Piina
    • The Piina People of Hiva Oa This is another story about relatives who fought. About 1800 there was a tribe called the Piina on the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas islands. They had lived in a valley called Hanamenu for thousands of years. But at this time, they were in trouble, because each year there were fewer and fewer of them. This was because they were being eaten by an enemy tribe.
  • Minister Crazy
    • Why the Minister Was Crazy In the 1950’s and 1960’s there was this one minister in Samoa who was elderly. He lived with his daughter. Sometimes at night when he would be sitting in front of his daughter’s home he would cry out. The people in the neighborhood thought that he was sort of crazy. At the beginning of World War II this man was a minister on an island in Micronesia or Melanesia.
  • Ta'unga Forgives
    • Ta’unga Forgives a Man and Doesn’t Eat Him There was a man from Titikaveka in Rarotonga named Ta’unga-o-te-tini, which means the “Priest of the Thousands.” Ta’unga became a missionary in New Caledonia in the 1840’s. Later in life he was the minister of the Congregational church on the island of Manu’a. Since the people of New Caledonia at this time were cannibals, most of Ta’unga’s fellow missionaries were eaten. Once, Ta’unga was travelling from one village to another with two men.
  • Friendship
    • The Friendship of the Bat and the Rat and How the Rat Stole the Bat’s Wings Long ago the rat (‘iole) was jealous of the bat (pe’a) because the bat had wings and could fly and the rat could only crawl on the ground. This was the plan of the rat. For several days the rat watched the bat and saw that the bat would eat from a tree which is called ngalu.