HAAPI: Did You Know?
Country History Samoa is a Polynesian island country consisting of two The Samoan islands were first settled some main islands (Savaii and 3,500 years ago Upolu), two smaller, as part of the inhabited islands (Manono Austronesian and Apolima), and several expansion. Both smaller, uninhabited islands. Samoa’s early The capital city is Apia. history and its more recent Samoa lies approximately 80 miles west of American history are strongly connected to the Samoa, 1,800 miles northeast of New Zealand, and histories of Tonga and Fiji, nearby islands 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii. The total land area with which Samoa has long had genealogical is smaller than the US state of Rhode Island. connections and shared cultural traditions.
People Culture About 203,000 people live on the Samoan islands. Fa’asamoa means the Samoan way – the way About three quarters of all Samoans live on Upolu. of our ancestors, a Samoan chieftain system of hereditary ranks, The official languages of aiga (extended family), Samoa are Samoan and and the church. English. “Talofa” means “hello” and “tofa” Traditional tattoos: means “goodbye”. Pe’a for male and Malu for female (the popular About 98% of all sleeve is not Samoans are Christians, mainly Protestants. traditional).
Food Fun Facts • The most popular dishes are panipopu and • In Samoa, you can swim with turtles and palusami. Both dishes include coconut milk and watch dolphins in clear lagoon waters. taro leaves. • Because of • Most Samoan dishes Samoans’ include coconuts, seafaring skills, fruits such as mango, they were pineapple or star fruit, referred to as root vegetables, the “Navigator chicken or fish. Islands”. • Almost any festivity or celebration is centered • “Sa” means sacred and “Moa” means around food. Samoans use an umu, a traditional center, considered the heart of outdoor method of cooking on lava rocks which Polynesia. are scolding hot and wrapped in banana leaves. • Disney’s Moana is based of a mix of Polynesian culture, mainly Samoa (Moana means ocean in Samoan).
Government Samoans in the US Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the most eleven administrative divisions. recognized Samoan in the US.
Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in According to 2019 US Census data, there 1962. The country was referred to as Western Samoa were about 204,000 people residing in the until 1997. US.