Sāmoana As Atunuʻu: the Samoan Nation Beyond the Mālō and State-Centric Nationalism a Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Divi
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SĀMOANA AS ATUNUʻU: THE SAMOAN NATION BEYOND THE MĀLŌ AND STATE-CENTRIC NATIONALISM A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN PACIFIC ISLANDS STUDIES May 2020 By John Falaniko Pātū Thesis Committee Terence Wesley-Smith, Chairperson Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz John F. Mayer © Copyright 2020 By John Patu, Jr. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to our beloved Atunu'u, the suli of Sāmoana, past, present, and future. I specifically dedicate this thesis to my ‘āiga, my grandparents Afioga Leasi Atonio Lei’ataua and Imeleta Vāimoanalētoefeiloa’imolima’ene Taufa’asau, Afioga Pātū Pila and Lata Moimoi, to my parents Telesia Māria Atonio and John Pātū, Sr., and, and my sisters Carmelita Togi and Frances Suluama Telesia Pātū and the future of our family, Naulea-Imeleta, Vāimoana Paula, and Tava’esina Pātū. I also especially dedicate this thesis to my mentors Tōfā ‘Aumua Mata’itusi Simanu and Afioga Loau Tuiloma Dr. Luafata Simanu-Klutz, my academic mothers, whose tapua’iga and fautuaga made this entire thesis journey possible. iii A NOTE ABOUT SAMOAN ORTHOGRAPHY Samoan is a member of the Samoic branch of the Polynesan language family and a member of the larger Austronesian language family. Modern Samoan orthography ulitizes the Latin alphabet and consists of five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and ten indigenous consonants (f, g, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, ‘) and three introduced consonants (h, k, r). The former were later inserted to accommodate the transliteration and creation of new words from other languages, primarily European. The diacritic markers, the faʻamamafa, or macron (¯), indicates an elongated vowel sound and the koma liliu (‘), or glottal stop is treated in Samoan as an actual consonant sound. They are essential in determining the meanings of homographs or words with the same spelling. The noun “tama” refers to a “boy” or “child of a woman,” however, “tamā” refers to a “father.” The verb “fai” means “to do,” while the noun “faʻi” refers to “bananas.” Thus, these diacritic markers are necessary and, although they are not used consistently by Samoans, they are meticulously used (except in direct quotes) in this thesis to (1) assist the Atunuʻu in the proper pronunciations and consistent spellings of Samoan words and (2) to promote standardized and conventional use of these diacritics for Samoan in academic writing and other forms of discourse. Although the contemporary trend among many Pacific and other Indigenous colleagues is to not italicize Indigenous words, I have decided to italicize them in this thesis as a stylistic liberty and to highlight the distinction between Samoan words and the language in which this paper is written. I have, however, kept in line with utilizing Samoan conventions in addressing authors used in this text by using their matai titles. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the tapua’iga (the prayers and well- wishes) of various different people of the Atunu'u and all her friends. I would like to thank my committee, Terence Wesley-Smith, Afioga Fepulea’i Lāsei Dr. John Mayer, and Afioga Loau Tuiloma Dr. Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz. Thank you for your patience, constant encouragement and support, and believing in the value of this project and its contributions to understanding the Samoan Atunu'u. I would like to specically offer my endless gratitude to Loau for endless words of encouragement and patiently guiding me through the writing and final editing of this paper. Mālō le ‘onosa’i, mālō le tauata’i, mālō le fīnau, fa’afetai le tapua’i! I am indebted to the Center for Pacific Islands Studies (CPIS), especially Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka, Dr. Lola Quan Bautista, Dr. Alexander Mawyer, Dr. James Viernes, and Coco Needham for the constant support. I am particularly indebted to the Na Nei Tou Loloma donors for generously providing for part of my research trip to Sāmoa. To the Samoan Language, Culture, and Literature Program of the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures (IPLL) at the University of Hawai’i – Mānoa, I thank you for granting me the support necessary to research about our Atunu'u. I would like to express my gratitude to my Samoan faculty colleagues, Tōfā ‘Aumua Mata’itusi Simanu, the late Susuga Lei’ataua Vita Tanielu, Afioga Sā’ilimālō Fa’afetai Lesā, Tōfā ‘Aumuagaolo Ropeti ‘Ale, Susuga Tāfesilafa’i Edward Danielson, and Dr. Grant Muāgututi’a for the conversations about our language and culture. I am also thankful for the support of Dr. Tina Tauasosi Posiulai and Afioga Luamanuvae Dr. Sa’iliemanu Lilomaiava- Doktor for the support during my journey, along with friends and colleagues at the University of Hawai’i–West O’ahu, especially the wisdom of Tiana Malino Henderson. I would like to thank v Elisapeta Tūpō Alaimaleata and the Le Fetūao Samoan Language Center and other community organizations and individuals with whom I have worked for the advancement of our language and culture throughout the diaspora. I would like to thank His Highness the former Head of State, Afioga Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Tā’isi ‘Efi for his wisdom and conversations on numerous occasions regarding our Atunu'u. I am grateful to have had friendly encounters with Prime Minister Susuga Tuila’epa Dr. Sa’ilele Malielegaoi and to Susuga Lolomatauama Mikaele Mao for introducing me to him. I am grateful for the conversations with Afioga Leasiolagi Dr. Mālama Meleiseā, Afioga Toeolesulusulu Professor Damon Sālesa, Dr. Fa’anofo Lisa ‘Uperesa, Dr. Iati Iati, Iʻuogafa Tuagalu, Tim Baice, and the many other academic colleagues I have come across the numerous conferences during this thesis journey. I am also grateful to Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke’elikōlani at the University of Hawai’i – Hilo and the faculty of the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program, Dr. Makalapua Alencastre, Dr. Noelani Iokepa-Guerrero, and Kumu Kananinohea Māka’imoku and my kahu a’oākumu, Kameha’ililani Waiau and Kalaunuola Domingo for constant support and encouragement during this process. It is through this program that I am learning to best serve the Lāhui and Atunuʻu. I would also like to thank the faculty at Ke Kula ‘o Samuel M. Kamakau, to Dr. Meahilahila Kelling and Hope Kahu Kameha’ililani Waiau. I am also thankful for the many conversations with Kumu Keane Nakapueo-Garcia about aloha ‘āina and aloha lāhui and helping to realize through encouragement what it means to be a part of the Lāhui. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues, especially Gabrielle Fa’ai’uaso, Harrison Fa’atau Tōgia, Lee Kava, Luseane Raas, Asalemo Fonotī Crawford and others for helping me to vi get through these long years and planning for the future of the atunuʻu Pasefika. To my Big Island Rave Family (B.I.R.F.), thank you for helping me get by throughout these years. I would like to thank my family, I am also Tōfā Leaua’i Filipo, Afioga Mulipola Nikolao and all others who contributed to this research. I would like to especially thank my mother Telesia Atonio-Pātū for the constant support and encouragement throughout the many years of schooling and to her siblings Afioga Pātele Falaniko Atonio, Afioga Leasi ‘Ameto, Kilisitina, ‘Ana, ‘Aukusitino, Atonio, Kalameli, and Ioana Malaeogagamoe for both the financial and spiritual support throughout this long and arduous journey. I am thankful to my siblings, especially Carmelita and Frances Pātū, for raising Naulea, Vāimoana, and Tava’esina in the ways of our Atunuʻu. Mālō lava le ʻonosaʻi, mālō lava le tapuaʻi! I would to thank Tōfā ‘Aumua M. Simanu and Afioga Loau Tuiloma Dr. M. Luafata Simanu-Klutz for your constant encouragement throughout the years. It would not have been possible without your support that helped me understand the Atunuʻu and why we continue to serve her in all the capacities that we do. Soifua! vii ABSTRACT Historical and contemporary Western discourse on the concept of the nation are often framed in terms of primordial-modernist debates and the various forms of ethnic and civic nationalisms. The referent of the nation today is the civic-nationalist notion of the nation-state, which narrowly confines the concept of a Samoan nation to the Independent State of Sāmoa (and, thus, this Sāmoa has become the referent for Samoa). This presents an obvious dilemma, despite, 1) the existence of two distinct Samoan polities, Sāmoa and American Sāmoa and 2) the demographic shift in which more Samoans now live in the diaspora (and, thus, outside of this Samoan nation-state). This thesis deconstructs the nation-state as an inadequate model to describe the current state of the Atunuʻu, the Samoan conceptualization of nation today, by interrogating its transformation throughout prehistory until now: 1) through its initial conception through Indigenous cosmogonies and Western settlement theories, 2) the creation of the Indigenous sociopolitical structure under the Fa‘asāmoa and the Fa‘amatai, 3) the transformation under initial contact with the West and subsequent colonization, 4) the postcolonial construction of the nation- state, and finally, 5) the transformation of the bounded-state into a more fluid, transnational Atunuʻu. Given that these paradoxes confound conventional Western notions of the nation as embodied in the nation-state, can there be alternative conceptions of the nation? This thesis argues that the Atunuʻu can no longer be defined only in terms of the nation-state but must account for the transnational nature of the nation that is inclusive of the diasporas and Indigenous notions of nation, migration, and tausi le vā (maintaining socio-spatial relationships). This thesis then proposes that the Atunuʻu can be reconceptualized as Sāmoana, the Samoan Atunuʻu that is viii inclusive of all Samoans as a people, whether they are in the ‘homeland’, or the diasporas.