Identifier: samoaumawherelif00chur (find matches)
Title: Samoa 'uma, where life is different
Year: 1902 (1900s)
Authors: Churchill, Llewella Pierce, Mrs. (from old catalog)
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, Forest and Stream publishing company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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rt ofsufferance. Close at his left sits his tidafale. At theother pepe sits Leota, and beyond him the tatipouPoto. As they sit the party of hosts call out: Uaafifio mai, ua susu mai, ua maliliu mai! Luafalealo makes his reply, speaking for himself:Ua afifioina lava, a outou aiifionga, le Afionga aLeutele, ma Lau Afionga a Salanoa, ma Lau Afiongaa Luafalemana, ma Lau Afionga a Fonotl, ma LauAfionga a Fenunuivao, ma Lau Tofa luli, ma LauFetalainga a Moeono. As he slowly and with carerepeats this formula in the undertone which etiquetteprescribes that he shall use, he looks with intentnessalong the circle of chiefs as if in recognition of thenames and relative rank of the persons in whosepresence he finds himself. What the dialogue meansit is next to impossible to express in English, be-cause the English has none of the dialect of courtesywhich plays so large a part in Samoan society. Itmay be said that the hosts have said, **You havecome in three several ways, and the guests have re- 52
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A taupou would scarcely feel dail without hertuinga or head-dress The fine mat, the full dress ot the taupou COURTESY AND CEREMONIES. plied, We have come, and have tacked on to thatstatement a Hst of the titles and names of the personswhom they see at the different posts of the house. This may be made clearer by a brief considerationof the system of Samoan titles of rank. For the mostpart they are derived from verbs meaning to come,the difficulty in finding literal English equivalents isdue to the fact that the verb of coming changes inSamoan with the rank of the individual. Somewhatof this idea may be obscurely found in English, asfor instance where we speak of a killing ofdesperadoes, a murder of a reputable citizen, theassassination of a sovereign. In the use of theseSamoan titles the literal meaning is simply ThyComing, the terms used are an attempt to presentthe Samoan idea of the greater dignity of him whocomes. Of a person of no rank the Samoan uses the verbsau (plural o) to de

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