Written by Junefia
Did you know that Samoa is the 5th biggest culture in New Zealand? There are over 180,000 Samoan people living in NZ (2018 Census). How did Samoa people get here? Why did they come? Let’s find out!
Samoans current history is connected with the histories of Tonga and Fiji, Which are the same region. How many villages are there in samoa? There are 265 villages in Samoa, the 12 biggest villages/cities are Savai'i, Apia (capital city of Samoa), Asau, Mulifanua, Faleula, Siusega, Malie, Fasito’outa, Vaiusu, Afega, Nofoali’i, Solosolo, and Vailima (AKA a beers name). There are so many legends and myths about the ancient samoa, for example Sina and the eel, the turtle and the shark (story of a chief), the story of the stone that blocked the road round the cape of Matauea, Safotu and much much more of INCREDIBLE STORIES!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEL7EZTLq6s\
Samoa officially spoke their language, Samoan. Samoan is the oldest and most spoken Polynesian language with an estimated 510,000 speakers worldwide. Samoan islands were settled 3,500 years ago as part of the exploration of the Southern Hemisphere and South Pacific.
Traditional Life
In 1722, a non-polynesian (European) named Jacob Roggeveen was the first person to find Samoan island. Jacob is a dutch explorer who was sent to find Terra Australis (The great southern continent) , but instead found Easter Island (called so because he landed there on Easter Sunday). Jacob Roggeveen also found Bora Bora and Maupiti of the Society Islands, as well as Samoa.
German companies set up coconut plantations in Samoa in the late 1800s, and the next 99 years Samoa was colonised by Germany (1899), and then Samoa was then under New Zealand's control.
A long time ago, all the islands of Samoa were one big country. Then in 1899 the United States of America took over one island, calling it American Samoa. The other islands became known as Western Samoa. Between 1900 and 1914, Germany took over Western Samoa and it was called German Samoa. In modern times, it is just called Samoa and it is an independent state.
Missionaries/Religion
The first missionaries to Samoa were Rev. John Williams and the Rev. Charles Barff in 1830. Missionaries introduced christianity in Samoa in the early 19th century. In modern times, more than 80% of Samoas are still Christian (Nz Census 2018). This is a direct result of these early missionaries.
In Samoa medicine has been handed down through the generations for 200 year’s and nearly every samoan family will have some knowledge of traditional folk remedies. As a profession, however, traditional healing is now a dying art and more and more people are looking to Western medicine.
Traditional healers are typically women who learn their methods from a long apprenticeship. Normally, their training begins in early childhood when a girl assists her mother or a close female relative in craft. During this apprenticeship, they must learn to recognise several hundred species of rainforest plants, each of which has its own specific medicinal value. Modern healers are taught to take notes and to keep a close and accurate record of each patient’s symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and response.
Many healers specialise in particular diseases and come to be known for their expertise. As a general rule, there are four types of samoan healers: the fa’atosaga or midwives; the fofo or massage therapists; the fofogau or orthopaedists (who are normally men who can set broken bones); and the taulasea, who are herbalists who use a huge range of Samoan rainforest flora in their treatment of disease. Other related types of healers include those who make love potions or banish troublesome aitu (spirits).
20th century
Like it was mentioned, Samoa was colonised by Germany, New Zealand twice, and even Britain. In 1942, the United States built the first airport called Faleolo Airfield. The United States built the airport on every island during the war (between US and Japan) so that the United States can get to Australia and New Zealand (we are allies with the US) so they can fly to Japan.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, New Zealand encouraged people from the south pacific to migrate to New Zealand to meet the need for cheap labour. By the 1970s there were 45,000 + Pacific people in New Zealand. In the early 1970s , lots of people lost their jobs which led to lots of crime and social problems. Police carried out “Dawn Raids” to remove overstayers. Pacific people were mainly targeted during these Dawn Raids, even though people of other ethnicities overstayed their visas as well.
Statistics/ When Samoa people came to NZ
According to the 2018 NZ Census, more than 45% of Samoan people arrived in New Zealand and stayed for over 20 years and more. This is a direct reflection of the migration of Samoan people to meet the labour needs in NZ.
Nearly 80% of Samoan people stayed in the same house for more than 1 year (2018 Census).
There are 182,721 samoan people who live in New Zealand,
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