E Tuai Tuai, Ta Te Māʻona Ai: A Food History Of Sāmoa

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to tell histories of Samoan food from the deep past to the contemporary period, with an eye toward the adoption and adaptation of food over time, and to answer the central research questions—how has “Samoan food,” contemporarily understood, come to be, and what implications have any changes in Samoan food had for the economy of Samoan polities and the health and wellness of Samoan people over time?The first chapter explores the interplay between history, orality, food, and contemporary sciences and social sciences. The chapter highlights five forms of orality—tala (stories, myths, or legends), fāgogo (fables or bedtime stories), alagāʻupu (proverbial sayings derived from tala), muāgagana (proverbial sayings akin to idioms), and gao (village nicknames)—showing how these forms use food to propagate history and core values of the FaʻaSāmoa. The chapter also shows how archaeologists, ethnobotanists, linguists, geneticists, and remote sensing methodologists utilizing LiDAR have all contributed to fields of knowledge surrounding the origins, use, and social significance of food in Sāmoa over time. The second, third, and fourth chapters are case studies that show how imported foods and beverages, which are often both deeply local and inherently transliminal histories unto themselves, are adopted into Samoan culture and adapted by Samoans over time. Focusing on corned beef, alcohol, and Samoan-style “Chop Suey,” respectively, these chapters highlight food’s material value, notions of taste, Indigenous resistance and protest to racism, and labor migration to Sāmoa. The fifth chapter, ʻO le Taumafa ma le Tupe, seeks to articulate the implications that changes in Samoan food had for the economies of both Samoan polities, with a particular focus on the efforts of leaders in either polity to use food as a commodity to gain increased self-sufficiency. Two case studies—one of Western Samoa Breweries Limited’s efforts to grow the brand of Vailima beer, and another of American Sāmoa Delegate-at-Large Fofō I.F. Sunia’s efforts to establish a pīsupo processing plant and exporting business in Pago Pago—drive the chapter’s analysis and narrative. Finally, Maʻi Suka explores contemporary issues of health and wellness in either Samoan polity and their historical connection to imported foods. Maʻi Suka explores drastic rises in cases of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, all of which are noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) linked to diet.