Siva Siva Mai: SIVA SĀMOA AND SAMOAN WOMEN IN DIASPORA
Date
2024
Authors
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
From Upolu to Utah, the tāupou (highest ranking women in the Samoan village) is the embodiment of Samoan identity and holds immense power within the village. The position of tāupou in the diaspora maintains many of the same characteristics as in Sāmoa: she is an important cultural figure, a symbol of connection to Sāmoa, and an emblem of Indigenous representation and women’s power. The continuity of the taualuga (dance performed by tāupou) and the essence of the tāupou’s position is a symbol of Samoan identity in diaspora and represents the important role Samoan women play in cultivating and perpetuating fa’asāmoa. Samoan women predominantly raised in diaspora use siva (dance), particularly the construct of the tāupou through the taualuga, as an important way to nourish the vā (space between, relationships) with their community, cultural identity, and connection to Sāmoa. This intentional engagement with Samoan values and community through siva and the taualuga is invaluable, especially when Samoan women are disconnected from their ancestral lands and language. Although scholarship on Sāmoa paints only a partial picture of the tāupou and taualuga, Samoan women have carried with them this knowledge and sense of Samoan-ness for generations despite centuries of colonial oppression. To support one another in diaspora, Samoans build diasporic villages and diasporic malae (sacred, educational learning spaces traditionally located inside the village) where Samoans weave together communities and nourish vā (space/relationship) between Samoan customary land and Samoans in diaspora, in part through intentional engagement with the taualuga. Using an interdisciplinary approach that includes a mix of historiographical methods, interviews, and Indigenous knowledge systems, I further the work of a number of Pacific scholars including Sa’iliemanu Lilomaiava-Doktor and M. Luafata Simanu-Klutz to re-center and reclaim Indigenous narratives from colonial projections.
Description
Keywords
History, Pacific Rim studies, Gender studies, Diaspora, Fa’asāmoa, Samoan Women, Taualuga, Tāupou, Vā
Citation
Extent
135 pages
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.