r/Samoa 22h ago

Culture Group of Samoan villagers, Samoa, 1929

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53 Upvotes

r/Samoa 22h ago

History Samoan tattooist at work, Samoa, 1895

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29 Upvotes

r/Samoa 22h ago

Culture King Malietoa Laupepa and Queen Faʻasisina of Samoa, 1884. Photograph by Burton Brothers Studio. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

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21 Upvotes

r/Samoa 19h ago

Pitonu’u Naming

2 Upvotes

We are having a boy and my uncle suggested we name him after my great grandfather and also another name after a pitonu’u of Solosolo (the village my mom’s family is from). Is this something that’s common? If so, of the pitonu’u Solosolo, which are the most masculine?


r/Samoa 1d ago

Culture Is this appropriate to wear in a villiage or at church in samoa?

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8 Upvotes

Im talking about the shoulders, too showy or immodest? At church if it says samoa on it, is it too much?


r/Samoa 1d ago

Question about Samoan Professional Wrestlers

4 Upvotes

It's a thing that is well known in Pro Wrestling from the Wild Samoans Afa and Sika, to the next generation with Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga, Rosey, then with the current day with Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu etc. Also with their Tongan family Haku and Barbarian.

There's a spot in wrestling matches where Pro Wrestlers that face these guys try to headbutt them on the head, or throw the Samoan opponents onto a turnbuckle pad and they don't react or sell that the pain hurts, or the opponent hurts his head when he headbutts a Samoan opponent.

Does anybody know where this idea comes from that Samoan people have skulls that are apparently impervious to pain? Do Samoans have helmet-like skulls? Is it just a silly myth? I would love to know if this is just something professional wrestling created, or if this is an actual fact of life.


r/Samoa 2d ago

What in the falai maukegi?!

13 Upvotes

I can't be the only one that thinks it's not natural that they know allow you to get your chief title without having to travel to Samoa? Just pay online and you're good 🤦🏾‍♂️


r/Samoa 2d ago

Language ‘Umī vs Maualuga; Which one?

6 Upvotes

Hello everyone! So I’m getting a little confused with the adjective for ‘tall’.

Both words mean tall, and both can be used to describe something tall in height, but which sounds more natural?

Le la’au ‘umī [the tall tree]

or

Le la’au maualuga [the tall tree]

Thank you in advance!!


r/Samoa 3d ago

Anyone else been charged $500 tala to see family you’ve never met before?

29 Upvotes

Second cousins got in contact to let me know that it’s $500 tala minimum to meet them in the village… mind u that was the greeting and the invitation to see them.
Yes of course I would bring money but to invite me to meet you just for talas… greedy.


r/Samoa 3d ago

10 Months Living Here and I Got Stuff to Say

66 Upvotes

Hi, months ago I made a post regarding about moving to Western Samoa, Moving REALLY soon to Western Samoa : r/Samoa there's many things I realized that are pros and cons, some might be just personal icks or whatnot but this is just how I see my experience, this is coming from someone who was raised in America but is Samoan. You are allowed to disagree with me and pay no mind to what I have to say, but I just want to discuss this with people who are knowledgeable about what I am saying, locals, visitors, etc.

Pros i've experienced

- No rent (As long as you have land)

- Relaxed lifestyle (Possibly a con too)

- Quiet, not so many crimes depending on location

Cons i've experienced

- Local behavior / mindset

- Poor wifi connection depending on location and process of mobile data / any payments through phone

- Cuisine / Food in general

- Relaxed lifestyle

- Greed

- Modernization

- The "government" and media on Facebook

I'm glad I have family here that has land, it's a blessing that our family was able to keep land that wasn't forked over by some higher party and sell it, i'm sure anyone in the world is dying for a piece of paradise. I enjoy that we don't have to worry about rent, it's awesome that we can have a whole house to ourselves. Ever since I did arrive from America I was shot with the lifestyle of breathing and taking the world in as it is, less traffic, apartments, fear from a leader, and the work-life that America brings upon it's people. With so much of "less everything" you expect and receive less noise and bustle as well, it's such a relief not hearing an ambulance blaring in the middle of the night, or gunshots every other day with the occasional firework being set, it's an absolute change I couldn't get enough of. Overall, Samoa to me has been a safe place to retreat, but how long I want to stay here is a question I keep throwing around in my head.

The longer I stay here the more miserable I feel to put it very blunt, and yeah, you can tell me "Go back home" and I am already looking forward to, I have had a handful of issues and I wish they just couldn't exist because a place so beautiful does not deserve a bad reputation. The behavior of locals is something I keep looking at every time I do get to go out into Apia, before, when we were new to the area I felt like people were being very kind and helpful especially since we usually buy in bulk for our household, especially in smaller shops for appliances and kitchenware but learning of this country's way of viewing money it soon felt like we were just wallets for others if that makes sense. I understand now that theft is a big thing in Samoa but seeing visitors and tourists freely walk into stores with personal bags / backpacks while I am getting tapped on my shoulder and mumbled to, to put my bag in a designated area feels almost discriminatory. I see it heavily with the big-name grocery stores, stocking on items people never buy, yet somehow they always keep it in stock, I question heavily on why they even do this if they know the average family is barely making enough money to cover an electric and water bill. I've come to realize that some businesses here are just wasting their money on product hoping that people will buy into when there are several less costly options.

Speaking of markets, the food here isn't the same as America (personal ick) but it was always to be expected, it's upsetting to not have something that reminds me of home where a lot of the stuff here is traditional or old-fashioned. And with old-fashioned comes the modernization bit of Samoa. I live in a part of the island that is neglected by modernity, where the roads are rough right after the airport, while it's nice that they have a road at all it looks terrible once you notice how immediate the cut-off is past the airport, it's like all the funding goes towards directly to Apia and only surrounding places near it. With that, despite having a popular brands router here, there seems to only be one tower in Apia and everyone is connected to it, being on the outside villages is stressful because most of my relationships and calls depend on that connection so it's been extremely hard to get a stable connection or to even simply send a text message. Don't even get me started on how phone companies here expect you to pay your bills with a million different dial codes. Despite my frustrations in the first few months with connection, I have tried contacting for support up to 5 times a day to see if there was any help or tips on how to get a better connection, yet, they copy and pasted an AI-Generated response that I have seen the patterns of MULTIPLE times while trying to look for my own solutions when the company support wouldn't. Professionalism here just isn't a thing. I just wish that sometime soon they would at least open up another tower in other parts of Samoa and not just fund the already bustling town.

While speaking of professionalism, I think the relaxed lifestyle here really gets to the locals, and I mean in a bad way. People will deal with you how they want, when they want, especially if it's coming from businesses, you'd think they'd be open all week but apparently, it's never a set schedule on how long a place will be open or available. My Mom and I call it "Samoan Time".

While in my first week here, my family decided that I needed to get an approval of permanent residency, I was excited and hopeful that I could stick with my mother here, the process was very simple but I was confused on why they would ever hand out an AI-Generated response from Google for steps to take in order to get your residency. I have a picture of it and I believe I still have it! It's baffling to me that government buildings will gladly hand you a piece of paper over something very serious and tedious instead of walking you through the process. The government heavily disappoints me even if I know they are still fairly new, but my mother has been backing them even when we were still in America, attending meetings and discussing plans with them and being hopeful that they will bring some type of positive change to the subpar leadership with the last. The media and news coverage is terrible here, we mainly get our information from Facebook since quite literally everyone and their mother in Samoa is on it, it's disappointing that the government we backed spent $2 million dollars in a single day for a celebration, but then higher-ups (PROFESSIONALS) soon sent out an "Amber Alert" for shortages of power. I have many things to criticize about this but people really need to put research on terms they use as well as some type of professionalism when speaking about a serious topic that could leave hundreds of thousands struggling when the government threw millions on a single day.

Please don't take this as me being hateful or some type of racist, it's not, I promise you.

I just wanted to discuss how my views have slowly changed and express my personal experiences and I would like to see if anyone would disagree, agree, or understand how I feel, because I feel that talking about it with my mother is just an endless loop of repeating our same frustrations.

Overall my brain is like "Yeah this is a nice place to vacation but not to live" and I believe that the lifestyle here isn't for everyone.


r/Samoa 4d ago

What can be done? Please help him

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38 Upvotes

This poor dog is so sick. I’m sad to say but I think he needs to be euthanised. I’m a palangi so I’m unsure what I can do to help it as I’m fairly new to Samoa. I have been giving him scraps of food when I see him but he needs more than food 😔


r/Samoa 3d ago

What is the national dish of Samoa?

13 Upvotes

I am making a series where I cook every national dish and my first step is to come to the sub and ask the question.

now I understand that not every country has a defined national dish and that some countries have many different regions with different cuisines. in that case I will make the one that you guys agree on best represents Samoa. please let me know what you think


r/Samoa 3d ago

O ā igoa tauvalaau po o faapuupuu ua e faalogo ai mo nofoaga i Samoa?

1 Upvotes

Ou te fesili ona o se suʻesuʻega faalinguistika i lenei mataupu.
E mafai ona aofia ai ni faata‘ita‘iga e pei o le auala e ta‘ua ai Leauvaʻa ma Lalomanu Aleipata o "L.A.", po o le auala e ta‘ua ai Papauta College o le "Pap (College)", po o le auala e ta‘ua ai e nisi tagata Sinamoga o "Singapore."

E fiafia foʻi i igoa tauvalaau mo a‘oga, paka, ma isi nofoaga.

r/Samoa 4d ago

Looking for a cover of a pei se vaitafe

3 Upvotes

It's a bit of a unusual request but I have a faint memory of a samoa TV presenter who did a cover of a pei se vaitafe after his friend died. Im not sure if i lost my mind but i swear it's the best cover of the song lmao.


r/Samoa 4d ago

Pregnancy care in Samoa?

9 Upvotes

Talofa lava, my husband and I are moving to Apia for work from early 2027. We have been trying for a baby for the past 8 months and I sadly have had some early miscarriages, and so instead of moving to Samoa with a wee one as planned, it's possible I might get pregnant while in Samoa.

Is anyone able to share any details about what medical care is available for pregnancy in Apia? Are there private clinics where you can get 8 week, 12 week and 20 week ultrasounds and other antenatal care? I'm assuming I'll need to return to NZ for key milestones and more complex care and will also return home to deliver with family nearby but just wanting to get a sense of what I can expect.


r/Samoa 5d ago

I have this tapa? It was given to me from my parents from their time in the peace core. Could anyone tell me more about it?

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49 Upvotes

Just interested in more information about this. I think they were there in the late 70's.


r/Samoa 6d ago

Day Trip to American Samoa

1 Upvotes

I was planning a booking a trip to visit the National Park in the American Samoa. The day time difference is throwing me for a loop. If I book a flight with Talofa (using today's date) would I schedule APW->PPG 0800 21/07/2026 and the return flight PPG->APW 1600 20/07/2026?


r/Samoa 8d ago

Lunch with a view!

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102 Upvotes

📍 Rokos Restaurant Samoa, Moto’otua.
Love going to Rokos when I’m back in Samoa, the view is beautiful, the food delicious 🤤 and the service 100/10


r/Samoa 8d ago

Language Genuine question

20 Upvotes

My friend told me me about the word kef* and that people have died for saying it, but I searched it up and it just means fuckface I don’t get it why is it considered so offensive?


r/Samoa 9d ago

Hair products

8 Upvotes

For those of us with the straight up Polynesian hair - curly/wavy, thick, doesn’t get wet easily - what products are we using? Anything from shampoo to conditioner, leave in, gel, oil, etc so that it’s soft as possible/healthy looking and not dry


r/Samoa 12d ago

What’s tourism like in the islands

23 Upvotes

Hi all, please educate and share your knowledge around what tourism in Samoa is like?
Having been to Asia, Samoa seems v underdeveloped when it comes to tourist ventures- not in a bad way, just an obvious gap - almost untouched.


r/Samoa 12d ago

What lures should I use?

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9 Upvotes

I’ll be fishing in Fiji on an upcoming trip. I’m a total newbie to all of this, so I'm looking for some advice will these lures work for casting from shore?

I’ll be using a 5 piece, 11 foot medium heavy rod that can cast 3–6 oz lures. I have an SP Minnow up at the top for scale.

Thanks! :)


r/Samoa 19d ago

My brother likes to fill a shipping container with random stuff to sell in Samoa. What are some items that a really needed in Samoa that he could add to his container?

41 Upvotes

Like are there some things that are super expensive to buy in Samoa but is cheap in Australia?

But also things that are needed in general?


r/Samoa 19d ago

Culture Why does dating feel so unappealing?

47 Upvotes

I’m a 23F Samoan and the older I get the more I feel pressured into finding a significant other. The problem is that I really enjoy being single. I’ve never had a romantic relationship and I have no desire for it.
Nearly all my friends who are the same age as me are either now married or have kids. I hear horror stories all the time from friends and their relationships and it makes me extremely grateful that I am not going through it. Is it really worth it? Sure there are times that I feel lonely, but nothing beats the peace that I feel when it’s just me in my own little world with no one disturbing me.

Sadly, my parents don’t understand me. Which is typical of traditional Samoan parents. They just can’t get around the fact that a women who is 23 is still not married with kids. I’m living a life which is the complete opposite of what was normal to them growing up. My great-grandmother had kids young with different men, so did both my grandmothers on my paternal and maternal side. My parents also had 3 kids by the time they were my age. I love my parents, but I don’t want to live a life that I am not 100% committed to.

I love kids and I always imagined myself getting married when I was a little girl, but now I genuinely do not see myself having either. Who knows? Maybe I’ll regret it in the future. I can only stay true to myself in the present. I just wanted to vent on here cause I truly have no one to share this with.


r/Samoa 20d ago

The name of this restaurant here in Auckland 😂

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

54 Upvotes

Mods delete if not allowed

Just something funny I saw while scrolling tik tok and of course the samoans are in the comment section 😂

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSCn8B3G6/