Samoa Archives | E-Tangata

Tamasailau: Pau ā — just because

Posted by Dale Husband | Oct 31, 2021 | Kōrero

“I’ve grown to appreciate the place of law in today’s society, but I struggle with its monoculturalism.” — Tamasailau Sualii-Sauni.

Judge Mike Mika: I just smile now

Posted by Dale Husband | Sep 5, 2021 | Kōrero

“I grew up as a young Sāmoan kid watching rugby, and Bryan Williams was my idol. . . . So there we had the first Sāmoan All Black who was also a lawyer, and I thought: ‘Man! That is really something.’” — Judge Mike Mika.

Reflections on democracy’s coming of age in the heart of Polynesia

Posted by Patrick Thomsen | Apr 18, 2021 | Comment & Analysis

“I hope that we dispel once and for all the myth that democracy in Sāmoa and the wider Pacific is uneventful or unsophisticated and unworthy of New Zealand attention.” — Patrick Thomsen.

Neru Leavasa: A history of service

Posted by Dale Husband | Dec 6, 2020 | Kōrero

“Before I got cancer, I wanted to be an All Black or a professional athlete.” — Dr Neru Leavasa, GP and MP for Takanini in Auckland.

Melani Anae: Educate to Liberate

Posted by Dale Husband | Oct 11, 2020 | Kōrero

“It’s the Sāmoans living outside of Sāmoa who value and hang on to the vestiges of our Pacific culture and indigenous knowledge.” — Melani Anae.

The gift we gave ourselves

Posted by Moeata Keil | Jun 14, 2020 | Reflections

“Are these proposed changes the gift that we wish to give to the future generation of Sāmoans?” — Moeata Keil on the controversial changes to Sāmoa’s constitution.

Right now, our islands need us to stay away

Posted by Lana Lopesi | Mar 22, 2020 | Comment & Analysis

“Whether we like it or not, Aotearoa is a disease gateway to the Pacific,” writes Lana Lopesi.

Lani Wendt Young: A hunger worldwide for our stories told by us

Posted by Dale Husband | Sep 1, 2019 | Arts, Kōrero

“There are lots of silly excuses that people offer for why there aren’t more of us published. They say, for instance, that we don’t like to write. We aren’t storytellers. We’re not readers. But that’s ridiculous.”

I’m good at languages — so why can’t I speak Sāmoan?

Posted by Tupe Solomon-Tanoa'i | May 26, 2019 | Reflections, Reo

“Many of us have lost our languages through no fault of our own. Let’s remove the shame from reclaiming our languages.”

Remembering the women of the Mau movement in Samoa

Posted by Christine Ammunson | Mar 11, 2018 | History, Reflections

Why do we always seem to be looking overseas for our heroines and heroes when we have so many right here at home — in our own family histories and in our hearts?