SASA. That was the first Samoan word that came to mind when asked the question, “What is your favorite Samoan word?”
ATUA, was the second.
Shouldn’t I have thought of GOD first?
Apparently, I need to be disciplined first, to understand the importance of God in my life. Or at least that’s what my twin deduced from my choice of words. I half way believe her logic.
I reckon if you take the time to think about all the Samoan words you know and use on the daily, you’d have a long list as well just because of their meaning and the frequency of use.
I asked my Samoanglish speaking son to tell me his favorite Samoan word and without hesitation he answered, “Tamā” (father)… it touched me so much because of how he said it, the sincerity of his voice.
SASA …. The first word I remember being told with such firmness and love at the same time, it will forever be that revolving word with a definition known only when spoken out loud.
“Sasa oe?” says mama with a smirk on her face to mean she’s giving you one chance to not do the wrong thing, or else she’ll take action.
“Sasa!” yells Misi at his dog dry humping a stranger’s leg.
“E sasa?” asks papa playfully as he pulls Mele down from trying to climb up an unsteady chair.
“Fia sasa?” threatened Siu to his little sister who refused to listen when told to stop spitting at him.
“Sasa gei oe” teases Sila as he runs after his little brother trying to get him to go shower before bed.
“Sasa” mocks the mala as he shoots a mischievous look at Sefa for inciting a conversation that will most likely end in favour of the mala.
“Sasa ou fela!” promises mama with such a look, if it could kill, you’d already be dead.
As you can see… SASA takes on a meaning only the person saying it could define with the look on their face and the intention in their voice.
Every Samoan should be proud to know these stories from our history. These will make great bedtime stories for the kids, too.
Tongan King vs the Sons of Atiogie
In the old old days (like from 1200 to 1300), Samoa was ruled by Tonga.
For 100 years even!
It’s ancient history now – no hard feelings – but apparently, the Tongan king at the time was a bit of a tyrant.
In those days, a man named Atiogie (he’s a famous guy in Samoan legends, you should look him up) had 3 sons and a grandson who grew up to really not like this Tongan occupation. These brothers and their nephew got so rebellious and riled up so many other protesters that it lead to a military conflict kinda situation.
The angry Samoans drove the king’s forces from one end of Upolu to the other until the king had no choice but to board one of his naval ships and head home to Tonga. But the old man’s last words to his former subjects expressed admiration for their valiant effort:
Mālie toa, mālie tau
…which means something like, “Respect to you, warriors. Good fight!”
Germany vs Le Mau a Pule
Lauaki Namulau’ulu Mamoe, 1909. Photo by Thomas Andrew. Te Papa.
If only the fighting had stopped there. Thanks to lots of drama and two civil wars, even, our islands were far from at peace.
Those clever bigger countries lurking in the Pacific took advantage of all the local fighting. They chose sides and provided weapons to perpetuate the war (and stole land while the locals were busy killing each other, but that’s another story).
And then, in 1900, our country was finally divided and conquered. The USA took what is now known as American Samoa, and Germany took the rest.
Yes, today’s independent Samoa could have still been German Samoa, but not all our people were happy about that. The most outspoken protesters were a group of early freedom fighters led by a Savai’i man named Lauaki Namulau’ulu Mamoe.
This guy was a pretty impressive orator who led the Mau a Pule in challenging Germany’s control of our islands.
Mau means opinion and can refer to being firm or resistant. A pule is a leader, so Mau a Pule is something like… the resistance of the leaders.
Germany eventually had enough of all this outspoken-ness and exiled Namulau’ulu plus friends to Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.
That happened in 1909, Germany’s rule was over five years later, then in 1915, Samoa’s new colonists (New Zealand) sent a ship to bring Namalau’ulu back to Samoa.
Sadly, the old man died on the journey home.
New Zealand vs O Le Mau a Samoa
After New Zealand was in control for a while, Samoans started to miss Germany’s rule. Things got that bad. (Find out just how bad over at One Samoana).
Only eleven years after Namalau’ulu died, Samoa was in full on resistance mode again, this time against New Zealand. The new wave of protests were led by a businessman named Taisi Olaf F. Nelson and our Head of State at the time, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.
Taking their cue from the first resistance, they called this new movement Le Mau a Samoa and published a newspaper – The Samoan Guardian – to help spread their message.
…and it caught on in a big way. One of my favourite stories is how women took over Le Mau after their husbands were forced into hiding by the New Zealand military.
Nelson was eventually exiled to New Zealand, but he just took his protesting all the way to the League of Nations in Geneva.
Back in Samoa, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III paid the ultimate price for his part in the protest against New Zealand. He was gunned down by military police during a peaceful demonstration.
Even after this tragedy, it still took a few more decades before New Zealand left Samoa.
In 2018, Samoa will celebrate 56 years of independence. May we never forget the brave men and women in our history who loved us enough to fight for our freedom.
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Are you a descendant of any of these historical heroes? Please share your stories about your ancestors in the comments below.[Featured image: Parade, Apia. From the album: Samoa, circa 1916, Samoa, maker unknown. Te Papa (O.041845)]
Uso! (or Uce!) Toko! Siana! All terms we use – from different islands in the Pacific – to refer to our brothers. Our buds. Our ride-or-die boyeeeez.
All good.
But if you want to use the Samoan word uso correctly, especially if you’re speaking with people (like your elders) who might actually get confused if words aren’t used right, then this handy guide from One Samoana will help:
So basically, your brother isn’t your uso unless you are also a male. And if you’re a girl, then your uso is actually your sister.
Got it?
It’s always good to know the rules before you break them with style. A ea, Uce?
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