In trying to make sense of this: my parents were both brought up in villages in Samoa on both ancestral sides in fact I'm currently seeing how far I can go back (with the help of my family) to see how far back our family tree can be traced. So far it looks like at least 7 generations in using www.familysearch.org, a Morman website, to link with other family trees and trace back to different villages in Samoa.
However, when my parents moved here after my paternal grandmother had already settled in Auckland, the village dynamics changed and in a sense the church became our village, in many respects, with the functions of the village as was my experience growing up. This translated as the church playing a pivotal role in raising families through shared beliefs, experiences, it took a teaching and instructional role and set out the norms of behaviour.
In retrospect, it was my father's strong stance with my mother's support that brought about this foundation into our daily lives that I often took for granted growing up. It was a norm that I shared with other first generation NZ born Samoans whom I attended school with and I was aware then that not every Pasifika child was raised in similar environments.
I now wonder, for those Pasifika families whose roots are no longer in a church, who their village system was with? and now have school communities or sports communities taken over this role for some? or have many now turned to the nuclear family and friends as being their village setting?
The village concept is a powerfully positive idea for raising a child if it is a positively empowering village environment that grows an individual to be confident spiritually, physically, mentally and holistically in their wellbeing as they enter into the wider world. It is definitely a concept that I'll be looking into with more vigour...
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