As we prep for Christmas Day tomorrow with a family lunch and all the trimmings, I'm also prepping for Samoa, travelling there in the new year, and urgently sending books to the SSAB (Samoa Stationery and Books) store in Apia.
This was a lovely surprise, as every year I check in on the SSAB stories to see if they need more of my books. There are about three stores on the island of Upolu that I am familiar with and one in Savaii, which I haven't yet attended to, but will do at some future date.
This particular pese (song) is popular and reminds me of the different villages in Samoa, each with their own matai (chiefs) and tū ma aganu'u (protocols and traditions) that can vary from village to village. This song acknowledges this as they sing of the different nu'u or villages from the pitonu'u or district, and you can see the pride in their faces.
I'm so glad that my parents brought me up with knowledge of the language and also with an understanding of how things work in our fa'aSamoa as to not have that information can be a little trying with diaspora Samoans.
So I'm very happy to teach this to my youngest as we travel often to Samoa together and as she studies Samoan language in high school to add to her knowledge. I certainly do see her as a future matai (chief) as she carries her grandfather's name and I know that she would have made him proud as she does of me...
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