Editing Samoa (section)

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Samoa}}
{{See also|Music of Samoa}}
[[File:Samoa upolu.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A view of [[Falefa Valley]] from Le Mafa Pass, east [[Upolu]]]]
[[File:Young man in 'ie toga lavalava, photograph by Thomas Andrew.jpg|thumb|A young man in {{lang|sm|'ie toga}}]]
[[Faʻa Sāmoa]], or the traditional Samoan way, remains a strong force in Samoan life and politics. As one of the oldest Polynesian cultures, the fa'a Samoa developed over a period of 3,000 years, withstanding centuries of European influence to maintain its historical customs, social and political systems, and [[Samoan language|language]]. Cultural customs such as the [[Samoa 'ava ceremony]] are significant and solemn rituals at important occasions including the bestowal of ''[[fa'amatai|matai]]'' chiefly titles. Items of great cultural value include the finely woven ''[['ie toga]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 1999 |title=KIE HINGOA 'NAMED MATS', 'IE TŌGA 'FINE MATS' AND OTHER TREASURED TEXTILES OF SAMOA AND TONGA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20706862 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=108 |issue=2 |access-date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422081323/https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20706862 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Ie Toga (Fine Mat): Samoan Traditions of Weaving - Teachers (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/-ie-toga-fine-mat-samoan-traditions-of-weaving.htm |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728131710/https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/-ie-toga-fine-mat-samoan-traditions-of-weaving.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Samoan mythology]] includes many gods with creation stories and figures of legend such as [[Tagaloa]] and the goddess of war [[Nafanua]], the daughter of [[Saveasi'uleo]], ruler of the spirit realm [[Pulotu]]. Other legends include the well known story of [[Sina and the Eel]] which explains the origins of the first coconut tree.

Some Samoans are spiritual and religious, and have subtly adapted the dominant religion of Christianity to 'fit in' with fa'a Samoa and vice versa. Ancient beliefs continue to co-exist side by side with Christianity, particularly in regard to the traditional customs and rituals of fa'a Samoa. The Samoan culture is centred on the principle of vāfealoa'i, the relationships between people. These relationships are based on respect, or fa'aaloalo. When Christianity was introduced in Samoa, most Samoan people converted. Currently 98% of the population identify themselves as Christian.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyeth |first=Grant |title=Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |access-date=2021-09-06 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US |archive-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616153746/https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some Samoans live a communal way of life, participating in activities collectively. Examples of this are the traditional Samoan ''[[Architecture of Samoa|fale]]'' (houses) which are open with no walls, using blinds made of coconut palm fronds during the night or bad weather.

The Samoan ''[[siva Samoa|siva]]'' dance has unique gentle movements of the body in time to music and tells a story, although the Samoan male dances can be more snappy.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dance: Siva |url=http://www.samoa.co.uk/dance.html |work=Samoa.co.uk |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117045520/http://www.samoa.co.uk/dance.html |archive-date=17 November 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''[[sasa (dance)|sasa]]'' is also a traditional dance where rows of dancers perform rapid [[synchronization|synchronised]] movements in time to the rhythm of wooden drums ''([[pate (musical instrument)|pate]])'' or rolled mats. Another dance performed by males is called the ''[[fa'ataupati]]'' or the slap dance, creating rhythmic sounds by slapping different parts of the body. This is believed to have been derived from slapping insects on the body.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

The form and construction of traditional [[architecture of Samoa]] was a specialised skill by ''Tufuga fai fale'' that was also linked to other cultural artforms.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Siva Afi - Fire spinning.jpg|A Samoan fire dancer.
File:Fale on Manono Island.jpg|A [[Architecture of Samoa|fale]] on [[Manono Island]]
</gallery>

===Media===
{{Main|List of newspapers in Samoa|List of television stations in Samoa}}

===Tattooing===
[[File:Samoan Malu.jpg|thumb|A Samoan woman with a traditional [[malu]]]]

As with other Polynesian cultures ([[Hawaiian culture|Hawaiian]], [[Tahitians|Tahitian]] and [[Māori culture|Māori]]) with significant and unique tattoos, Samoans have two gender specific and culturally significant tattoos. For males, it is called the [[Pe'a]] and consists of intricate and geometrical patterns [[tattoo]]ed that cover areas from the knees up towards the ribs. A male who possesses such a tatau is called a [[soga'imiti]]. A Samoan girl or ''teine'' is given a [[malu]], which covers the area from just below her knees to her upper thighs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Worn With Pride – Tatau (Tatoo) |url=http://www.oma-online.org/worn_with_pride_04.html |work=Oceanside Museum of Art |access-date=26 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330024149/http://www.oma-online.org/worn_with_pride_04.html |archive-date=30 March 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Contemporary culture===
[[Albert Wendt]] is a significant Samoan writer whose novels and stories tell the Samoan experience. In 1989, his novel ''[[Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree]]'' was made into a feature film in New Zealand, directed by [[Martyn Sanderson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Flying-Fox.php |title=NZ Feature Project: Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree – The New Zealand Film Archive |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525162414/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Flying-Fox.php |archive-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> Another novel ''[[Sons for the Return Home]]'' had also been made into a feature film in 1979, directed by [[Paul Maunder]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/SFTRH.php |title=NZ Feature Project: Sons For the Return Home – The New Zealand Film Archive |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525170130/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/SFTRH.php |archive-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

The late [[John Kneubuhl]], born in American Samoa, was an accomplished playwright and screenwriter and writer. His play ''Think of Garden'' premiered in Auckland in 1993 a year after his death, it was directed by [[Nathaniel Lees]], is set in 1929 and is about Samoa's struggle for independence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Think of a Garden |url=https://tadb.otago.ac.nz/theatre/Web/WebSearch.php?Session=Guest-X-196495610 |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Theatre Aotearoa Data Base |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127092723/https://tadb.otago.ac.nz/theatre/Web/WebSearch.php?Session=Guest-X-196495610 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-17 |title=Samoan history play 'Think of a Garden' to be staged, literally, in a garden |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/100505127/samoan-history-play-think-of-a-garden-to-be-staged-literally-in-a-garden |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |language=en |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127092717/https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/100505127/samoan-history-play-think-of-a-garden-to-be-staged-literally-in-a-garden |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Sia Figiel]] won the 1997 [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] for fiction in the south-east Asia/South Pacific region with her novel "Where We Once Belonged".

[[Momoe Malietoa Von Reiche]] is an internationally recognised poet and artist.

[[Tusiata Avia]] is a performance poet. Her first book of poetry ''Wild Dogs Under My Skirt'' was published by Victoria University Press in 2004.
[[Dan Taulapapa McMullin]] is an artist and writer.

Other Samoan poets and writers include [[Sapa'u Ruperake Petaia]], [[Eti Sa'aga]] and [[Savea Sano Malifa]], the editor of the [[Samoa Observer]].

In music, popular local bands include [[The Five Stars]], Penina o Tiafau and Punialava'a.
[[The Yandall Sisters]]' cover of the song ''Sweet Inspiration'' reached number one on the New Zealand charts in 1974.

[[King Kapisi]] was the first hip hop artist to receive the prestigious New Zealand [[Australasian Performing Right Association|APRA]] Silver Scroll Award in 1999 for his song ''Reverse Resistance''. The music video for ''Reverse Resistance'' was filmed in Savai'i at his villages.

Other successful Samoan hip hop artists include rapper [[Scribe (rapper)|Scribe]], [[Dei Hamo]], [[Savage (rapper)|Savage]] and [[Tha Feelstyle]] whose music video ''Suamalie'' was filmed in Samoa.

[[Lemi Ponifasio]] is a director and choreographer who is prominent internationally with his dance Company MAU.<ref>[http://www.mau.co.nz/ Home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512013259/http://www.mau.co.nz/ |date=12 May 2011 }}. Mau.co.nz. Retrieved on 9 November 2016.</ref>
[[Neil Ieremia]]'s company [[Black Grace]] has also received international acclaim with tours to Europe and New York.

[[Hip hop]] has had a significant impact on Samoan culture. According to Katerina Martina Teaiwa, PhD from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, "Hip hop culture in particular is popular amongst Samoan youth."<ref name="Dances">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080308172004/http://www.piccom.org/dancesoflife/samoa.html Dances of Life |American Samoa]. piccom.org</ref> As in many other countries, hip hop music is popular. In addition, the integration of hip hop elements into Samoan tradition also "testifies to the transferability of the dance forms themselves," and to the "circuits through which people and all their embodied knowledge travel."<ref>Henderson, April K. "Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora." In The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180–199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2000</ref> Dance both in its traditional form and its more modern forms has remained a central cultural currency to Samoans, especially youths.<ref name="Dances" />

The arts organisation ''[[Tautai Pacific Arts Trust]]'' was an informal collective of visual artists including [[Fatu Feu'u]], [[Johnny Penisula]], [[Shigeyuki Kihara]], [[Michel Tuffery]], and [[Lily Laita]] in the 1980s and formalised into a trust in 1995 and is now a leading Pacific arts organisation directed by [[Aanoalii Rowena Fuluifaga]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appointment of new Tautai Director, Aanoalii Rowena Fuluifaga {{!}} New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa |url=https://authors.org.nz/appointment-of-new-tautai-director-aanoalii-rowena-fuluifaga/ |access-date=2023-12-02 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202220026/https://authors.org.nz/appointment-of-new-tautai-director-aanoalii-rowena-fuluifaga/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Yamauchi, C. (2014). Talking Story about Art and Life: Narratives of Contemporary Oceanic Artists and Their Work.</ref> [[Marilyn Kohlhase]] ran a Pacific focused gallery called ''[[Okaioceanikart]]'' from 2007 to 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kohlhase |first=Marilyn |title=The Okaioceanikart Story |url=https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/the-okaioceanikart-story,%20https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/the-okaioceanikart-story |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Pantograph Punch }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Other important Samoan contemporary artists include [[Andy Leleisi'uao]], and [[Raymond Sagapolutele]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-07 |title=Andy Leleisi'uao wins 2017 Wallace Art Award |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andy-leleisiuao-wins-2017-wallace-art-award/4BJ5JCAJP7RS576EXDIEY7NRG4/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207184925/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andy-leleisiuao-wins-2017-wallace-art-award/4BJ5JCAJP7RS576EXDIEY7NRG4/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-12 |title=Aua e te fefe: Art exhibition challenges audience 'Don't be afraid' |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476517/aua-e-te-fefe-art-exhibition-challenges-audience-don-t-be-afraid |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209054510/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476517/aua-e-te-fefe-art-exhibition-challenges-audience-don-t-be-afraid |url-status=live }}</ref>

Director [[Sima Urale]] is a filmmaker. Urale's short film ''O Tamaiti'' won the prestigious Best Short Film at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1996. Her first feature film ''Apron Strings'' opened the 2008 [[New Zealand International Film Festivals|NZ International Film Festival]]. The feature film ''[[Siones Wedding]]'', co-written by [[Oscar Kightley]], was financially successful following premieres in Auckland and Apia. The 2011 film [[The Orator (film)|The Orator]] was the first ever fully Samoan film, shot in Samoa in the Samoan language with a Samoan cast telling a uniquely Samoan story. Written and directed by [[Tusi Tamasese]], it received much critical acclaim and attention at film festivals throughout the world.

===Sport===
{{See also|Sport in Samoa}}
[[File:Percy Montgomery against Samoa.jpg|thumb|Samoa (blue) vs. South Africa in June 2007]]
The main sports played in Samoa are [[rugby union]], [[Samoan cricket]] and [[netball]]. Rugby union is the national football code of Samoa. In Samoan villages, volleyball is also popular.

Rugby union is the national sport in Samoa and the [[Samoa national rugby union team|national team]], nicknamed the Manu Samoa, is consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations. Samoa has competed at every [[Rugby World Cup]] since [[1991 Rugby World Cup|1991]], and made the quarter finals in 1991, [[1995 Rugby World Cup|1995]] and the second round of the [[1999 Rugby World Cup|1999]] World Cup.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rugby in Samoa |url=http://www.manusamoa.net/history.htm |work=ManuSamoa.net |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219202744/http://www.manusamoa.net/history.htm |url-status=usurped}}</ref> At the 2003 world cup, Manu Samoa came close to beating eventual world champions, England. Samoa also played in the [[Pacific Nations Cup]] and the [[Pacific Tri-Nations]]. The sport is governed by the [[Samoa Rugby Football Union]], who are members of the [[Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance]], and thus, also contribute to the international [[Pacific Islanders rugby union team]].

At club level, there is the [[Samoa National Provincial Championship|National Provincial Championship]] and [[Pacific Rugby Cup]]. They also took home the cup at Wellington and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens in 2007—for which the Prime Minister of Samoa, also chairman of the national rugby union, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, declared a national holiday. They were also the [[IRB World Sevens Series]] Champions in 2010 capping a year of achievement for the Samoans, following wins in the US, Australia, Hong Kong and Scotland Sevens tournaments.

Prominent Samoan players include [[Pat Lam]] and [[Brian Lima]]. In addition, many Samoans have played for or are playing for [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]].

[[Samoa national rugby league team|The national rugby league team]] reached the quarter finals of the [[2013 Rugby League World Cup]], the team comprising players from the [[NRL]] and [[Super League]] plus domestic players. Many Samoans and New Zealanders or Australians of Samoan descent play in the Super League and National Leagues in Britain, including Francis Meli, Ta'ane Lavulavu of Workington Town, Maurie Fa'asavalu of St Helens, David Fatialofa of Whitehaven and Setaimata Sa, who signed with London Irish rugby club. Other noteworthy players from [[New Zealand|NZ]] and [[Australia]] have represented the [[Samoa national rugby league team|Samoan National team]]. The 2011 domestic Samoan rugby league competition contained 10 teams with plans to expand to 12 in 2012.<ref name="Rugby League Planet">{{cite web |work=rugbyleagueplanet.com |title=Samoa |url=http://rugbyleagueplanet.com/rugby-league-rlp/rlp-nations/samoa |access-date=20 September 2012 |archive-date=20 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920134235/http://rugbyleagueplanet.com/rugby-league-rlp/rlp-nations/samoa |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2020}}<ref>[https://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/table/international-rugby-league-news/samoa 2019 Oceania Cup Preview - Toa Samoa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213190555/https://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/table/international-rugby-league-news/samoa/ |date=13 February 2020 }} ''www.rugbyleagueplanet.com'', accessed 13 February 2020</ref> Samoa reached the final of the [[2021 Rugby League World Cup]] to face Australia.

Samoans have been very visible in [[boxing]], [[kickboxing]], [[Professional wrestling|wrestling]], and [[sumo]]; some Samoan sumo wrestlers, most famously [[Musashimaru]] and [[Konishiki]], have reached the highest rank of ''[[Oozeki|Ozeki]]'' and ''[[Yokozuna (sumo)|yokozuna]]''.

[[American football]] is occasionally played in Samoa, reflecting its wide popularity in [[American Samoa]], where the sport is played under high school sanction. About 30 ethnic Samoans, many from American Samoa, currently play in the [[National Football League]]. A 2002 article from ''[[ESPN]]'' estimated that a Samoan male (either an American Samoan or a Samoan living in the mainland United States) is 40 times more likely to play in the NFL than a non-Samoan American.<ref>{{cite news |title=American football, Samoan style |url=https://www.espn.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html |work=ESPN |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=16 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116125406/http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html |url-status=live }}</ref>