Cousine

                  Samoan food today shows some clear historical influences, mostly European and Chinese. Classic dishes like umu (oven-pit-baked food), sapasui (chop suey), and puligi (pudding) have not changed much over the last few decades, whereas some dishes have not stood the test of time, such as suamasi (cracker soup).

Them Samoans cook in a fire pit called a Umu, it has hot rocks and food wrapped in Taro leaves!

Umu

An umu is the traditional method used by Samoan's for cooking food. A fire is built and stones placed on it. When the fire is down to the embers green bananas, breadfruit, taro, fish, and lu'au are placed on the stones. When everything to be cooked has been placed on the umu, it is covered with banana fronds and left to cook.

Oka

Most cultures eat raw fish: smoked salmon, sushi, Bismark herring, rollmops etc. Oka is the way Samoans prepare and serve raw fish. It consists of small bits of fish that have been left to marinate in a mixture of lemon juice, coconut cream, salt and onions.

Celebrities

         Nephi Hannemann is an actor and singer of Samoan , German and English descent who has appeared numerous times on Hawaii Five-O and One West Waikiki.

Professional Career:

In his acting career, Hannemann played several characters in various episodes of Hawaii Five-O from 1969 to 1979.

        Hannemann recorded and released his solo LP “The Polynesian Man” in 1972, where his voice was compared to Don Ho and Tom Jones in popularity and versatility as a singing star. He had also been working on a second album with Lani Kai, but unfortunately, Kai died before its completion.

Hannemann was one of a group of singers in Don Ho’s “Hana Ho Review” at the former Forbidden City nightclub on Kapiolani Boulevard.

In 1974, played the character of “Lt. Kelani” in the American television police drama McCloud, and also in that same year he played a witch doctor character “Malakoma” in the Disney television movie – The Castaway Cowboy.

Hannemann has been involved in a number of business ventures, such as the Maui Quarterly that he and two partners established in 1983, which was a business and travel magazine, and as an advertising director where he was the main writer for seven years.

Hannemann also wrote scripts, screenplays and songs throughout the years. As of 2002, Hannemann was the spokesman for health care products made in Hawaii and Polynesia, under the name of “The Polynesian Man.” 

        Albert Wendt is a Samoan poet and writer who also lives in New Zealand. Among his works is Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979).

           Albert Wendt was born in Apia, Samoa. Wendt is of German heritage through his great-grandfather from his patrilineal ancestry, which he reflected it in some of his poetry works. He studied at Ardmore Teacher's College and at the Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with an M.A. in History. His Masters' thesis was about the Mau, Sāmoa's independence movement from colonialism during the early 1900s (decade). His thesis was titled Guardians and Wards: A study of the origins, causes and the first two years of the Mau in Western Sāmoa.

He returned in 1965 to Western Samoa, becoming headmaster of Samoa College. In 1974 he moved to Fiji, where he taught at the University of the South Pacific.

In 1977 Wendt returned home to set up the University of the South Pacific Center in Sāmoa. He worked closely with the literary journal Mana, and edited in 1975 collections of poems from Fiji, Western Samoa, the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), and the Solomon Islands.

Wendt's epic Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979) won the 1980 New Zealand Book Awards. He was appointed to the first chair in Pacific literature at the University of the South Pacific in Suva. In 1988 he took up a professorship of Pacific studies at the University of Auckland. In 1999 Wendt was visiting Professor of Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii. In 2001 he was made Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to literature. In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed a member of the Order of New Zealand.

Dance

             Samoan dance traditions reflect contact between Samoan culture and other cultures from the East and West. Influences from rap can be detected, but traditional Samoan styles of movement and traditional clothing are also used. The space in which dance is conducted has been interpreted as a microcosm of Samoan society

Samoan dance has been characterized as a means of maintaining Samoan identity in contact with other civilizations.

Fire Dance: 

Taualunga

The Taualunga takes a similar form to the siva. It is performed by a female dancer, but instead of performing alone there will be various points at which a group of men will participate. In addition a sei, headdress of flowers, will be worn.

Siva

Siva is the Samoan word for dance, but it also refers to a particular type of dance in which the performer usually stands and enacts an everday activity. For the siva the performer usually wears a tuiga, a headdress made of feathers and human hair.

Music 

            The music of Samoa is integral to life in the country. The part most important and essential always has been the voice. Singers mourn, rejoice, and reflect every emotion. The past, present, and sometimes the near future are put to song. Everyone sings, despite the cause, despite the situation, and most often, despite one's ability to do so.

Conteporanea musical:

                  There is a Samoan rap group in the United States, The Boo-Yaa Tribe who achieved brief worldwide fame. But the most famous musician is Jerome Gray, who's song "We Are Samoa" has become an unofficial second national anthem.

The Boo-Yaa Tribe:

  

Traditional Samoan musical instruments:

  Pate

                                                                             

Conch