Whispers and Vanities in Samoan Indigenous Religious Culture
Whispers and Vanities in Samoan Indigenous Religious Culture
Whispers and Vanities in Samoan Indigenous Religious Culture
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forums I hope to generate a culture of <strong>in</strong>formed pride about our <strong>in</strong>digenous religious<br />
beliefs whereby contemporary custodians can impart to those eager to learn the best of<br />
what our forefathers had to offer.<br />
Before I delve <strong>in</strong>to the basic tenets of our <strong>Samoan</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous religious culture, let me<br />
expla<strong>in</strong> what I mean here by the culture of whispers.<br />
A culture of whispers<br />
A culture of whispers can <strong>in</strong>clude those whispers that are life-affirm<strong>in</strong>g, loveaffirm<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> faith-affirm<strong>in</strong>g, such as a mother talk<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> lov<strong>in</strong>g whispers to her<br />
unborn child or an audience whisper<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> awe at the majesty of the Sist<strong>in</strong>e chapel.<br />
The elements of love <strong>and</strong> awe that motivate <strong>and</strong> def<strong>in</strong>e these whispers are implicit <strong>in</strong><br />
tala tuumumusu, i.e. <strong>in</strong> the culture of whispers engaged by <strong>Samoan</strong> custodians when<br />
pass<strong>in</strong>g on sacred knowledge. The culture of whispers I wish to dwell on <strong>in</strong> this paper<br />
suggests a cont<strong>in</strong>uum where tala tuumumusu lies at one end <strong>and</strong> a more disturb<strong>in</strong>g<br />
k<strong>in</strong>d of whisper, those of tala taumusumusu, lies at the other. Unlike tala tuumumusu,<br />
tala taumusumusu are comments usually motivated by arrogance, jealousy <strong>and</strong>/or<br />
spite.<br />
Sister Vitolia Mo’a draws a useful dist<strong>in</strong>ction between tala tuumumusu <strong>and</strong> tala<br />
taumusumusu. 2 She suggests that one is sacred <strong>and</strong> profound <strong>and</strong> the other dismissive<br />
<strong>and</strong> pejorative. Tala tuumumusu imbues <strong>in</strong> the whisper a reverence for the knowledge<br />
imparted <strong>and</strong> its tapu or sacred qualities. Tala taumusumusu is by def<strong>in</strong>ition<br />
irreverent. The word tau <strong>in</strong> taumusumusu refers not to the impart<strong>in</strong>g of knowledge<br />
through a process that bespeaks awe (as implied <strong>in</strong> the term tuu, mean<strong>in</strong>g to give<br />
lov<strong>in</strong>gly), but to the mak<strong>in</strong>g of pejorative throwaway comments that are meant to pass<br />
on prejudice <strong>and</strong> dislike. Sister Vitolia expresses the difference like so: “Tala<br />
tuumumusu clearly exposes [tala] taumusumusu as a murky, half light activity, more<br />
childish than mature, less <strong>in</strong>formed, <strong>in</strong>secure <strong>and</strong> suffer<strong>in</strong>g from entrenched<br />
hypocrisy” 3 .<br />
The culture of whispers that surrounds the <strong>Samoan</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous religion today sits <strong>in</strong><br />
between tala tuumumusu <strong>and</strong> tala taumusumusu <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>volves a slid<strong>in</strong>g scale of<br />
whispers whereby tala tuumumusu are the ideal <strong>and</strong> tala taumusumusu are the least<br />
ideal. Whether the act of whisper<strong>in</strong>g is more tala tuumumusu than tala taumusumusu<br />
or vice versa depends on [a] the nature of the knowledge or <strong>in</strong>formation passed on, [b]<br />
the motivation for pass<strong>in</strong>g it on, <strong>and</strong> [c] the degree of guilt or shame felt when pass<strong>in</strong>g<br />
it on. For example, it is not uncommon <strong>in</strong> today’s context for a family custodian of<br />
<strong>in</strong>digenous knowledge to also be a staunch leader of a Christian church. When<br />
pass<strong>in</strong>g on his knowledge about the orig<strong>in</strong>s of his chiefly titles <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong>s to a<br />
designated receiver or na<strong>in</strong>ai, it is possible that he would do so with m<strong>in</strong>imum or no<br />
guilt. This is because one can talk about what titles <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong>s belong to whom <strong>and</strong><br />
why <strong>in</strong> quite a perfunctory manner. However, when this custodian beg<strong>in</strong>s to talk of or<br />
is probed further for the mean<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> nuances of his chiefly titles, the names <strong>and</strong><br />
2<br />
Personal communication by email, 16 November 2009. I am grateful to Sister Vitolia Mo’a<br />
for her will<strong>in</strong>gness to respond to my request for feedback on a draft version of my thoughts on the<br />
concepts of a ‘culture of whispers’ <strong>and</strong> the ‘vanity of vanities’.<br />
3<br />
Ibid.<br />
2