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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of God. The <strong>Samoan</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous concept of tofa saili 43 pleads for a similar th<strong>in</strong>g. It<br />
pleads for the wisdom to search with humility <strong>in</strong> contemplation with our gods <strong>and</strong><br />
ancestors for that which is good <strong>and</strong> true; for that which matters.<br />
In <strong>in</strong>terrogat<strong>in</strong>g the culture of whispers that surround the <strong>Samoan</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous religious<br />
culture I not only seek to br<strong>in</strong>g to light the vanities of those who dismissed it <strong>in</strong><br />
arrogance, but also my own vanities <strong>and</strong> arrogance for want<strong>in</strong>g to expose them. In<br />
undertak<strong>in</strong>g this work I am constantly search<strong>in</strong>g the depths of my soul for mean<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> purpose. Although we as humans can never know <strong>and</strong> should never presume to<br />
know the full mysteries of God’s knowledge <strong>and</strong> power, there is also someth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
redeem<strong>in</strong>g about know<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>in</strong> the ultimate all that is human is vanity. But <strong>in</strong><br />
search<strong>in</strong>g for truth <strong>in</strong> our religious cultures I f<strong>in</strong>d it impossible to believe that the<br />
religions of my forebears dur<strong>in</strong>g pre-Christian times were not <strong>in</strong>vested with the<br />
wisdom <strong>and</strong> div<strong>in</strong>ity of a lov<strong>in</strong>g God. I can not br<strong>in</strong>g myself to believe also that my<br />
Christian God, a lov<strong>in</strong>g God, didn’t speak or connect with my people for all those<br />
3000-odd years before Christianity. It seems a gratuitous <strong>in</strong>sult to both God <strong>and</strong> my<br />
forebears to assume that there was a disconnect between them for all that time.<br />
In plead<strong>in</strong>g for an open exam<strong>in</strong>ation of the culture of whispers that surround our<br />
<strong>Samoan</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous religion I query not the relevance of the Christian Church to<br />
contemporary <strong>Samoan</strong> life <strong>and</strong> culture, but our collective refusal to engage <strong>in</strong> a debate<br />
where the dualities of our religious lives could be mean<strong>in</strong>gfully reflected on <strong>and</strong><br />
debated. My query is with the idea that as a <strong>Samoan</strong> nation we can’t seem to br<strong>in</strong>g<br />
ourselves to admit that there might be someth<strong>in</strong>g worthwhile <strong>in</strong> the old religious<br />
culture that we could learn from <strong>and</strong> take pride <strong>in</strong> today <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> the future. I plead<br />
from worry that we may lose the opportunity to hold onto someth<strong>in</strong>g special,<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g that was <strong>and</strong> still is an endowment from a lov<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> wise God, someth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
especially for us as <strong>Samoan</strong>s <strong>and</strong> for our children.<br />
My friend Brother Stephen Filipo, pr<strong>in</strong>cipal of St Joseph’s College <strong>in</strong> Lotopa, Samoa,<br />
at a sem<strong>in</strong>ar for the National University of Samoa <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> conversation with myself,<br />
Rev. Iosefa Tiata <strong>and</strong> friends, spoke of an epiphany he received when he took a<br />
sabbatical trip to Israel <strong>in</strong> 2008. 44 Dur<strong>in</strong>g this trip he met <strong>and</strong> spoke with a couple of<br />
Jewish professors about his search for a place for his <strong>Samoan</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous religion<br />
alongside his Christian beliefs. In conversation with the Jewish professors he came to<br />
realise that the Christian religion he believed <strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> upheld was written about through<br />
the cultural lens of another <strong>in</strong>digenous culture, the Jewish culture. Whilst <strong>in</strong><br />
Jerusalem he visited the rema<strong>in</strong>s of the temple of Solomon, otherwise known as the<br />
“wail<strong>in</strong>g wall”. When he returned to Samoa he paid a visit to the top of the volcanic<br />
mounta<strong>in</strong> called Mataolemu 45 <strong>in</strong> Savaii. The two experiences were so spiritually<br />
different that he began to wonder at the disconnect.<br />
In 2005 Monsignor Etuale Lealofi of American Samoa, a participant of the Pacific<br />
Regional Interreligious Colloquium on <strong>Indigenous</strong>, Cultural <strong>and</strong> <strong>Religious</strong> Concepts<br />
43<br />
Tofa mean<strong>in</strong>g ‘wisdom’; saili mean<strong>in</strong>g ‘to search for’.<br />
44<br />
I am grateful to Brother Stephen for shar<strong>in</strong>g his story <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>sights with our group. I am also<br />
grateful to Reverend Iosefa Tiata for accept<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>vitation to dialogue with us as part of my<br />
preparation for this paper.<br />
45<br />
This is translated as ‘eye of the volcanic eruption’.<br />
20