Mike Foley's blog
Here are a couple of samples:
Kupuna tales: Tautua Tuala Tanoa’i
[By the late Vaita’i Tanoa’i Reed…about her father, originally published in Kaleo, December 17, 1998: He is pictured at right at the Mormon Hukilau in Laie in 1950] When Tautua Tanoa’i and his wife, Felita Savea Satele, were Mormon missionaries in Samoa, they traveled with four other missionaries along with their five small children who […]
A primer on Polynesian pronounciation…
When I first started learning Samoan in 1965, I soon discovered: It is totally unrelated to English or any other European language, except for ‘upu afakasi — borrowed or “half-caste” words. Please note, Samoa does not have a caste system, but the word afakasi refers to someone or something of mixed heritage. English speakers can […]
Samoa factoids: Did you know?
In the wake of news from the September 29, 2009, earthquake and tsunami damage in Samoa, I was recently reading some Samoa history, and the following few factoids caught my interest enough to share them:
Kahana family shares taro patch
[Originally published in KALEO on October 31, 1996] Almost 200 people turned out early Saturday morning, Nov. 2nd, before the sun climbed over the Ko’olau ridges of Kahana Valley to squish their toes in the mud and help Ron Johnson plant huli or taro tops in his family patch alongside Kamehameha Highway. It had been […]