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>> Stephen Winick: Welcome, I'm Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. For many years, we've presented the Homegrown Concert Series featuring the best in folk music and dance from around the world, but in the year 2020, because of the global pandemic, we shifted to producing an online video concert series, which we call Homegrown At Home. So 2021 was our second year of Homegrown at Home concerts. It's now early 2022, and we are doing interviews with the artists who performed in the Homegrown at Home 2021 series. One of the things about doing the virtual series is that we were able to include traditions that we haven't necessarily been able to have before, and we were very honored in the 2021 series to have our first group by presenting the Culture of American Samoa. The group is part of the Student Association for Fa'asamoa at the Samoan Studies Institute at the American Samoa Community College, and we are very proud to have with us, today, Eti Eti from that wonderful group. Welcome, Eti. 
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[ Inaudible ]
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>> Eti Eti: Hello. 
>> Stephen Winick: Very good to have you here. I guess, first question that we ask a lot of our guests is just to let us know how things are going for you and the community in the pandemic recovery. 
>> Eti Eti: Okay. It's really good that you asked that. As of right now, we are under code red. We have a lockdown right now, hence why I am speaking to you from home and not from the office. Yes, we just -- I think our cases went up to 12, I think. 
>> Stephen Winick: No, oh no. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. I know. So we are under code red, right now. So it's a total lockdown here at [inaudible] right now. 
>> Stephen Winick: Well, we wish you all the best and we'll be thinking about you and hoping for the best for you the next few weeks. So as far as the culture of American Samoa goes, what do you think is most important for us to know before we talk about the music specifically?
>> Eti Eti: Awesome. The most important thing to me regarding the Samoan culture is respect. Like, to wrap up the whole culture of Samoa and even American Samoa, respect wraps it all up, like, everything. Whatever you do, it also, like, it all requires being respectful towards one another and we will get into it sometime later on today. But that's it. I just want you guys to know that the Samoan culture focuses on everything, all these different aspects like regarding its -- let's just say respect is in the middle. I mean, God is on the top, and respect is right below God. 
>> Stephen Winick: I see. So tell us a little bit about the Samoan language. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. We have our own native tongue, the Samoan language. To us, I think right here in American Samoa, this is just the Samoan language and the English language. Here, we have some other islanders, but it's -- those are the only two languages that we speak here in American Samoa, but the Samoan language, to me, is different. It's different from all the other language, due to the fact that the words that we use sounds funny. Like, it sounds funny sometimes, but to us, it's important, but to other people, it sounds funny to them when they hear it. But those are some of the things that I really admire about Samoan language, and it's a really rich language, to be honest. Like, we have words that we barely use, today, but our elders and ancestors they used to use it back then. But it's how life is, and like, the new generation comes on and then they add their own, like -- it's kind of like, evolving at the moment. 
>> Stephen Winick: Sure. 
>> Eti Eti: But it's not lost. It's not lost. We still have our language, but yes. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: And are there people making attempts to, you know, write down things that elders say that may use some of these words that are less common, now?
>> Eti Eti: Yes. Yes. A lot of them, people nowadays, they are going back. Due to the riches and as I mentioned before, how rich our language is, but we don't know it very well because our ancestors passed away, or our parents, so we didn't get the time to sit down with them and talk with them, and just write down the words that they usually used back then. But they were very beautiful words. So we have dictionaries and some books that some elders they published for the new generation. So that's a really great idea for us. But yes, we try our best to get as much knowledge and to soak up as much as we can from the parents and our ancestors before they pass on. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. I hope there's attempt, also, to do oral histories in audio and video form. I don't know if there's a lot of that, but it would be great. 
>> Eti Eti: We are going there, yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: That's great. 
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So you've mentioned Samoa and then qualified to say American Samoa. So explain to us a little bit about the relationship of American Samoa to the larger Samoa and the nation of Samoa that's nearby. 
>> Eti Eti: I think the bond between the two islands are strong. I think the bond is like, really strong. The only difference is that we are under the United States of America, and they are not. So they are independent state, but we are under [inaudible]. That's why a lot of people think that American Samoa is more like America or like Hawaii, or like Alaska. And no, it's mainly Samoa, it's just the fact that we are under the United States as a territory. We are grateful. Yes. We are thankful, but just the bond and the relationship between the two Samoans, yeah, everything is good. That's the only difference. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. That's great. And do people visit back and forth a lot between the islands?
>> Eti Eti: Used to. Due to the pandemic, the flights are all off. 
>> Stephen Winick: Right, right. 
>> Eti Eti: It's been two, it's almost three years, now. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: But under normal circumstances, there's a lot of back and forth. 
>> Eti Eti: A lot of back and forth, yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: So we also would love to know a little bit about the impact of different regional events. I mean, I know there was some political upheaval in the Nation of Samoa not that long ago, and also there was a volcano in the Pacific that caused disruption for some people. Has that -- did that, did those events affect American Samoa?
>> Eti Eti: The political chaos that was happening in the neighboring Samoa didn't really affect us. We were just grateful that everything is going okay, now, and no one was hurt. But the volcano in Tonga, yes. It really did affect us in a way that we were all alerted, and we were all -- we were all being told that, so I think the night, or I think it was that day the volcano erupted, we all had to evacuate and move to higher grounds. And then I think there were aftershocks, because the most amazing thing that I experienced was the fact that we heard the booming sound from here, like, from the Tongan eruption. At first, we thought, what a weird sounding thunder like, because we don't -- yes. And then we later learned that that wasn't even a thunderstorm or lightning, that was the booming sound from the Tongan eruption. I was like, wow. Just -- that's how loud it is. 
>> Stephen Winick: And about how far away is Tonga from American Samoa?
>> Eti Eti: To be honest, I'm not sure. I know they are closer to American Samoa than Samoa, but I'm not sure what the distance is. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: Still, it's amazing to hear that kind of sound over that distance. Yeah. 
>> Eti Eti: First time. First time experience. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. So tell us a little bit about American Samoa Community College and the Student's Association for Fa'asamoa.
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>> Eti Eti: Thank you. Okay. We only have one community college in American Samoa, and that is ASCC, American Samoa Community College. It is located in [inaudible] and the Students Association for Fa'asamoa or SAFF, as we like to call it, SAFF, it was established back in 2011, 2011. The Samoan Studies Institute was established in 2007. So it's an association -- mainly, our purpose and our goal is to maintain the culture and to basically keep it alive for the future generation. So every kid that goes to ASCC, when they come -- when we have our meetings, when we have our functions as a club, because we are considered a club at the ASCC, they say that the only time that they feel Samoan is when they come inside the classroom at our meetings. And then I'm going to ask them, like, why? Why do you feel that way? And then they say, so in Samoa, we require something called the ie lavalava. It's kind of like a towel, but it's ie lavalava, you just wrap it around. So mainly, the reason why we wear that, it shows respect. Like, you can't just go to a village council meeting with your short shorts, or a tank top, or yes, you will get kicked out or you will be punished by the village. So that's why on -- they always tell me, the kids always tell me, like, this is the only time they feel Samoan is when they enter our student association for Fa'asamoa. So when they are out on the campus, they wear whatever they want. 
>> Stephen Winick: Sure. 
>> Eti Eti: Tank tops, yes, short shorts, or whatever. But we require them to bring ie lavalavas to wear and to change what they wear the tank tops, as it sometimes, you know, the kind of style these kids have nowadays, it's too showing most of the time. So they wear shirts, yes, and then they wear the ie lavalavas every time we have meetings. So to me, they'd be like, this is like our own little village when we have our functions and when we have our meetings, it's like this is the only place they feel like Samoan. And then after our meetings when they go back out, they just go back to their normal [inaudible] and normal, what you call, outfits that they were wearing. So yes, we are mainly the ambassadors of ASCC, and if you were to ask me why we are the ambassadors, we get invited by the government and let's just say we've performed everywhere on this island, even on a cruise ship that came here. I think it was a long time ago, before the pandemic, we performed on it, also. And so that's why we are called the ambassadors because we represent ASCC everywhere. When we have other ceremonies, it's always SAFF. When we are invited to perform and to entertain, it's always SAFF and whatever [inaudible] or whatever. We cater to everyone's needs, and it's why we are called the ambassadors of ASCC. 
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>> Stephen Winick: Well, that's great. It's an honored role to have at the university, so congratulations. Or at the community college, I should say. And you were saying that it's the only college in American Samoa. So that's the one institute of higher learning. 
>> Eti Eti: The one and only. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: So yeah, so you're fulfilling a very important role, there, in the community, I think. So if you could explain a little bit about the concept of Fa'asamoa, what does that mean, exactly? Or how could we understand it? Basically, Fa'asamoa is being translated in English as the Samoan way of life. Or you can say that's another word for culture. So the culture, the customs, and traditions, that's what Fa'asamoa means. So if we say -- let's just say we have a funeral, and then we put up a notice saying that there will be no Fa'asamoa, and that's going to tell people that okay, so no cultural stuff, no customs and traditions, or whatever. Just a normal funeral or just a normal wedding. That's because when we have a traditional wedding, it requires a lot Fa'asamoa stuff. Yes. And then that's what Fa'asamoa basically means. It's a way of life as a Samoan, and it's our own culture and our way of living. Yes. That's what it basically means. 
>> Stephen Winick: So the distinctive culture of Samoa. Very interesting. So give some examples of the kinds of things you mentioned that you have meetings where students come and they have to, you know, they put on traditional clothing before coming in the meetings. So what kinds of things do you talk about or do you do at the meetings of the group. 
>> Eti Eti: Okay. Every beginning of every semester when we have our first meeting, we pass out some papers or we just ask them, like, what do you want to learn? We will cater to everyone's needs. If you want to learn how to speak fluent Samoan, write it down and then give it to us. Whatever they write down or whatever they jot down, we will do that for them. We will have our daily classes, because to be honest, every kid that goes to ASCC is a Samoan. Not all of them can speak fluent Samoan. It's -- most of them are half, let's just say, they are from the states, and then the mother is Samoan, and the father is US. So it's kind of like -- so yeah, not everyone can speak fluent Samoan. So whatever you want to know how to -- if you want to know how to cook Samoan food, we will have our hands-on experience with that. You just let us know and we will try to do it for you. Yes. Or [inaudible], even dances, the Samoan dances. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. So you've mentioned food and dress, and language, dance, and music. So we'll come to the music and dance part, which is what, you know, what your role was for us in the concert series. And first of all, we want to thank you for the wonderful video that you provided for us. That was really a great concert. We really enjoyed it. So how do people in Samoa generally begin to learn the dances? Are they part of home life, these days?
>> Eti Eti: Okay, I will speak for me only and personally. 
>> Stephen Winick: That's okay. Yes. 
>> Eti Eti: I grew up with -- I grew up in an environment where I learned how to dance at a very young age. I think it was due to the fact that the people that I was living with, or my environment used to practice that. And I think a lot of kids -- the majority of the kids that comes through Student Association to Fa'asamoa know nothing about dance. 
>> Stephen Winick: Interesting. 
>> Eti Eti: And I think this is -- their surrounding and their environment that they grew up on, like, that's why they didn't learn how to dance. So that was our job back at the college is to learn them the basics from start. Yes. It's like teaching a baby all over again. But for me, personally, I learned how to dance and do the Siva Samoa at a very young age, and to be honest, that is my passion up until now. I love dancing, like hip hop dancing, you name it, I can do it. Even -- especially my Samoan culture dance, the -- I'm so passionate when it comes to that. 
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>> Stephen Winick: That's great. So you mentioned that it has to do with your particular upbringing, which is different from a lot of the other students. So explain your upbringing a little bit. Why was it that you had these dances so firmly in your surroundings?
>> Eti Eti: Nice, thank you. Good question. Okay, so my parents, they are ministers here at a congregation here in American Samoa. So we have that youth -- we have a youth group, and that youth group, we get to get invited to a lot of places to perform, also. So as a little kid, I always see, like, I always look up to them. We had practices daily, weekly, like, monthly because throughout that whole span of a year, like, we have different performances. So as a little kid running around, I used to just go over there and just do the Siva Samoa and just dance at the same time I was learning. So now, I am taking over the youth group. I am the president. Same thing goes. So we try our best to teach the little ones so that when we get old and when I move on, or when I pass on, they can take over and they can do the same thing. Yes. So my parents are ministers, that's why I -- that's how, like, my upbringing was helping me regarding the Siva Samoa and the environment that I was in. 
>> Stephen Winick: Excellent. So if -- when you start to learn the Siva Samoa, what different styles of movement do you have to master to dance in this style?
>> Eti Eti: Okay, I think -- good question. I will answer for the lady's side, and then I will answer for the boy's side, too. The lady's side, it's --there's this thing that we called the [inaudible]. It's gliding. So when you see a Siva Samoa a [inaudible] Samoa, she's just standing there, but you're seeing her, like, moving like this without even walking or moving. She is just standing there, but she's gliding. So it's basically your feet, it goes like this, like this, so that's the first thing you have to learn as a [inaudible] Samoa. That's it's called the [inaudible] as in sliding or gliding. And then also, she has to learn how to bend her knees every time she dances, and her fingers. So you will know a [inaudible] Samoa by just watching her dance with her fingers, meaning it's so like, the meaning of the word, it's like light rain. It's not so much heavy dance, but it's just a drizzle. So that's a resemblance, like, I'm not a [inaudible] Samoa, so I have hard hands. So my fingers -- yeah. If you watch the video that we submitted, then you can tell the difference where they practice. But as for the men's side, the first thing you have to learn is the different kind of Sivas. We have the m?uluulu, we have the sasa, and the main one for the guy's side is the fa'ataupati. That's the slap dance, where you have to slap your whole body. Yes. So basically, just the same thing, you have to bend down, and then you have to get really used to slapping yourself because after one dance, you will be red as a -- yeah. Like, your whole skin will be red due to like, slapping. Yes. But that's basically it. There are a lot of things that if we can have a tutorial, then it will be nice. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. 
>> Eti Eti: But yeah, that's the -- those are the basics for the Siva Samoa. 
>> Stephen Winick: Great. And you mentioned that there are different styles of movement for men and women, obviously. In what other ways are men's roles and women's roles within the culture different? How do they, you know, how do men and women perform Fa'asamoa differently, let's say?
>> Eti Eti: It's good that you asked that. Here in Samoa, women don't cook. We do. Yes. The female, all they have to do is to around the whole house, like, that's their whole -- [inaudible] as a female, like, they take care of everything. But the cooking side and taking care of the plantation and everything, that is the men's responsibilities. Yes, and also for Fa'asamoa, the men, they are Matais, like, ladies can be Matais, too. Chief. They can be high chiefs. Yes. Go out to the village or serve the village. Yes. Those are the basic roles for the Fa'asamoa regarding the teine Samoa and the tama. The girls and the boys. Another thing is when we have fa lavalavas, or when we have family functions, here in American Samoa, it's always the girls who are serving the people, but the guys will be in the background at the kitchen cooking and yes. So it's always the girls in the front with the guys in the back. 
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>> Stephen Winick: So one of the things that's interesting is you mentioned that some of the dances illustrate other kinds of culture like food preparation or fishing. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: So how does that work within the dances? Could you explain that for us a little bit?
>> Eti Eti: That kind of dance is called the sasa. It requires you to sit down. You have to perform it while sitting down. That is the sasa. So basically, it's telling a story of the daily duties or daily chores that you do every day. Let's just say we go fishing, and then we have a dance move that goes like this, then you just rope it in, and go like that, rope it in. Handicrafts, we have those taulimas, so you just go like this -- it's a [inaudible] from the fibers of the coconut, the husk. So you just go like that and you just do it. We also have games. We demonstrated the cricket; I don't know if you guys watched it. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, yeah. 
>> Eti Eti: Where we divided it into two sides. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yes. 
>> Eti Eti: The other side was pitching side, and then the other side was the hitting side. We have our own twist to the cricket game here in Samoa. Handicrafts and food preparation. When you are scraping the coconut, or let's just start from the beginning. When you are getting the coconut, twisting it from the tree. When you got it, you have to open up the husk to get the round, round coconut inside, so you have to do same thing. Then you crack it, open it, and then the last thing, you have to scrape it. So you can go on and on, because after you scrape out the coconut, the coconut flesh, and then you have to twist it, or you have to use that to get the coconut cream. So even by eating it, you can just do a demonstration of what you're eating and then say, "yum!" afterwards. But those are the things that we use, and food preparation, like games, fishing, everything. So sasa is like telling a story from beginning to end of the daily life or your daily routines. 
>> Stephen Winick: Great. So you would also mention, of course, the slapping dance and one thing that I noticed is not only that dance, but some of the others, almost look like there was a martial arts component to them. Is there a martial arts culture in Samoa?
>> Eti Eti: No. Yes, there is nothing like that. There is another false belief that's been going on around here in American Samoa saying that this particular dance, the fa'ataupati originated from mosquitos because for your information, we have a lot of mosquitos here in Samoa. So to me, I don't believe that. That is not true. That is just a theory someone made up. I don't know. But if you slap a mosquito, that's the sound it makes, like -- yeah. So to me, the sasa is mainly for males. It's portrays being dominant, you know. So it requires stability and strength. So you have to jump up, and then get down, and then just go like this. Like, it has to -- there will be no drumming, no. You can use drumming, or not, but the sound will be made by slapping everywhere on your body. And we -- you have to be unison by doing that so that people will enjoy watching that. But that -- we don't have any martial arts or whatever. It's just -- we would like to take a class like that, but no, it's just the way the Siva is, the way the fa'ataupati is. It's just showing the dominant side of the men. Yeah. 
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>> Stephen Winick: All right. And also, you mentioned strength and stability, those are important in both dance and martial arts. So there's a natural affinity in a way, as well. 
>> Eti Eti: It's similar! 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. So you were talking about for some of these dances, you can drum or not drum. And of course, we noticed a lot of drums as some of the music for these dances. Could you talk about the -- not only the drums but any other music that typically accompanies the Siva Samoa?
>> Eti Eti: Yes, we have a lot. First, we just -- we have this thing called the pate. It's been carved from a tree, and then you have to hollow out the inside, just like making a canoe with a small gap. We use, also that. We use a tin, it's like a tin roofing, but we use that, we make that banging sound. We also use the bass drum, we have guitars, we also use the shell of the coconut. You just bang it and then it makes a beautiful sound. We also use that. We also use bamboo. Yes. You just hollow out the inside, same method, and then it makes a beautiful sound. We have a lot of Samoan instruments, but some -- most of the Samoan instruments we couldn't find in nowadays due to some of the trees that we used to use. I think they are extinct, or whatever, or we don't have it here. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. 
>> Eti Eti: But there used to be a lot. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. Do people still learn to play the traditional instruments? Are there venues or schools for learning that? Do you teach it as part of the student association?
>> Eti Eti: Yes, nice question. Not -- not everyone wants to learn, to be honest. Well, for me, personally, I learned, like, I was self-taught just by looking and then just doing it. So I -- no one teach me, no one taught me how to like, to do it. I just learned myself. But we have piano, I think piano schools, guitar schools, and that thing. But as we all know, those are not tradition. Those are not Samoan instruments. Yes. So I think you have to go back to the others and learn from them, but we don't have that. It's between you and your elders. That's how you learn. You have to go and like, spend time with them. They will teach you everything. Yes. As we all know, kids nowadays love to be on their phones 24/7. Not talk with their elders and sharing, so that's the problem we have right now. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. But you still have a group that's doing some great dancing. So how -- what's the process for that group doing, you know, practice and rehearsal, and how do people join all of that?
>> Eti Eti: Okay. So first off, we have a sign up. So there -- we have club rallies here at ASCC, so you have to pick your own club. So if you are interested, sign up with SAFF. We are prepping as of right now, before we went to code red yesterday, we were prepping for Flag Day, like, American Samoa's birthday, Flag Day, ever since we became a territory of the United States. So we have festivities and we have performances. So the process for me, the first thing we have to learn, like we have to learn the songs that we're going to use. So first day of practice, like, everyone sits down, just write the song on the board and we learn the music. Probably two to three days after we learn the music, then we start teaching the actions. Like, we'll go like this, and then after two weeks of preparation, then we put it together. We went from beginning to the end, and then just polish from there whatever we need to do for improvement. But that's my process of doing it as a choreographer. 
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>> Stephen Winick: Great. And you have mentioned that, you know, kids these days are all on their phones all the time and that things are changing. Music is changing, the [inaudible] are changing. So what about changes to dancing styles? Are there updates to the way in which Samoan dances are done, as well?
>> Eti Eti: Yes. A lot of updates. I think kids, nowadays, especially the young ones growing up, they are -- I don't know how to say it, but to me, when I look at them dance, I don't consider it as a Samoan dance due to the fact that what they are doing, it's more of a contemporary dance rather than being gracefully dancing as a Samoan. So we all know how TikTok is right now. It's taking over the whole world, and sometimes you will see dance moves from TikTok being incorporated in some of the Samoan dances, and I really don't like that, to be honest. Yes. They are adding their own twist, their own flavor, their own style, but the problem is that is not a Samoan style. So they are trying to do something new, changing it to whatever. Or sometimes, you will see them dancing like robots, but that's not how the Samoan style goes. Like, you have to be gracefully, and you know? That's how the Samoan Siva is, but it's how life is. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. A lot of changes are -- I'm seeing a lot of changes, and I am trying my best to hold it down for whatever I was being taught when I was growing up. I'm trying to like, okay, just stop it right there. You had like, you went overboard just stop, like, that's not how you do that. So when I see something like that, I just tell them straight up, or I just confront them like, hey, stop doing that. That's not Samoan. Like, you have to really -- because the problem is, when they are doing it and then the younger ones are seeing them doing it, then they will think, oh, this is the correct way to do it. But no, it is not. It's really sad at what we're seeing today, like, how influenced -- social media is influencing like, the kids. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: But it's interesting because you said that you do like hip hop dancing, yourself, just not as part of the Samoa dancing, I guess. Right?
>> Eti Eti: Never. I know the difference, and I would never go there. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: So you're not against the contemporary dances, just the, you know, people who do it thinking that it's part of Samoan dance. 
>> Eti Eti: Sometimes, we use it when it is requested. Like, when they ask for, like a contemporary style, then we will do the contemporary style, but it's really not good to me when you are being asked to perform a traditional Siva Samoa and yet, you are adding in some moves like from the robot scene, or whatever. It's really not nice to watch that. And to me, it is really insulting to me. As a Samoan, I really hate it. Yes. It's insulting because that is not us. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. So everything has its place, and that's not the place for that type of dance. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: I understand. So one of the things that you mentioned earlier on was chiefs, that there are chiefs within the culture and that both men and women can be chiefs. Explain a little bit about the chiefs, because you mentioned in the video that one of the dancers is the son of a paramount chief. So how does that part of the Samoan way of life work? 
>> Eti Eti: I think the word I would -- chief, they are considered as leaders in villages in all -- like, each village have their chief. Some villages, I think a lady can be chief. It's only for men, but it's majority, it's like female and male can be chiefs. In the video that we submitted, that was the son of a paramount chief. As I mentioned, when we have the [inaudible] or the Siva, it's usually people with status and their kids. Yes. It's kind of like those kings and queens, but it's like it's down to a lower level of chiefs. So if you are the chief in the family, every family that's like below you, like we serve and we serve this Matai. So like, in the future, when he passes on, then another person goes up to the Matai, and then we serve that person. Like, we respect them. It's kind of like that. That is the process. But it's up to them. Some Matais, like, they want to be rulers and they want to be dictators, or whatever. But some Matais I know just stick to the basic Samoan stuff. But yes, ladies can be Matais, too. A Matai's job in the family is to hold the family together. Like, he is like, the high talking chief, so what you do is to bring the family together. Because you know in Samoa, we have a lot of [inaudible], we have a lot of functions, we have a lot of family functions, so that's the Matai's job, keeping the family together. 
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>> Stephen Winick: So explain the parts of a typical Siva Samoa performance, because I know you mentioned in the video that there's a conventional way in which they open, and a conventional way in which they close. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. Let's just say, the -- our Flag Day performances, when we walked up on stage, we would first start off with -- it's called the [inaudible], an opening song. And that opening song, we would excuse ourselves if all salutations of Samoa are not being mentioned and all the honorific sides of Samoa are not being mentioned, as well. And we would say hi, Talofa. We are Student Association for Fa'asamoa, and we are here to perform. So in all the music, like, we write in lyrics and then we just sing it. When we are done with that, then we move on to the m?uluulu, or the ladies dance. The m?uluulu, it means a light rain, like, just a drizzle. That's why it explains -- it resembles their dance movements. So that's only for the girls, but boys can do m?uluulu, too, but they change their style. Instead of stability and strength, we go with the drizzle, too. So you change your style from that to a softer one. Yes. From the aggressive fa'ataupati to the like, take it easy m?uluulu. When we are done with the m?uluulu, then we go straight to the fa'ataupati, the men's dance, the slapping dance. Like, after the fa'ataupati, then we have the sasa. The sasa is where we are all sitting down when we are trying to tell a story with our daily duties, like fishing, or whatever. And then we are done with that. There's usually -- to end things and to wrap up the whole performance, we have the Tualuga. The Tualuga is the ending, it's the grand finale. Like, everyone watching and everyone, like, all over, they come up to dance. We invite them to come up to dance. And our [inaudible] or our dancer is going to be a person of status, a chief's wife, or a chief's daughter, or the chief, so that ends everything. When we have the Tualuga, that is the last part of the house, the Samoan [inaudible] when you build it, that's why it's being called the Tualuga, because that's the last part of the dance. Then, usually when the Tualuga is done and we have our closing prayer, and then we were done. 
>> Stephen Winick: Sorry, I know also that in the video, the Tualuga was performed by a woman who is both a professor at the college and the wife of a minister, and both of those were --
>> Eti Eti: Retired. Retired minister. 
>> Stephen Winick: Okay, yeah. So talk about the importance, because you had mentioned coming from a ministerial family, yourself. So talk about the importance of ministers in Samoan culture. 
>> Eti Eti: Ministers in Samoan is very, very significant to the people. So I told you, I mentioned before that God is the center of the Samoan culture. So when they look at ministers, it's like they are taking place, like, they are servants of God. So in everything that we do, we honor them and we respect them because they are servants of God, and we believe there's a living God here in American Samoa or here in Samoa. So in everything we do, the pastor or the minister and his wife, we always give them, like the first one. If we have food preparations, they will always be the first ones to eat, they will always be the first ones to go [inaudible], or whatever. Like, we look highly of them. It's more like a king. Again, it's more like kings and queens, but not like that. I'm just trying to like, make you guys understand that it's important to us because we believe in God, and we serve them because we know they are servants of God. So yes, it's -- so this is the pastor, the minister, and then the chief's down here. So that's the difference. So minister is on top, and then chief is on the bottom. 
>> Stephen Winick: All right, so I guess another thing that we haven't talked that much about, we here at the American Folklife Center in addition to having a concert series, we have a large archive of traditional culture, and I wonder if there's a living tradition of storytelling, as well, in American Samoa in the Samoan language. 
>> Eti Eti: Oh, yes. We have a lot of old traditions. Where I work at, The Samoan Studies Institute, we put together four volumes, four different volumes of oral traditions here from all the villages here in American Samoa and [inaudible]. So each village had their stories of how they got their name, and how their name originated, or some different stories. So we have four volumes. It's called [inaudible], untying the bundles. Like, untying the stories. So the process is we get to go out to villages, and we look for the oldest person there, or the elderlies, and then we interview them, because they have the knowledge that we need to continue on the old traditions. So I wish I had a book, here, so I could show you. But at the office, we -- because our office is the Samoan Studies Institute, and we have a lot of that. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: And are you able to make -- you said you're getting into it, making recordings of these people, as well. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes. We have some. We have some, but we're not done. Yeah. 
>> Stephen Winick: All right, well, I -- we really wish you luck and God's speed on that mission, as well, because it's very important to us to document all of these traditions. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes, it's good because some villages, they refuse to tell their story due to the fact that they say it's sacred, it's sacred and they are not allowed to tell it. But the problem is if you aren't going to hold onto it without telling it, then it's going to be dead. Five years from now, no one is going to know. So we try our best to make them talk so that we can record it, because when they pass on, like, they're going to go with those stories. The story is going to be dead. No one will know what the truth is, or whatever happened in the village. So that is our main task right now is to get them to talk. Yes. And to -- it's for future generations. Yes. 
>> Stephen Winick: Sure. But it's complicated, because of course, that sacredness is something you have to respect, as well. Yeah. 
>> Eti Eti: Yes, we have to respect that. Yes. 
^M00:44:02
>> Stephen Winick: All right. So it -- so just if you could tell us a little bit more about the other things that you do at the institute. So we talked about a lot of sort of collecting efforts and the dance and music, of course, but what other things do you do and teach?
>> Eti Eti: Okay. Aside from being the coordinator and the advisor for the students of [inaudible] Samoa, I am also the choreographer. And then office wise, I am the assistant researcher and assistant translator. So we have a lot of services back at our office. We can translate. I think it was recently, we translated a document from Yale University, and it was really hard. So we were trying to translate it from English to Samoan. Yes. And then sometimes, other departments, the government departments, they send in stuff and then we do those services, we translate it for them. Other services that we have, we have a publications, like, we sell books. A lot of Samoan books with old traditions and story. So we put together a story, and then we bind them into books, and then we sell it to the community, hoping that it will be useful for them and the future generations. Not only that, we have coloring books for little kids, there's postcards, ABC, we have the Samoan alphabet. We have a lot of different sorts of researching. We have a research department, and we have a number one artist in handicrafts, or woodcarving, or [inaudible] like, a lot of that. So we do all these services in the office. 
>> Stephen Winick: All right, it sounds like a you know, a really important part of Samoan culture, and we're really glad that we were able to have you explain it. So Eti, thanks, once again, for doing this interview. And I wonder, is there anything -- 
>> Eti Eti: My pleasure. 
>> Stephen Winick: Is there anything that you felt like you should say that you haven't had a chance to tell us yet? Anything about some -- yeah, go ahead. 
>> Eti Eti: Well, no, not about Samoa, but I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you guys, like, everyone out there. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to showcase our culture. It is -- it was a privilege, it was an honor, and from the bottom of our hearts, we just want to say thank you. May God bless you guys, and hopefully we get to do more concerts in the future. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, we hope so, too. 
>> Eti Eti: Thank you so much. 
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, it was a privilege and an honor for us, as well. So thank you both for the concert and for doing this interview. Eti Eti, thanks so much for being here.  
^E00:46:56