Samoan Head of State Speaks at UH-Manoa
09/04/08
A Pacific Indigenous Dialogue on the Coexistence of Culture and Religion and its role in Peace and Reconciliation.
Honolulu – A new book by Samoa’s Head of State, His Highness Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi, was the focus of a presentation and panel discussion held August 26 at the UH-Manoa School of Architecture Auditorium.
The recently launched book, Pacific Indigenous Dialogue on Faith, Peace, Reconciliation and Good Governance, is a compilation of papers presented during the Interreligious Colloquium conference held in Samoa in December 2005. That conference examined the place of culture and religion in contemporary Pacific island society.
Tuiatua Tamasese greets members of the audience following the panel presentation.
The UH-Manoa event was hosted and organized by the Matsunaga Institute for Peace, which invited indigenous scholars from several areas of expertise for a panel discussion with Tuiatua Tamasese that focused on various themes explored in the book.
The book is widely considered a significant one in the emerging regional movement of the people of Pasifika taking the initiative to tell their own stories of their experiences and perspective to each other and beyond, rather than be anthropologically analyzed by outsiders.
The interface between traditional Pacific island spirituality and Christianity has been much examined by Western researchers who have been largely unsuccessful in reaching any meaningful conclusions. The effects of Margaret Mead and her anthropological work, Coming of Age in Samoa, are just one example of this phenomenon.
Tuiatua Tamsese’s new book was described by one reviewer, Maori scholar Dr. Te Awekotuku, as a “provocative and insightful series of observations of the lived organic visceral experience of our Pacific peoples with Christianity and the colonial crisis.”
At the UH-Manoa event, the auditorium was packed with an eager audience as His Highness and the entire hall chanted a prelude to the event about to take place. The deep silence between the end of the chant and the introduction of each participant in the forum was an unspoken sign of respect for Tuiatua Tamasese.
His Highness was then warmly welcomed by the panel members. These panelists included Aviam Soifer, Dean, University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law; Associate Professor Jeannie Lum, Matsunaga Institute for Peace; Professor Vilsoni Hereniko, University of Hawaii Pacific Island Studies; Professor Ramsay Taum, University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management; Professor Jerry Glover, Hawaii Pacific University and Professor John Charlot, University of Hawaii Department of Religion.
The panel moderator was Professor Deane Neubauer of the East West Center and Papalii Dr. Tusi Avegalio of Pacific Business Center Program at the University of Hawaii served as Master of Ceremonies.
The distinguished panel.
His Highness gave an introductory speech about his book and its focus on the continued quest for peace and harmony, as well as the words passed down from his ancestors. After speaking about the divine qualities of genealogy and the importance of the connection and harmony between the heavens, humans, and the earth, he noted that the ancient Samoans, and other Pacific Islanders, relied on the understanding of this connection. He described as an example “the detailed and respectful process” of preparing food as a way of forgiveness towards nature, and that in the Samoan religion, remorse and forgiveness coexist. Then, after talking about self-reflection, the humility of knowing you cannot reach perfection, and that the search for God is the search for unity because unity is God, he simplified his introduction with four sentences.
“To talk about harmony is to talk about peace and unity.
“To respect nature is to respect man.
“To respect the soul is to respect the body.
“To respect life is to respect death.”
The panel discussion consisted of prepared questions and began with one from John Charlot, who asked the reason for traditional Samoan gods remaining in Samoa along with Christianity.
Tuiatua Tamasese responded that he had reservations about the two living in harmony, and mentioned what has happened over the past years in the struggle for duality. He then said, however, that the very forum they’re participating in comes from a call for coexistence, and that we are forever looking for answers.
Charlot wondered if His Highness saw Christianity as an equal partner in this search, and His Highness responded quite clearly that he did – that in the end people can’t do everything on their own, and at the end of the day it’s the intelligence that will ensure something endures.
Jeannie Lum then asked two questions, the first being if His Highness thought Christianity has affected Samoan society through colonization or complementation, and His Highness stated with a smile, “Colonization, definitely.” Everyone burst out laughing at this deadpan response. He then resumed his insightful commentary, bringing up the point that Samoan history has suffered because it was written by missionaries and sanitized, and that people are too hung up on certain points in Samoan culture to discuss them. Her second question about the role of women in Samoan society was met a statement that women have roles in social, political, and business circles, despite what some cultures say about Samoans.
In this vein, Vilsoni Hereniko asked two questions, about the integration of village customs with Western law and about time seeming to be in short supply in Western society. In response, Tuiatua Tamasese spoke of the process of forgiveness and how hard it is to quantify it, adding that it’s essential, in the quest for peace, to allow time for forgiveness. Perhaps Western law, with its regard for quick resolutions, short-circuits this process.
Next came questions from Jerry Glover about modern problems facing Samoans, such as reciprocity – a basic tenet of Samoan philosophy – being at odds with market principles. His Highness responded that he feels that the biggest problem facing Pacific islanders today is the depletion of the ozone layer and the erosion of traditional values of sustainability and care for the land that underlie that global reality. He then recounted his visit to China and told of about people there who were just as concerned about the environment as everyone else, and mentioned the painful truth that the market is driving this economy, further driving in his point that we are all equally culpable but also capable of change.
Ramsay Taum, after a short description of the three minds in Hawaiian religious thought – the spiritual mind, the mental mind, and the physical mind – asked about Samoan theology’s view of the mind. His Highness explained in detail that Samoan theology accepted the creations of the thinking mind as well as the body and soul.
Lastly, Aviam Soifer thanked His Highness for educating everyone at the panel and in the audience, and asked the last two questions, the first being whether Samoan culture put an emphasis on obligation and rights, or groups and individuals. Tuiatua Tamasese, after a bit of thought, brought up his previous point that reciprocity is a foundation of Samoan society, and that even if you rule over people, you must reciprocate their efforts. Soifer ended the questioning session with one last query about recognizing a paradox but never trying to resolve it. His Highness answered eloquently, saying that the problem with Western culture, for example, is dismissing God as a mystery, and the thought process in Samoan spirituality is to unravel that mystery.
Neubauer then thanked His Highness for his insight and officially called the session to a close.
Tuiatua Tamsese is a prolific writer – this is his third book, and he has also been published in numerous academic journals. It is clear that this new book will have an important role in the ongoing Pasifika dialogue about living the culture in an ever-changing world.
Story and photos by Tor O’Bergin, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Honolulu