Culture • noun

Cul·ture | \‘k l-ch r\

A. : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group

Also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life shared by people in a place or time

B. : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization

My Definition

Cul·ture | \‘k l-ch r\

: the things (people, places, things, ideas, etc.) around us that help shape us.

And looking at culture, I defined it as the things around us that help shape us. For this zine, I’m specifically going to talk about ‘ethnic culture’, but I also wanted to bring up the broad definition of ‘culture’. I think looking at culture in its broad definition is beneficial, specifically for this project, because of its overlap with design. Culture is the things that shape us, and design is definitely one of those ‘things’. A concept that I’ll touch in this zine is how designs can influence us and give us a sense of belonging and understanding.

First things first, getting through all the nitty-gritty stuff, AKA the importance of ethnic culture in design, specifically looking at how this looks in Samoan culture. Design, as I define it, is everything around us; and in the sense of ‘ethnic culture’, it is the things that make it up. Which includes the clothes, the traditional items, structures, traditional patterns, etc. All of these are influenced and understood by the culture. For example, traditional Samoan items are shaped the way that they are because those designs were useful and fitting for them in Samoa, even if it may not entirely be of use here in the states.

Which brings me back to my point that the two topics can’t be separated, they’ve worked together since the beginning and will forever continue to work together. Samoan designs cater to the Samoan people. It takes into consideration the culture– the land and how they navigate around and use it (for food), the tropical weather and heat, the religious practices, and the ideals and traditions to just name a few. With those understandings, they were able to work around it and create designs that are of great importance in Samoan culture. Which in turn, makes these designs become such an important aspect in the culture, and it becomes part of the culture itself.

I will also be talking about these designs and what they mean to me as a Samoan person, but also as a Samoan-American and viewing these things in that perspective. I also will talk about how these designs may have changed/altered over time and place and whether that changes the meanings that these designs hold in Samoan culture.

Some designs I’ll touch base on in the zine are: accessories, clothes & ‘ie lavalavas/siapos (cloth), as well as traditional dance attire, and tribal patterns & tataus (tattoos)

Jewelry

Samoan culture has created a variety of different jewelry, some are created for everyday-wear and others were created for the purpose of being worn during cultural dances. And besides the variety in the types of jewelry, these items are also made from numerous materials that also add to the cultural significance of the jewelry. They were made using resources found locally in Samoa. Some examples of the materials used include: fresh leaves, flowers, seeds, whale’s teeth, and turtle shells to name a few. The materials are very telling of the resources of Samoa, but what also makes these pieces significant is their design. These pieces were created and made to look a certain way that reflects back on the culture.

For this zine I will only be focusing on a few pieces of accessories, specifically the ‘ulafala (pandanus key necklace), ‘ula nifo (teeth necklace), ‘ula lole (candy necklaces), taulima (bracelets/bangle), sei (both the flower and feather piece), and tuiga (head dress).

The ‘ulafala are typically worn by Samoan orator chiefs (tulafale/ matai). During important ceremonies, you’ll usually be able to depict who they are by the fact that they are wearing this ‘ulafala and standing with their to’oto’o (walking canes) – indicating their social status. The ‘ulafala mark the importance of one’s social status.

These are made from the pandanus fruit. Fun fact, the pandanus fruit kind of looks like a pineapple (fala), which is how this got its name ‘ulafala (pineapple necklace). The seed of the pandanus itself can be seen in a brown-ish color, but when dried and ready to be made into a necklace, it’s typically painted a vibrant red using natural dyes to get that super vivid color.

With this necklace, the design aspect is in the color. The vibrant red is put onto these necklaces to give an emphasis; traditionally, the red also represents nobility. This way everyone is able to tell who the tulafale/matai is and know the statuses of people. With the vibrant red, you really can’t miss them.

But along with the ‘ulafalas, the to’oto’o (staff/cane) and the fue (fly whisk) are also indicators of who is the tulafale/matai. The fue (fly whisk) is made of strands from the coconut husk that are braided and then formed into ropes and are bound to the wooden handle. Some older ones were even made from horse hair. Designs also varied depending on where the lauga (speech) was being given. The shorter stranded fue was used for inside, and the longer stranded fue was used when the lauga was given outside. It rested on his left shoulder, and was swung three times to collect the wisdom in the congregation. The to’oto’o (staff/cane) is a pretty long wooden staff, and the tulafale/matai leaned on it or held it while addressing their audience.

Most of the to’oto’os and fues that I’ve encountered in my life have carvings of traditional Samoan tribal patterns. In the to’oto’os, they’re typically seen at the top of it and on the fue they’re seen on the handle– referring to the symbolism on the Pe’a (which I’ll talk about more in the ‘tatau’ part of the zine). But some of the more traditional ones, they won’t include these carvings. But with the carvings and the traditional tribal patterns, I’ll touch more on later in the zine.

Here, we can obviously see the change of design as time has progressed and we’ve found other resources to create these items with. The to’oto’os and fues had originally been plain and undecorated, but in more recent times they’ve developed these hand carvings on them, representing our heritage and are also a reminder as to who/ what the tulafale are representing. These carvings are a reminder of their status, and what that entails- the voice of our people.

‘ula nifo (tooth/teeth necklace)

The ‘ula nifo, literally translated to ‘teeth necklace’ or ‘teeth necklace’, are very commonly seen in Samoa. These are seen being worn during Samoan cultural performances, and can be worn by anyone performing.

They come in various sizes, both the ‘teeth’ and the size of the necklaces– obviously depending on the person. They can also have various looks and designs. Majority of ‘ula nifos that I know of right now are made out of the tusk of a pig. They’re then sanded down to create a smooth finish. Some are also made with bone pieces, dark soap seeds threaded in between the white teeth. Depending on

‘Ula loles are probably one of the most well known accessories. The literal translation is “necklace candy”. These can be seen at any celebration with a Samoan (or any islander to be honest) present. Depending on what candy, what material you’re using to keep the candy together, and the overall look of it, they’re pretty easy to make. Majority of the time, people use saran wrap and miniature chocolates and colorful ribbons to hold everything together and make it look pretty. Although some can get really creative, which is always fun. I’ve even seen someone make an entire necklace out of shoes.

Ula loles represent celebration. Families make handfuls to give to the person they’re celebrating to display their love and their support for the person. They also represent such an important part of

Another type of necklace that’s pretty common outside of the Samoan community, are ‘Ula Lipine, or ribbon leis. These are cute and fun, also really easy to make. And these can also get really creative in color and design. It all depends on what you want the outcome to look like! And similarly to the ‘ula loles, they’re a representation of celebration and gift giving.

Taulima (bracelets)

Taulimas, or bracelets, are very popular. They also come in so many cool designs. They’re typically made of materials like coconut shells, turtle shells, and wood. Sometimes they’ll be painted with vibrant colors and motifs or words. For example, some have paintings of hibiscus’ or other flowers/plants found in Samoa. Other times, there will be words, more typically names, engraved into the taulimas. And some are designed fully enclosed, with an interesting band shape– those are more typically more as armbands during traditional dances.

Sei (hair flowers)

Seis are hair flowers. These come in various colors and sizes, some attached by a bobby pin and others connected to a claw clip. Seis are also typically made out of foam, each ‘petal’ being hand cut and assembled using craft wire and tape. Then to get the various colors and designs, they are airbrushed or painted on there. They can be worn either in your hair, or on the ear. If it’s the latter, make sure you put it on the ‘correct’ side– putting it on your left ear symbolizes you’re single, whereas putting it on your right ear symbolizes you’re taken.

However, there’s another kind of sei, called the ‘(sei) fulumoa’, which are made of feathers and typically worn when performing traditional dances. Typically you’ll see red or white fulumoas when people are dancing, but it’s really up to the people dancing to choose what color they want to use. The feathers are attached, typically, to a bobby pin and are supposed to be worn in your hair.

Tuiga (headdress)

Last accessory I’ll be talking about are the Tuigas, or the headdress. So back then, it was traditionally worn by the matais, the chiefs, and extended to members of certain families– it’s a whole thing, but all that’s needed to know for this context is that the tuigas were associated with the chiefly title. It was strictly reserved to be worn by the chiefs and their taupou, the chief’s daughter, or their manaia, the chief’s son. And worn in war, or during prayer; more commonly, now especially, they’re worn in traditional dances and during important events/ceremonies like the ‘ava ceremony.

Traditionally, the style was composed of 5 parts. The pou, which is the siapo foundation (that I’ll touch more on in the Traditional Dance Attire), the lave (the upright framework), the pale fuiono (shell forehead band), the ‘ie ‘ula (a bunch of red feathers), and the lauulu (human hair, typically of family member[s]). Although nowadays, they’re typically made combined together to form a single piece, instead of having to take time to do it part by part. Though, some designers still do the traditional way to keep the culture alive, but typically now you’ll see that the tuigas are one piece.

And the reasoning for this change in style is because of European interaction. Other materials have also been added to the tuigas because of them. Mirrors for example had become more common to be placed instead of a shell forehead band. And now, the tuiga doesn’t really hold the same symbolism it did back then. Instead of associating it with chiefly ranks, it’s more common to see it as a dance accessory worn by the taupou. Although it still is worn during important ceremonies, it’s just no longer restricted.

Since there are no more restrictions, it allowed for creativity to flow to the design of tuigas. Today, you’ll see the use of beads, mirrors of different shapes, feathers of various colors, synthetic hair/plaited coconut fiber (like in the fue) –in place of ancestral hair.

Some other changes since its beginning, tuigas have made it to other celebrations. I typically have seen it at graduations, I’ve even received some of my own, one for eighth grade promotion and the other from my high school graduation. And for these they’re decorated exclusively with money. I mean, there’ll be other decorations like beads/pearls and feathers, and sometimes mirrors, but the most prominent thing you’ll be able to see is the money that’s glued all over it.