Tautua a le Niu'

Abstract

“O le ala i le pule o le tautua” (the pathway to leadership and authority is through service). Tavale (2013, pp. 6-12) referred to this alagaupu (proverb) as the guiding principle that serves our social, political and spiritual structure that is the aiga (family), nu’u (village), creator (Atua) and country.

‘Tautua a le Niu’ is the metaphoric expression of serving our aiga, our nu’u , our creator and country. This service endeavours to illuminate how Indigenous Samoa live in harmony with self and surroundings. My practice is informed by my life experience growing up in Samoa within my Tofaeono Saofa’imatumua aiga, as expressed in the work of Tavale’s (2013) description of tautua and Efi (2007) discussion on harmony in indigenous Samoan aspirations to have harmony with: the cosmos, between man and the environment, between man and fellow men and between man and self.