Samoan Independence Day
Foods, Traditions, and Celebrations
What Is Samoa and when was it discovered?
"Samoa was first discovered by the Dutch voyagers in the 18th century. Subsequently, it was explored by the French and British settlers. In 1847, a consular office was inaugurated in Apia. In 1853, the United States and in 1861, Germany/Prussia opened a consular office at the same place. On November 2, 1871, the Government of New Zealand advocated the takeover of the Samoa Islands by Britain. In August 1873, the Central Government in the country was inaugurated. On January 21, 1879, Germany was offered the marine base of Saluafuta. In 1884, the King and Vice-King of the country urged Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to transform it into a British settlement. On July 14, 1889, the archipelago was converted into a trilateral British-German-U.S. territory. On June 10, 1899, a provisional administration was established comprising the consulates of the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. In 1900, the group of islands barring American Samoa was taken over by Germany. It was subsequently invaded by New Zealand. According to the League of Nations directive enforced by the Government of New Zealand on December 17, 1920, the name of the country was changed to Western Samoa. It was switched into a United Nations trust territory on January 25, 1947 and achieved its independence from New Zealand on January 1, 1962. In this way, the Independent State of Western Samoa was formed." Stated the creator of the webpage, "Permanent Mission of the Independent State of Samoa to the United States"
Samoan Celebration
Believe it or not, this Samoan holiday isn't just celebrated by them, it is also celebrated by Australia and New Zealand. This holiday has it's importance to other Polynesian countries its surrounded by. The Samoans throw big celebrations to show their appreciation towards their freedom.
Samoan Food
There are many popular Samoan foods, but there are also many different types of foods they save for special occasions. For example, Vaimeleni, which is a special watermelon drink, is usually saved for the big celebrations like luau's and holidays. Another one is Koko Samoa, which is a mix of Hot cocoa and coffee. like coffee, it has caffeine from the beans, but coffee is made of coffee beans. While Koko Samoa is made of cocoa beans.
Samoan Traditions
It is a Samoan tradition to do the fire knife dance. The fire knife dance originally was a machete wrapped in towels with a portion of the blade exposed on each end. They were then lit on fire and performed with acrobatic stunts including: eating the fire, twirling at fast speeds, throwing in the air, and rubbing the fire on their skin.
The History Of Samoan Independence Day
"On January 1 1962, Western Samoa achieved its independence from New Zealand. Nevertheless, this day is observed on June 1 and is still acknowledged by the Samoan society in New Zealand. These people deck themselves up for the event and take part in various cultural and musical programs" shared one of the many participating authors of the website Maps Of The World.
The picture above is a illustration of Samoa's independence. It represents The small groups of Samoan's exploring and being free. Not knowing where they're going, but embracing the adventure and preparing for the troubles ahead of them. It has been written in the Samoan Honorific Chief Language, which is a reserved language that is only trained to and taught by the High Chief of the island's village.
Fun Samoan Sport Traditions
Samoan Rugby
Samoan Rugby is one of the many known rough sports. This sport is very intense and takes 100% effort and physical ability. In this sport, the goal as the offense is to score a try. In order to do that, they try to stay in a diagonal line, so that they can latter roll it to each other, without doing a forward pass. The picture above shows a picture of one of Samoa's rugby teams players pushing the ball holder, which was on the team of England.
Samoan Cricket
"Kilikiti is one of the several forms of the game cricket. Originating in Samoa (English missionaries introduced the game of cricket in the early 19th century), it spread throughout Polynesia and can now be found around the world in areas with strong Polynesian populations." Stated another one of Wikipedia's many participating authors from the page, "Kilikiti".
Samoan Soccer
Soccer is a very popular sport in Western Samoa as well as American Samoa. It is known as one of the most competitive sports in Samoa, right beside rugby. As a very fun and popular sport in Samoa, they are ranked 149th in the world. The picture above shows a picture of a soccer ball with the America Samoa flag as the design.
More Traditions On The Holiday
There are many traditions on these holidays, but one very popular one is the Flag Hoisting Ceremony. This happens every year at Malaeola Hall in Mangere. This tradition is observed by many people, for example school kids, and longboat squads. cultural communities, religious groups, and sports teams. It is also celebrated by many other countries, for example Australia and New Zealand.
Some more Major events include devotional church service, National Orchestra Choir, Ministry of Police and Prisons Choir, march past, delivery of independence anniversary speech by the head of the state, gun salute, and traditional entertainment including song and dance. The event comes to an end with the awards ceremony.