#samoan taupou

[zabchan]

Oh no I did mean you about your fics! Yes I agree with everything you said and actually yeah now that you mention it Dwayne probably would not love that lol. However I totally believe this movie will continue Moana’s independence in her new mission. I think after the first one I’m just really interested in if Maui meets the villagers on Motonui? Does simea meet him? Do we find more about his upbringing? It only hit me with the first trailer that Moana’s parents weren’t thatttt old but I’ve gotta see how tui reacts to seeing Maui for the first time :) okay rambling over for now. I’ll stick around here (and ao3) to see what becomes of this awesome movie’s fandom that hopefully grows a bunch!

SO!

from the interviews and trailers, I wanna say one of the biggest themes in moana 2 is gonna be Community. There's a word in the Japanese trailer specifically- "Nakama" - that grabbed my attention.

Nakama is often translated in anime subs as 'comrades' or 'friends' or even 'teammates'. That's close enough but there's a level of nuance that doesn't quite have a one for one equivalent in English. 'Found family' might be closer. It's very common in sentai shows like power rangers, sailor moon, etc. It implies a level of shared purpose, experience, fondness. The Squad. This is what I think moana's next journey is gonna focus on.

Moana has had the love of her community her whole life, and of course she's always been close to her grandmother, her pets, her mother and even her father-despite their disagreements on voyaging- but in her grow-up montage we don't see her have friends her own age. She's had no siblings to relate to up til this point, and she seems a bit distant from the other children. her obsession with the sea alienates her over time. She delights in the old stories that frighten the other children. While her family weaves baskets, she makes a toy boat. The other kids draw their island, their fales, moana draws a canoe.

She's often breaking out of the group, sneaking off to the sea. its not til puberty, after Tui's 'raise the island speech' does she start feeling getting into the communal activities & musically starts singing along. Then she bonds with her island as their Taupou, their 'closest-English-equivalent-princess'. In Samoan tradition, the Taupou is the highest ranking unmarried (virgin) woman, usually the high chief's daughter and is expected to be the role model for all her peers, surrounded by a retinue of kins-women as chaperones and confidants.

But Moana, if she has one, constantly gives hers the slip to hang out with another social misfit: Tala the village crazy lady. Even when we see Moana doing her princess rounds among the villagers there seems to be a bit of professional distance- we don't get anyone else's name, no inside jokes, playful banter. Its not like anyone is malicious or antagonistic towards her, and their polite smiles do seem genuinely fond- her people cautiously trust her with their problems, gazes torn between her and chief-safety-net Tui, and accept her suggestions gratefully. She teaches dance to the younger children who clearly adore her, but its not quite the same. These are Moana's People, her family-but not really her friends.

and we can tell that by how moana acts with the friends she does have. She and grandma Tala deliberately spend quality time together, they share interests (the sea) and hobbies (dance, storytelling). they joke and splash and lean on each other. They do Hongi (familial forehead touches), they walk arm & arm. They share confidences, in jokes, concerns. She sings her troubles to pua, and he's right by her side when she sneaks aboard the fishing catamarans. he comforts her when her dad yells, listens to her wanderlusting laments, enables her exploits. It takes a near death experience in the lagoon to keep Pua from her side at sea.

Maui is an even better example. Circumstances force them together, its true, but the trials of their quest soon see them bonding. They laugh, they tease, they banter, they share triumphs and tears.

Its certainly not an instant friendship. it starts out downright antagonistic- Moana goes into their meeting making demands of him. She uses her Chief Voice. She addresses him by formal titles, possibly speaking as one Aliki to another, as the wronged party in a dispute. She's trying to borrow an authority she's not fully bought into yet. She may have been born to the role, but that's not really how she identifies herself internally. Maui even calls her on it later.

As Maui navigates them to Tamatoa's lair, post kakamora escape, post tentative world-saving bargain, Moana is impressed by his prowess. Swept up in the moment, she enthusiastically commands Maui; "Teach me how to sail!"

Given how awkward her follow up is, I don't think Moana throws her princess privilege around like that naturally. At home she's always outranked by her parents, and while she perhaps doesn't see as much trouble as she might for sneaking out of communal chores, Tui & Sina are not shy to correct her. It doesn't seem in Moana's usual nature to be so demanding- part of why she had to practice her 'board my boat' speech so hard before she actually met Maui. "Fake it til ya Make it" is still in play here.

but Maui makes it abundantly clear that even if he didn't instantly see through her posturing, the authority she's trying to conjure wouldn't work on him anyway. In our world's mythology, technically Maui is also Ali'i (royal). Not only was he born to a chief, of a line of chiefs, his eldest brother is a chief. Depending what island you ask, he's got several godly blood relatives. In many myths he earns his own chiefdom (despite being the youngest son), and spawns several royal descendants. On Tonga, Samoa, and eventually Hawaii, many if not most Kings claim some Maui-the-island-raiser ancestry. Heck, there's a not 0% chance Maui IS one of Moana's ancestors. (many, many, many, many generations removed. Like if Genghis Khan showed up today and someone from San Francisco tried to slap a child support suit on him. )

but even if they're both technically Ali'i, Maui considers himself well divorced from all that. He's loathe to accept authority of any kind, even from the Gods themselves. A tried and true coping mechanism for any immortal whose already lived several times over normal human lifespan, he distances himself from the humans he helps. They are Mortal, Moana is just some Mortal, royal or not, and he does NOT take orders from them.

"Princess." he says, derisively. Dismissively. In Maui's stories, princesses are passive objects. They get saved, they get given as rewards, often times they get tricked into revealing secret treasure. Even his mother, (in the stories where he's on good terms with her), is mostly there to provide quest objectives. Maui might be a giant pain in the ass to his biological brothers, but at least they get to participate in a feat or two.

Moana at this point may or may not know what a princess is. The cultures that inspired moana's creation had kings and princesses at some points, but Motonui is either not big enough or doesn't subscribe to the whole king-ship deal. Their high chief still picks coconuts with the farmers, weaves baskets, cooks poi. Tui himself doesn't fish because Trauma, but he coordinates with fishermen on the ground- err, beach. The Motunui Ali'i are pretty well grounded. (lol)

but Moana can read tone just fine. Maui is saying "princess' dismissively. He defines it dismissively. On the climb to lalotai he defines it again, "staying home, kissing babies". A ceremonial, figurehead role.

Moana immediately denies being one. She continues to take offense to Maui's attempts to shoehorn her into that definition. She is the Future Chief. She is doing this for her people, dammit, and she's not gonna take the bench on this one. She may still be expecting that Maui is gonna be the one solving the problem, hasn't quite imagined herself taking the lead solo yet. but there's no way she's missing out on either helping out or making sure Maui sticks to their deal. There will be nothing passive about This Princess.

Anyway, I've rambled on too long already, you know most of the rest. Moana comes out of the adventure a hero in her own right, drawing on skills and strengths of her own to win the day. Her empathy, her quick learning, her parkour skills and even their friendship becomes part of Moana's heroic arsenal. She ends the movie on a far more equal footing with the living legend she has befriended. She knows who she is. She knows where she came from, and can see a little ways into where she's going. She's ready for a new chapter.

So here we are at the beginning of Moana 2. Moana has spent 3 years a badass. its looks like her latest trip she did just with pua and hei hei, but the abundance of other boats in the lagoon suggests theres been other more populated trips. She inspires a cultural revolution. She has a fan club. She has a new baby sister to role model for.

[LOOK AT MOANA'S LIL FAN CLUB EEE SO PRECIOUS]

and it seems like the one person who might relate to all that has been AWOL. (in the japanese trailers at least, there's notes of 'where has Maui been all this time'? SPOILER: probably kidnapped by matangi).

when Moana gets a divine vision quest to seek out new peoples, at first we see her try to go alone. She doesn't wanna put anyone else into harms way, she says. Its a long way, she says. but her mother insists that Moana doesn't have to do it alone this time. She needs a crew.

and thus, how i come to my conclusion. The next step in moana's journey is expanding her friend circle. Moana knows who she is as an individual. She's had one-on-one best friends (tala, pua, maui, possibly even that new little sister). She's had and lost mentors. She is solid in her family ties, and on a larger scale, the love of Her Island. But she hasn't really had the in-between step. A Small But Dedicated Crew.

I think Moana 2 is about the birth of Captain Moana & the Argonauts

I think 'Squad Goals' is the next part of Maui's journey too. Maui started the franchise a lone wolf and immediately after the heart quest was done he was back on the Lone Wolf track. Which seems to have gotten him in some trouble. In one trailer he argues with mini-maui,

"I don't need Moana to come rescue me!"

....

"-AGAIN."

Dwayne Johnson talked about in an interview that the kind of masculinity he wants to convey thru Maui is how its ok to ask for help. Its ok to rely on other people. You don't have to do everything alone. but of course, that's easier said than done. It'll be a learning curve for everyone involved.

And I think itll be a fun one to watch!

im excited.

ill try and answer some of your other questions in another post, as this one is already TLDR

[islandtarochips]

It's All About the Leis

JUST to let you guys know. Since Mother’s day is coming up, I want to share ANOTHER facts about Samoan (or Polynesian) people.

IF you are related or being close friends with ANY of the Samoan (or Polynesian).

Be prepared to be STUFFED with candy leis, money leis and flower leis. On ANY kind of occasions. Like graduations, weddings, birthday parties- ANYTHING. (But it mostly only happened during a graduations-)

THIS what will happen once they give you ALL of those!

Yeah...THAT'LL happened to ya. Cause it happened to me too on my graduation day after high school. Lol. Which I appreciate my family's love and support!

Let me just show you each pic of THREE different kind of leis.

Here is what the CANDY leis look like:

Here is the MONEY Leis:

And here is the FLOWER leis:

So yeah. The candy, money and flower leis have different meanings of showing it to others of how much they care for their loved ones. But has the same purpose.

And I forgot another thing that I want to share!

This is the Tuiga Headpiece! Out of MONEY! This is not the original though. Here is the ORIGINAL design!

The Tuiga is a familiar adornment and important cultural symbol. They have said that it was worn by men (who are chiefs) and their wives, even the Taupou (Chief's daughter).

For any special occasion.

Anyway, back to the money thing. They're just using that with the money to show off their creativity but it does look pretty cool.

That's all for now! Thank you for reading this far!

[urbannesian]

Day Dreaming #UrbanNesian

#taupou #samoan #samoa #teuila #ulanifo #fale #faleoo #summer #tatau #siapo #tropical #flowers #floral #pasifika #daydreamer

[pacificapoly]

9dd199354771fe2c3375dd4db2a568b2.jpg (JPEG Image, 2929 × 4166 pixels) — Scaled (12%)

Taupou headdress, mostly native Samoan clothing and adornment

[babyyodaaayeet]

They don’t deserve our tattoos!

In our culture, our tattoos are what represent us as Samoans. These tattoos are made for our people and our people only. Back then, the soga’imiki which is a tattoo meant only for the chiefs, is now for any person of any race. It is clearly shown that our culture is slowly fading away with these things being changed throughout time. The other thing is the Malu tattoo which is made only for the Taupous of a village, and like the soga’imiki, this tattoo is now being tatted on by any female. Back then, there is a saying that the men always use, “Ka muamua lou guku, ga ka ai la’ia o lou kigo.” This means is in order to earn the tattoo and the respect that comes with it, you must know how to speak the language with respect and know your role as a Matai for your family and village. These tattoos are taken very seriously for it means a lot when you earn it, what I see today is that this traditional tat is being used for more of fashion and less of culture wise. Things should return to how it was back then, where everything was the way of the Samoans. To see our culture not being taken seriously anymore, makes you feel a type way that you don’t like where our culture is headed. Our people should return to how it was back then with our culture, we have these races wearing our tats and I don’t see anyone standing up for it and putting a stop to it. 

@english128-3rdperiod

[taliloahiilani]

Taualuga, 11x14, Digital 2023

This image depicts the Samoan taualuga. The word “taualuga” refers to the last stage in building a traditional Samoan house, which is securing the topmost rafter, signifying the completion of the project. This style of dance is known as the taualuga because it is usually danced at the conclusion of a monumental task. This can include graduations, weddings, etc. This dance is one of the most sacred practices in Samoan culture and is considered the highest form of Samoan performance and the heart of the culture. It is only performed by women. The woman who is doing the dance is known as the taupou.

[jeneludesign]

So laaaaate, so late, so late, SO LATE....but better than never, yeah? 😎 Dedicated to my Sister Dee ( @dmikaio ). I hope you still love the color purple, orchids, and Betty Boop. If you don't, can you pretend to when you first see this picture? 😆 You're one of the first people to teach me hula and ote'a (Tahitian), and to this day you're still one of the most graceful dancers I've seen doing a Taualuga (traditional Samoan dance). Frank is still in one piece, so you're definitely a loving wife (lmao!), and you're the mother to 3 kids I absolutely head-over-heels love. From Family Nights to drunk nights, from church days to club days, from Hammer Lane to Sac Town, the Bay area and back down, I love you to the moon and back. Happy Belated Birthday Dee! 💖💖💖 . . . . . . . . . . #illustration #adobeillustrator #illustrator #characterdesign #bettyboop #samoa #samoan #polynesian #taupou #orchids #flower #purple #polynesianfusion #islandgirl

[imalvinaa-blog]

TRADITIONAL AVA CEREMONY OF SAMOA

TRADITIONAL AVA CEREMONY OF SAMOA

Learn your Samoan History - Le Fa'aSamoa

I wanted to address the Traditional Ava Ceremony of SAMOA. There are many Samoan names for the Ava Ceremony such as the Fono Ava or the Taumafa Ava I was wondering what are other more Traditional names for the Ava Ceremony?

In Samoa many High Matai's etc have Ava Titles or names by which there own Ava Cups are known for example Tui Manu'a his cup was known as, "O LE IPU A TUI MANU'A". No one in all of Polynesia could use the term, "O LE IPU" as the name of there Ava drinking cup for it was a term only used for Tui Manu'a.

Mauga one of the highest Chiefs of Tutuila's cup was referred to as, "SE UGA LOLOA".

THE AVA CEREMONY (BRIEF DETAILS)

1. SAOFAFAI ALII O LE MALAGA I LE MAOTA

The visitors are allowed to enter the village and are greeted by the hosting village. They are seated in a semi-circle facing the hosting villages semi-circle of Chiefs. As far as seating arrangements, every village has its own way of seating the chiefs, but it is always customary to seat according to the rank of the chief. The high ranking chief always enters from the front of the semi-circle and the lower ranking chiefs enter behind the high ranking chief or chiefs.

The hosting village, already seated in their semi-circle because they are hosts, have the taupou seated in the middle of the semi-circle in front of the tanoa (ava bowl). The taupou is the village virgin, usually the daughter of the high talking chief. The taupou plays a major role in this ceremony. She is trained to mix the ava the proper way, for any mistakes will result in total embarrassment to the chiefs and the hosting village as well. The taupou must be a virgin, for virgins are considered pure and this sacred ceremony should be pure and sacred.

The ava bowl has four to six legs. One of the legs will always be wider than the others, thus marking the proper way of placing the bowl in front of the taupou. The wide leg must face the taupou. Inside the tanoa the fou or coconut fibers are placed. The fou will be used by the taupou to squeeze the ava root into a drink. The taupou should not wear any jewelry, no flower in her hair or ear, no chewing gum. She is not allowed to speak nor smile throughout the whole ceremony. The taupou is to show her purity throughout the whole ceremony and nothing else. She is seated between two males adorned with the traditional pea, the tattoo from the waist to the knees.

The male seated to the left of the taupou is called the tautuava, and is assigned to serve the ava to the chiefs. The male seated to the right is called the suiava and is assigned to assist the taupou in mixing the ava. The suiava does not actually mix the ava but makes sure the right amount of water is added and that the ava is diluted and strained properly. Seated next to the suiava is the tufaava or also named foasoaava. The Tufaava is in charge of chanting out to the tautuava, letting him know when and which chief should receive the next cup of ava. Located four to six feet behind the Taupou, kneeling on one knee is the tafou. The tafou is in charge of catching the fau and ringing out the old squeezed ava and returning the fresh fau back to the Taupou. The Tautuava, Suiava, Tufaava and the Tafau are chosen from a group of young men in the village. This group of men is referred to as the aumaga. The aumaga are being trained to participate in the ava ceremony, usually at the time they reach manhood and have received their pea. The young men assigned to these special duties are considered to have the most experience in the ceremony among all the rest of the aumaga men and are in line to become a matai if the individual qualifies in the future. However, the aumaga men do not have any ranking status what so ever.

2. GASOLO MAI MATAI O LE NUU MA TUGASE

The village chiefs are called to bring the ava root. If the visiting village brings their own ava, then that ava will be presented to the hosting village as a gift and will be kept in front of the tulafale, the high talking chief who will be doing most of the talking throughout the ceremony. The ava root brought by the visiting village will not be used in the ceremony at all; it is only a gift to the hosting village. It is not customary for visitors to bring the ava, but sometimes a chief will bring their ava to show off that they can grow a good piece of ava plant.

3. SAO LE AUMAGA I TUAFALE

All the remaining aumaga men are called to come forth and have a seat behind the semi-circle. (Remaining aumaga men are the men other than the tautuava, suiava, tufaava and the tafau.) They must sit in the back behind of the tafau and are only used to do all the last minute errands for the tafau, tautuava or the tuiava. They are not allowed to step before the tafau. If there is anything that the tautuava or the suiava needs, it is the duty of the tafau to obtain it from the remaining aumaga men; and then the tafau, and only can the tafau, make any kind of contact with the tautuava or the suiava.

4. SUFI AVA O LE USU

The tulafale calls out for the ava roots to be brought fourth for the faifeau, the high priest, to look at and bless the ava.

5. A AMI AVA O IPU MA AO AVA O LE USU E SE TULAFALE TAULE ALEA

The high chief calls to bring forth the Ipu ava and to collect all the ava roots that were brought to the ceremony. (Ipu ava is the ava cup)

6. FOLAFOLA E LE FUATAUALA A LE MALAGA AVA O LE USU

The High Chief of the hosting village now addresses each chief who brought ava root to the ceremony.

7. PULE SE AVA MO LE TANOA

This is the time when all the chiefs have to agree on whose ava root to use as the drink for the ceremony. This point of the ceremony is referred to as the Battle of the best ava root. You may hear some loud shouting and arguing but that is all a part of this section of the ceremony. In this part of the ceremony a lot of the high language is heard. The chief who can out speak all the other chiefs in the ceremony will have the opportunity to use his ava root in the actual ceremony.

8. TUI LE AVA E LE AUMAGA

The chosen ava root is now taken to the back to the aumaga men to pound and prepare the ava root for mixing by the taupou.

9. SAU LE TEINE PALU AVA

The taupou is called upon to get ready for the mixing of the ava root.

10. FAI LE LAUGA FAATAU A TULAFALE O LE NUU

The tulafale gives a speech, but the speech is unknown because of the high level language used. Only the matai and the aumaga can use and understand it..

11. LAUGA LE TULATOA

The tulatoa or the orator of the ceremony gives a speech.

12. AMATA ONA PALU LE AVA MA TA LE FAU

Now the taupou actually starts the mixing. She washes her hands at the beginning of the ceremony. She sits straight up with her legs folded and palms of her hands at the rim of the tanoa at all times. When the grated ava arrives in the tanoa, the taupou takes the fau, covers the ava and places the palms of her hands on top of the fibers with her thumbs located at the bottom of fibers. She will stay like that until the tulafale gives the signal to start mixing, and she will only start after the suiava pours his first ipu ava of water. The taupou then gathers some of the ava in the fau, making sure none of the ava falls out when raising the fau. After securing the ava in the fau, she then proceeds to raise the filled fau up high so that the chiefs can view the liquid dropping from the fau, making sure none of the liquid travels down her arm and drips from her elbows. She then takes the fau filled with ava and squeezes three times, and three times only, making sure no liquid is dripping outside of the tanoa or down her arm. She then wipes the rim of the tanoa one time to the left and one time to the right and then very quickly, she tosses the filled fau over her right shoulder to the back where the tafau is patiently waiting to catch the filled fau. The tafau must make sure not to drop or miss catching the fau. The fau must never touch the floor for the fau will be considered contaminated and the tafau will bescolded in front of all the high chiefs, sent out of the ceremony and replaced with another awaiting aumoga.

The tafou then swings the fau to the left and right of himself wringing all of the used ava scrapings and thus making a clean fresh fau for the taupou. The tafau then hands the fresh fau back to the taupouover her right shoulder into her awaiting right hand. The taupou has to be staring straight ahead making sure not to look back at the tafau. The taupou and the tafau repeat this procedure three times and by then the taupou has to make sure she uses all of the ava scrapings and that no scrapsleft in the tanoa.

The tufaava then gives a signal to the taupou to raise the fau three times for the chiefs to inspect the droppings to see if the drink is ready for drinking. The tufaava then gives the signal that the ava is good. From there, all the chiefs will give three claps signifying that the ava is ready. The taupou then squeezes the fau for the last three times, and then she lays the fau on the right side of the tanoa rim. This also signals to the tafau that he can rest now that the ava is ready.

13. LAUGA LE FUAAUALA

The visiting village high chief gives a speech thanking the hosting chiefs and the taupou for a good job at mixing the ava after the mixing is done.

14. FAASO A LE AGATONU; AMATA I SE SOLO AVA

The chant given by the tufaava starting the distribution of the ava.

15. TULA I MAI LE TAUTU AVA

The tautuava is now signaled to stand up and begin the distribution of the ava drink. The tautuava does three scoops of the drink with his right hand and with the left hand behind his back. The fourth scoop is raised up to the sky making sure he is standing in front of the tanoa to show all chiefs the First Ipu ava. The tautuava waits for the chant from the tufaava letting him know whom to serve the first Ipu ava to.

The tautuava and the tufaava have to work together making sure they distribute the Ipu ava in the right order and that the Ipu ava is delivered in the proper way. The tufaava has to know which chief is of higher rank so that he chants in the correct order. When the tautuava receives the chant, he then has to know how to serve the Ipu ava. The high chiefs are served Ipu ava with both hands on the cup raising the cup high at forehead level and hands forehead level and hands the Ipu ava to the high chief from theinner palm of his right hand. That shows that the chief is a high chief. Any chief below the high chief is served in the same way but with the left hand behind the back. The Ipu ava is then handed to the chief coming from the tautuavas forehead making sure the chief receives the cup from the inner palm of the tautuavas hand.

When receiving the cup back from high chief and a chief below him, the tautuava must not turn his back to the chief. He must walk backwards back to the tanoa only then can he turn around to refill the Ipu ava. When serving the Ipu ava to a talking chief, the cup is served by the back of the hand coming from the chest level of the tautuava. When receiving the cup back from the talking chief, the tautuava can turn his back and walk back to the tanoa. The taupou at this point has to sit straight up with her hands on the rim of the tanoa. No one is allowed to get up and leave the ceremony at this time until the ceremony is done.

16. FAI SE SOLO E MOTO AI LE AVA A LE FAASOA AVA

The tufaava announces the ceremony is nearing the end and that the last cup will be served soon.

17. MUAO MA TAAPE LE AUMAGA

The aumaga men sitting in the back are dismissed from the ceremony.

18. FOLAFOLA FONO O LE AVA

Announcing that the ceremony is done.

19. TAAPE LE USU

The hosting villagers are dismissed.

20. SAUNI MAI LE MALU TAEAO

The hosting village gets the big feast ready.

21. MUAI TAI MAI SE SUA A LE TAMALII O LE MALAGA

The visiting village gets served a big feast.

22. SAU LE SII LAULAU O LE TAUMAFATAGA

After the big feast then everyone just relaxes. But this is when Chief Thomas and the chiefs below him talk about the wedding plans. This is a long process that sometimes goes on for two to four hours. The ceremony is rarely practiced here in Hawaii but when it is, its usually a fast version unless someone really important like the Governor of Samoa were to visit church here, in which case it would be done in traditional style. In Samoa the ava ceremony is practiced whenever there is an official gathering of the chiefs. And it is always practiced in the traditional way. The ceremony is a culture that is still going strong, a culture that is still run by a Matai or chief system. The way of a Samoan is to always have respect, respect for your elders and high respect to the ones closest to God. Samoa I Sisifo Ma Sasae.

Lynn.

Reference: SAMOA MO SAMOA

[djlucescrewz]

Congratulations to all the contestants that performed last night for Federal Way High School's Tausala Night. The winner of last night's event would be the Taupou to represent Federal Way High School at the High School Samoan Dance Competition. I'm pretty much related to all of these beautiful young ladies except for the one from the Marshallese Islands. Every move was executed gracefully down to the manicured fingertips. Each step gliding across the baby-oiled gym floor. It was a sight to see and a proud moment to be Samoan of this day and age. Reviving our culture through traditional song and dance is something we should all consider no matter where you're at or what you're going through. Be proud! Congrats to my God Daughter Kaleigha Lang who won. You are truly an inspiration to all of us! I truly see God's love illuminating through you and we are extremely blessed to have you in me, my wife, and kids lives! We love and and can't wait to see what God has in store for you! #StudentBodyPresident #FederalWaySchoolDistrictPresident #GodDaughter #OldestDaughter #Samoan #FilimoanPrincess #Polynesian #TeamPoly #PolyMovement #PolymovementNW (at Emerald Dynasty Entertainment)

[letufataniela]

Samoan Taupou - crowning attire of the taupou or manaia wearing traditional headdress known as the "tuiga."

[urbannesian]

Mamalu ->>×<<-

To protect.

Get this design on various goodies at ShopUrbanNesian.com

#UrbanNesian #samoan #samoa #malu #mamalu #elei #siapo #tapa #taupou #tuiga #tatau #sogaimiti #samoantattoo

[urbannesian]

Village of ________________. What village are you and your aiga from (doesn't have to be from Samoa)? My aiga hails from Pagai/Alofau/Sailele of Tutuila. I've always loved the Village signs in Tutuila. I put a little spin of my own on the traditional sign. #UrbanNesian #tatau #siapo #tapa #pasifika #polynesian #samoan #samoa #samoanprint #samoanart #samoandesign #art #artwork #malu #sogaimiti #polydesign #polyart #apia #tuiga #taupou #manaia #samoanmalu #samoantattoo #pagopago #alofau #pagai #sailele #village https://www.instagram.com/p/BxJt8mqDzqC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4oiv3u3ognq9

[urbannesian]

My last post and artwork for 2018 |A portait of a young taupou. #UrbanNesian

A bit of reflection of 2018:

1. You can't compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy.

2. Life is not a sprint, it's a marathon with peaks and valleys, so pace yourself.

3. Somethings you are built for, somethings you've got to build for.

4. Don't let anyone disturb your inner peace.

Manuia le Tausaga Fou! Looking forward to creating more in 2019!!!

#samoan #samoa #taupou #samoantaupou #tuiga #samoantuiga #tatau #siapo #malu #samoantapa #tapa #art #artwork #digitalart #polynesian #portrait #samoanart #samoandesign #pasifika

[urbannesian]

Brown on Brown UrbanNesian Tatau print available on a pouch, backpack, duffle bag, wrapping paper and more at society6.com/urbannesian

#UrbanNesian #tatau #siapo #tapa #pasifika #polynesian #samoan #samoa #samoanprint #samoanart #samoandesign #art #artwork #wrappingpaper #dufflebag #backpack #malu #sogaimiti #polydesign #polyart #apia #tuiga #taipou #manaia

[urbannesian]

I've been working on my haaair (art wise... and real life wise lol. curly Samoan hair is not easy sometimes). #UrbanNesian #taupou #teine #suga #samoan #samoa #ulanifo #tutuila #americansamoa #apia #art #artwork #pasifika #siapo #tapa #tatau #polyart #samoanart

[urbannesian]

Fix your crown Queen.

#UrbanNesian #samoan #samoa #tuiga #taupou #ulanifo #elei #tapa #siapo #tropical #floral #flowers #haku #floralheadband #crown #floralcrown #pasifika #polynesian