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Today we sing the Talofa Lava song so that children can learn how to say hello in Samoan. Talofa lava, lava, lava Po’o fa’apefea mai outou? O lo’o maloloina lelei, fa’afetai We then sing Faafetai i le Atua, a popular hymn for the LMS church. It is also sung using Samoan sign language. Fa’afetai i le atualena tatou tupu aiina ua na alofa fuaia te tatou uma Ia pepese ia pepesealeluia faafetaiia pepese ia pepesealeluia faafetai   The next song is My God Loves Me in English and then in Samoan. Our final song is the Tofa song. Where students...

One thing that we try to teach in our Siva Afi Courses and workshops is the Samoan cultural ties. We feel that colonialism has made us centre much of our lives on English or western ways and language. When we teach a Samoan martial arts like Siva Afi, we don't want it all to be in English.  We want to share the Samoan language as well as the art of Siva Afi. Here are three Siva Afi action moves that all Siva Afi performers should know: 1. Vili - spin 2. Togi - throw 3. Sapo - catch To see...

Like many languages there are more than one way to say hello in Samoan. Here are 5 ways to greet someone in Samoan. Phrase 1 Talofa or Talofa Lava - Hello Phrase 2 Si o'u alofa - I greet you with love Phrase 3 Malo le soifua - Good health to you Phrase 4 Ua - what's up Phrase 5 Malo - Hi Comment if you can tell us other ways to greet in Samoan. To hear the pronunciations and full descriptions watch the video below

Today we share our opinion on palagi (non-Samoans) and cultural appropriation. Why is this important? With the BLM more people became aware of the racism faced by Black people in the USA. This lead to more awareness of the racism faced by people of colour around the world. One way that we hope to help end racism is to point out things that could be changed. To make sure that our Samoan voices are heard directly from Samoans. Today we talk about cultural appropriation.  While it is not directly racist, it removes the meaning behind our culture and erases our...

We don't all know how to siva Samoa. We don't all have Siva classes in our area.  I know this because i didn't have anything Samoan when I grew up as a child in Australia. When I had my baby there were no books easily accessible to teach him Samoan. There were no Samoan playgroups, no Samoan videos, no Samoan schools. While today there are some.  There are not enough for everyone. This is why we created Tamaiti. A video resource that teaches our preschool aged children Samoan language and culture. It is a series of videos that teach our Samoan...