Samoans Celebrate Unity at 4-Day Picnic

The largest Samoan population outside of American Samoa lives in the South Bay, and when they celebrate, they do it right.

The first countywide festival for Samoans in the Los Angeles area began Wednesday in Carson with about 200 people enjoying traditional Polynesian food, cricket competition and Samoan music. By the time the Samoan Flag Day Celebration ends Saturday, it is expected to attract about 10,000 people.

The festival celebrates the gaining of independence by Western Samoa, now a member of the British Commonwealth, from New Zealand in 1961. It also observes the 88-year relationship between the United States and its possession, American Samoa.

But mostly, it celebrates the Samoan cultural heritage and the importance of family, said June Pouesi, program coordinator for the Office of Samoan Affairs in Carson.

“We are a living culture. We still have our language and culture, and family ties are important to us,” she said. “This festival stresses that.”

3-Day Tournaments

The festivities at Victoria Regional County Park in Carson include three-day tournaments in cricket, softball, basketball and volleyball, followed by pie-eating, banana-paring, coconut-grating and tug-of-war contests Saturday.

Chiefs, called matais , will don traditional garb Saturday for a 9 a.m. welcoming and flag-raising ceremony honoring American Samoa Gov. A. P. Lutali, Assemblyman Dick Floyd (D-Gardena), and city and county representatives.

The matais will conduct a traditional ava ceremony, which is similar to the American Indian ceremony of passing the peace pipe. Juice from the ava root is drunk by the guests.

“It is also important that others see our culture,” said Lilaki Thetford, a teacher at Dolores Street Elementary School in Carson. “Our culture is something that will never go away from us. It will always be there.”

Assimilating into American society has not been easy, said Pouesi. In Samoa, the importance of family is stressed, and great respect is given to elders. In the United States, however, individualism seems more important, and that causes difficulties for Samoans, she said.

Pouesi dismisses the melting-pot theory that says American culture is the melding of other cultures. Rather, she believes in a “salad bowl” theory, in which, “without losing its own flavor, each culture gives a special taste to the American culture.”

The festival, she hopes, will reinforce faa Samoa, the Samoan way of life, and its contribution to American culture.

From Wednesday to Friday, teams of American Samoans from the islands, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego and the Los Angeles area will compete in the various sporting tournaments.

But while sports are a large part of the festivities, Samoans resent being stereotyped as large, physical and sometimes violent people whose main interest is sports, Pouesi said.

“Everyone always asks me if I play football,” said 16-year-old Kazar Ackerman, a student at Carson High School.

“The stereotype is that we are crazy or psycho,” added his friend and classmate Jay Tuuao, 17.

Samoans are a close-knit people, Pouesi said. This may explain why an estimated three-quarters of the county’s estimated 60,000 Samoans live in the South Bay. Twelve thousand live in Carson alone.

“Kinship is very important,” Pouesi said. “For the Samoan, the whole must always survive.”

In faa Samoa, relatives help each other and share everything. “Any Samoan who dies is going to have a good funeral. Any Samoan who gets married will have a good wedding” because everyone in the family will help pay for it, she said.

‘Secret Eating Is Bad’

Tuuao agreed. “If you buy something to eat for yourself, you might as well buy some for everyone,” he said. “Secret eating is bad if you’re Samoan.”

There was no secret eating Wednesday as the festivities got under way.

The smell of barbecued chicken, steak and sausage from the food booths filled the air around noon as people watched and played in the cricket matches--a game Samoans got from their association with the English.

More traditional Polynesian foods were also served, such as fasi pua (barbecued pork), farai fee (octopus cooked in coconut milk) and talo (a potato-like side dish).

Mike Tavala, who, with his family from Long Beach, sold lunch plates piled high with beef, chicken and macaroni salad,

said the food is very traditional and inexpensive.

“If you were to buy this at Sizzler, you would pay about $10,” he said as he passed a plate to a visitor. “Here you only pay $6. And come back tomorrow. I’ll do a traditional ceremony for you. . . .”

Steel drums sounded as teams of women wearing traditional flowered cloth around their waists competed in the cricket tournament, known in Samoa as kirikiti . Elsewhere, gas-powered generators provided electricity for stereo tape players that blasted American pop music.

While the people and history of American Samoa and Western Samoa are slightly different, said Joseph Auva an employment specialist for the city of Carson, all Samoans think of themselves as one people.

“When people ask where we came from, we all say Samoa,” he said. “We are all the same. We are one.”