Final Moments
Grandma was buried wrapped in tapa cloth as the tradition of our maternal family. We the grandkids helped to wrap her up and tied the afa around her. It was such a personal act and so final it was heart wrenching.
Samaga Pe'a
+%5B640x480%5D.JPG)
The time came when the completion of the tattooing sessions were near. We went to Samoa for three and a half weeks and we were hoping that it would be done well before then but by the third week we were not so sure we'd be done well before or in time. You see in Samoa there are a lot of unforseeable circumstances that arise. One of those was the tattooist's family from ovearseas showed up for family meetings and all. So there had to be days off while the tufuga dealt with his family duties. On top of that Mother's day followed and then the final week was full on tattooing everyday until it was completed on Saturday. On this Saturday I dropped the two victims off to the tufuga's house, hung around to serve breakfast and then went back to our host family to help with the preparations for the samaga ceremony. Samaga is the ceremony that formalises the completion of the tufuga's work and where he lifts his taboos and bans and let's the new pe'as out into the wor...
Comments
I have not heard anyone do this important part of our culture nowadays. I'm glad that your family has upheld it. No matter how advance of a society we live in ( away from home ).. Home will be home, Samoa will remain Samoa... Thanks for sharing this photo with your viewers...