E Lele Le Toloa Ae Maʻau I Le Vai: Youth Identity in the Samoan Diaspora

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 2:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Research and Remedy: Nurturing Our Indigenous Peoples and Protecting Our Environments (Table 7)

Abstract

“E lele le toloa ae ma‘au i le vai” – The toloa takes flight but always returns to the water. Like the toloa, many Samoans have traveled beyond their homeland and returned, while others have not. Metaphorically, the proverbial toloa describes Samoans in a diasporic state who return to being Samoan in some way or form through their quest for faasinomaga, their identity of being Samoan. This paper documents and analyzes six toloa case studies who navigated their identities through a Samoan language and culture class offered at a high school in Hawaiʻi. Their journeys are explored through the six curriculum themes of the class. The positionality of the researcher and the intricate roles played in the research are also discussed.

Author

• Denise Josephine Ah Sue, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa