UN General Assembly
1977

6. I should also like to take this opportunity to express to the Government and people of Viet Nam the congratulations of Samoa on the achievement by Viet Nam of membership status in the United Nations. Likewise, we also congratulate the new State of Djibouti on its accession to membership in the United Nations. 7. Samoa was the first nation of Polynesia to achieve independence and the first Polynesian State to become a Member of the United Nations. Polynesia stretches from the islands of Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, from Samoa and Tongo in the west to French Polynesia and Easter Island in the east. The Polynesians are a homogeneous group with close cultural and linguistic affinities. The word "love" in the Maori language is "Aroha", in the Samoan language is "Alofa", and in the Hawaiian language is "Aloha".