News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-02-14
THE SAMOANS.
A SINGULAR PEOPLE IN THE
PACIFIC OCEAN.
Their Odd Habits of Life-How They
Live-All are Great Swimmers.

Their odd Habits of Life-How They
Live-All are Great Swimmers.
Living in the Pacific Ocean, abou,
5000 miles southwest from San Fran
cisco, are the Samoan Islands, the rioh
and fertile country which has for year
past suffered the woes of civil war and
misrule. The natives are hardly more
than semi-civilized, but are tractable
and intelligent, and if properly treated
could be easily and happily governed.
They are singular people, and have
many odd customs. In appearance they
resemble the Malav race, of which, in
fact, they are q branch. For the most
part they are of fine physique, straight
and broad-shouldered, and have pow
erful muscular development. Their color
is Light brown. Many of the women are
handsome, both In form and feature, and
almost all are fine looking. One thing
which detracts from their appearance is
the way in which the greater portion of
them wear their hair. AS rule this is
worn in huge bushy mass, having a
reddish tinge. This, however, is not
natural, their hair by nature being fine,
black and straight. With strap pge per-
versity of taste the natives cover it with
a kind of lime until it is rendered harsh
and stiff, and the color is changed from
black to reddish brown.
Their habits of life are simple, hunt
ing and fishing and little tilling of the
s II being tEeir chief occupations. They
raise few pigs and fowl, but for the
most part are indolent, depending chief
iy for their food supply on what nature
SO abundantly furnishes them with in
the shape OF bread fruit, cocoanuts, ba-
nanas, oranges, pineapples and other
tropical fruit. This simplicity of living
| extends to their houses and the furnish
ing of them. Their villages are mere
ly collections of huts, though in tho
main these huts are neat and comforta-
BILE. Not much regard is paid to the
laying out of streets, the houses seeming
to be thrown together almost at random,
in some places huddled together in
groups of two or three, but usually
standing detached with oftentimes o
little pebbled yard in front.
The house is q mere framework of
poles, covered with roof of thatch,
made from long grasses, and from the
leaf of the cocoanut palm. The roof is
impervious to rain, and nothing more is
required. The sides of the house may
be drawn up or let down at will, being
composed of number of curtains made
of plated grass. In fine weather
these curtains, which are very pliable
and durable are kept raised during the
day; but at night and during the rainy
season they are drawn closely down,
making q snug interior. The furnish
ing of the house corresponds in simpli-
city with the house itself. 1t consists
chiefly of mats on which to lie, little
blocks of wood with four legs stuck IN
them for pillows or rests for the head,
and hole i'm the earth Hnod with
rocks, used rs n stove or place to cook.
Thus they are provided with eating
and sleeping accommodations, and be
yond that they care for little. IN all
nuts lying round about may be seon war
clubs, spears, etc, rude nets and fish
ing implements, drinking goursls, and
rough wooden bowls of various forms
and sizes, and occasionally an old fowi- |
ing g-piece, which some white man has
given them. Their war clubs are hand !
some and much ornamented. They are
made from hard wood, beautifully cary |
ed, sometimes in regular and sometimes
in odd and fantastic designs, and their
shapes are as numerous as their carv-
ings. When finished they are soaked
in cocoanut oil, which in time turns
them black, 50 that the older clubs have
the appearance of being made from
ebony. On the mats depend their
claim to birth and lineage. Old mats,
handed down from generation to genera
tion, are cherished as ancient and val
liable heirlooms. These are not the |!
mats that are seen lying about the floors
of the huts for everyday use. The old
aud valuable ones, which are preserved |
carefully, are plated fine, sometimes |
from grass and sometimes from some
wood hber. Those for use, however,
are for the most part coarsely plated,
and lack the elaborate finish of the old
ones. They are generally about seven
feet long and three or four feet wide.
The dress of the natives consists at
most of two pieces tho 'lava-Iava" and
the ''tupuka." Before the coming of
the missionaries and calico the lava-lava
sufficed. This is sometimes made from
reeds and grasses, sometimes for "tapa'
cloth and sometimes from calico. 1T is
nothing more than sheet wrapped
around the body with one end tucked in
to secure it, and reaches to the knee or
the ankle according to the taste of the
wearer. The moro primitive are made
from reeds aud grasses, forming fringe,
as it were, and are fastened with a wood
en- pin. Many are made from "tapa"
cloth. This is n native cloth, made from
saplings of some peculiar wood. The
bark is removed and the wood is beaten
to pulp. This pulp is then rolled out
into sheets, and when dry the sheets are
glued together, forming large pieces of
any desired size. 1t is firm and sSrong
in texture, and resembles wood-pulp pa
per or parchment more than it does
cloth, although it becomes quite soft
and pliable by use. They paint this
cloth in fantastic designs, in colors b'ack
or dark brown, the paint being made
from clays mixed with fish or cocoanut
oil. Since the islands have been opened
to trade calico has taken the place of ma
tive cloth to great extent. The other
article of dress, the ''tupuka," consists
of piece of cloth about Is inches wide
and of varying length, with hole in the
middle large enough to put the head
through. This they wear over their
shoulders, the ends falling down over
the back and breast. This is almost ex-
clusively feminine garment. Nova
days, however, it is not rare to see worn
by the women calico dresses, pure and
simple.
Since the advent of missionaries, they
have become extremely religious. They
are earnest in their religion, and the
great majority of them are professed
Christians. Nightly in their rude huts
they read their native Bibles and sing
hymns, and in their daily life they live
we'll up to the teachings of the Bible.
No more chaste or honest set of people
can be found. All this applies to the
people as they appear in their native
villages, and does not apply to Apia,
where, under the civilizing influence of
the white man, their morals have de-
generated. In justice, however, it must
be said that this lowering of the stand
ard of morality is due to the class of
white men that the native sees most of
in Apia-namely, rough sailors and low
traders.
On gala occasions native dances called
"sivas are n great feature. In the old
days they were immoral, but they have
been much toned down since the coming
of the missionaries, and do not occur
often. The performers in the dance,
mostly young girls, seat themselves in a
semi-cirole. Their hair and shoulders
are decked with garlsnds of flowers and
grasses. On the mats before them they
drum with their fingers, keeping most
peculiar time. Suddenly one Of the
performers leaps to her feet, and to the
t;x,~o of Aha haotipo Gn0arS ooaa thrOuph