SAMOA

Te Ao Hou, November 1973, Page 62

SAMOA Reithmaier and Goodman Collins, $4.95 reviewed by Ernest E. Bush The publication of this book will do much to bring to the notice and the knowledge of the citizens of New Zealand an appreciation of the country and the way of life that many of our Polynesians, now well-established as New Zealand citizens, have left; it should help us to a better under-sanding of that jewel of the Pacific we know of as Samoa, somewhat off the tourist track, unless it be visited as part of an islands' cruise on the monthly trip of the supply ship which has only limited space for tourists. It is a book of photographs and text. Gregory Riethmaier has used his camera to good effect, and has captured much of the unspoilt beauty of the Samoan Islands. And this is the charm, both of the book and of the Islands of Samoa, that Samoa is unspoiled by the need to dress it up for the tourist. To those of us who have known the islands in the past, there is perhaps an element of surprise that little seems to have altered. The photographs taken by the author in 1972 could have been taken in 1952. The land seems still unspoilt, the people still charming and affable and smiling. The DC3 still lands at Faleolo Airport (though under different ownership). Flagraising day is still celebrated with the same programme. Mr Reithmaier's photographs show that the women still wash their clothes in the time-honoured way in the streams and the children still show excited curiosity about the ways of the white man. The lava-lava continues to be, with his bush-shirt and helmet, the uniform of the Samoan policeman. Nor have tin shacks replaced the attractive Samoan houses, in which the Samoans appear still to sleep on their mats. Changes there are of course, and the author has drawn on some pictures he took while sailing with von Luckner in 1398. But the photographs should be enough to entice the visitor to see for himself this lovely land, to meet its people, to feast his eye on the natural beauty and colour which is Samoa. And if he can't, the book will do it for him. Over 200 photographs, many in natural colour, say, THIS IS SAMOA. The sub-title of the book advises the reader that the book is about the Samoan way of life, and in this respect it is a sociological study, without being an academic treatise. In his pictures the photographer has shown the people in their natural habitat, and performing their customary activities, whether they be at work or at play. Since there are two Samoas, Eastern

American Samoa, and Western Samoa, under the aegis of New Zealand since World War I, and more recently independent, the author has treated each in its own section of the book. The reader-viewer gains an impression of the differences that exist between the two Samoas, partly geographical, partly social. One is able to detect the American influence underlying the way of life of the people of Tutuila. To say what photographs cannot, Richard Goodman has collaborated with Gregory Reithmaier, and provided text that elaborates what the pictures attempt to depict. Richard Goodman discusses the topography, the economics, the politics of the two Samoas. He talks, too, about the people, their fa'a Samoa (their Samoana), their peculiar system of village government by the matai system; their work and their recreation; he shows how European customs and the use of money have tended to confuse the Samoan whose customs did not include the

use of money for barter or the possession of it as a sign of wealth and social standing. In appendices he discusses the flora and the fauna of the islands, and attempts to trace the origin of the Samoan people. It is perhaps fitting that on the last page the authors have included the words and music of a line from a Samoan song of farewell. The words ring very true— ‘Oh, I never will forget you, Samoa …’