Hi Brothers and sisters,
I have recently joined a reformed church. I have found out that one of the members is a lesbian. She is not just a member but also Family with the pastor (sister). I am not sure wether I should stay at this church or leave to find a new one.
Please help me out on this one
Talofa Family,
What is the best starting point for learning and embracing the Samoan language as someone who is new and wants to learn it from scratch?
I am on this journey to reconnect and learn my culture and what it means to be Samoan
Any tips?
Has anyone else ever had to deal with this issue growing up?
I’ve had many people say to me that I don’t look Samoan and I’ll be very honest, it bothers me a lil.
I’m actually full Samoan, both my parents are full Samoan as well as all 4 of my grandparents.
Being told you don't "look like" your culture is incredibly common within our community and it often stems from people relying on stereotypes rather than the reality of modern diversity.
Your heritage is defined by your lived experience, ancestry, and connection to it—not by fitting into someone else's visual expectations.
As a Samoan part of the Diaspora, it has been a struggle to stay rooted in my culture as well having to deal with comments like this from my own people.
I’ve noticed that the ones that have told me that I don’t look Samoan are the ones that treated me indifferently until they found out I was full Samoan then all of a sudden the swtich up happened. I got treated better by Palagis than some of the Samoans I have come across which is sad, but I know this doesn’t apply to all Samoans, just a few..
Has anyone else ever had to deal with this growing up? Has anyone else been told they don’t "look" like their own culture? I’d be interested to hear your experiences.
I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I don’t "look Samoan," and if I’m being honest, it still bothers me a little.
The thing is, I’m full Samoan. Both my parents are full Samoan, and so are all four of my grandparents.
Growing up in the diaspora, it’s already been a journey trying to stay connected to my culture. Having people—especially other Samoans—question my identity because of how I look has made that even harder.
What I’ve noticed is that the people who’ve told me I don’t look Samoan have almost always been Samoan themselves. At first, they treated me differently or kept their distance. But once they found out I’m actually full Samoan, their whole attitude changed. Suddenly, I was accepted and treated with warmth.
That switch has always confused me. It makes me wonder why I needed to prove who I am before being embraced by my own people.
Ironically, I’ve often felt more accepted by Palagis than by some of my own community. I know this doesn’t represent all Samoans—I’ve met plenty of loving, welcoming Samoans too—but it’s an experience I’ve had often enough to notice.
I’m just curious to know more about the sei from a female perspective.
Do Samoan Women generally traditionally wear it on right or left depending on relationship status?
I see many of our women wearing it during special events or just in general
Curious to know
Are there any rare breeds/mixed with Samoan blood in here?
I have a cousin who is half dominican and half samoan. She always get’s the compliments in our Family as we all know the afakasi ones are the good looking ones lol
Pls don’t comment if ur half tongan/samoan this is only for those that are of rare blood in them associated with Samoan
I’m interested to know what mixtures there are out there among our own people
Malo lava 👋🏼
Hey Guys, I’m a NZ born Samoan currently living in Melbourne Australia.
My experience over here has been somewhat good for the most part. Here in Australia and New Zealand we have a large diaspora of Polynesians living outside of the main lands.
For most of mt life I’ve only ever heard about the polys here in Australia and New Zealand. The ones is America seem foreign to us lol because you guys are so far away from the rest of us.
I’m just wondering what life is like for you guys over in America? I see yall putting us on the map through the nfl and other ventures 👏🏽
I have Family in America in the bay area but I have no deep connection to them. I’ve been trying to connect with them through my Grandma over the years and would love to visit my Samoan Family in America.