Two Samoan ceremonial speeches
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2779665 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J E Buse (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1961 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 104-115 |
| Publication date | 1961-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0041977x0014042x |
| OpenAlex | W2059171514 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 1 |
THE two ceremonial speeches which are given below were recorded for me in 1956 by an old Samoan talking-chief (tūlāfale) in the village of Amanave on the island of Tutuila. The text is an edited transcription made from those tapes.Both speeches form part of a house-building ceremony known in Tutuila as le usuga i le fale (the visitation of the house), which commemorates the building by a matai (head of a family group) of a round-house (fale tele). The fale tele is used mainly as a meeting place for the village council and for the entertainment of travelling parties (malaga) from other villages. It is an expensive undertaking to build such a house as it involves the employment of a master-carpenter (matai tufuga, or, ceremonially, agai-o-tupu) and members of his guild (?āiga), who must be entertained lavishly during the work and paid with cash and fine-mats at a later ceremony (le umusāga). A Samoan who builds his village a fale tele is making a major contribution to their prestige, and the usuga ceremony is held as a mark of gratitude and respect
Archaeology · Art · Ceremony · Entertainment · Genealogy · Gratitude · Media studies · Prestige · Samoan · Sociology · Visual arts · History · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.02 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1965 - 1965 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |