The preamble to the constitution describes the country as “an Independent State based on Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions.” In 2017, parliament added the following clause to the first article of the constitution: “Samoa is a Christian nation founded on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
The Samoan indigenous religion is based on a creation story which places God, Tagaloa, as ancestor of all living things on earth. Tagaloa (sometimes referred to as Tagaloaalelagi meaning, Tagaloa of the heavens) was the progenitor of humans, animals, plants, the cosmos, sea, and land alike.
According to Samoa's 2016 census there were 36,766 Catholics in Samoa, out of a total population of 195,979. The population of Samoa is about 99% Christian.
Samoa is an overwhelmingly Christian majority country, with adherents of Islam being a minuscule minority.
Iofi also emphasizes the importance of matai authority, writing that “the reason why Christianity was readily accepted by the Samoans was because of their respect for and obedience to the authority of their cultural leaders” (1980: 95).
“This high prevalence of obesity among Samoans is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Arslanian notes. It appears to be “heavily influenced by globalization” and “the shift from subsistence agriculture to excess consumption of high calorie, processed foods and sedentary lifestyles.”
The tattoo and designs of the Samoa islands represents community, power, status, respect, honor, and is a mark of pride that are only to be worn by Samoans. For those who have no cultural influence or heritage background it is an act of disrespect to display their symbols and designs.
Samoans are Polynesian and there are few other distinct ethnic groups, though some elite Samoans have part Chinese or European (especially German) ancestry.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Tonga, with Methodists having the most adherents.
Modern Day Religion
One legacy of the French and Spanish settlers is that 84 percent of Polynesia's population identifies as Christian. Protestantism, followed closely by Catholicism, make up the majority of the islands' religious population—followed next by the members of The Church of Latter Day Saints.
Samoans are mainly of Polynesian heritage, and about nine-tenths of the population are ethnic Samoans. Euronesians (people of mixed European and Polynesian ancestry) account for most of the rest of the population, and a tiny fraction are of wholly European heritage.
As amended, Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution states that "Samoa is a Christian nation founded on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".
Migrants from Southeast Asia arrived in the Samoan islands more than 2,000 years ago and from there settled the rest of Polynesia further to the east. Contact with Europeans began in the early 1700s but did not intensify until the arrival of English missionaries and traders in the 1830s.
Māori Christianity
Traditionally Māori recognised a pantheon of gods and spiritual influences. From the late 1820s Māori transformed their moral practices, religious lives and political thinking, as they made Christianity their own.
The traditional culture of Samoa is a communal way of life based on Fa'a Samoa, the unique socio-political culture. In Samoan culture, most activities are done together. The traditional living quarters, or fale (houses), contain no walls and up to 20 people may sleep on the ground in the same fale.
The Samoan Islands has the second most LDS Church members per capita in the world, behind Tonga. As of 2022, the LDS Church reported 87,695 members in 165 congregations in the country of Samoa, making it the largest body of LDS Church members in Oceania outside of Australia and New Zealand.
American Samoa
(more than nine-tenths) is ethnically Samoan; there are tiny minorities of Tongan and Filipino origin and of people of mixed ethnicity. The Samoans are a Polynesian people closely related to the native peoples of New Zealand, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Tonga.
Although most Maoris now follow the same religious professions as Europeans, two indigenous religious systems continue to attract adherents. These are the Ratana Church, founded by T. W. Ratana, and the Ringatu Church, founded by Te Kooti Rikirangi.
Today, most Polynesians are followers of Christianity, both Catholicism and Protestantism. Some traditional beliefs and mythologies have been incorporated into Christian ideology.
Ancient myths and legends say the first people descended from the heavens and gods to inhabit these islands, however, It is believed they came from Tonga.
Samoans have less Papuan admixture (estimated through f4 ratio) than the other Polynesian (Tongans) and Polynesian outlier (Ontong_Java, RenBel, and Tikopia) populations in our dataset, which collectively have an average of 35.38% Papuan ancestry (Fig.
Samoans or Samoan people (Samoan: tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language.
Creating a Polynesian tattoo that tells your own story and being able to say what it represents, shows that you acknowledge and respect the importance of such tattoo and therefore it is not seen as disrespectful. It shows your appreciation and admiration for Polynesian art and culture.
Malu is a word in the Samoan language for a female-specific tattoo of cultural significance. The malu covers the legs from just below the knee to the upper thighs just below the buttocks, and is typically finer and delicate in design compared to the Pe'a, the equivalent tattoo for males.
The Malu is a traditional female tattoo that is tattooed on a woman's body from the upper thigh to the lower knee. Historically only the daughter of the high chief received the Malu, but nowadays there are more and more Tama'ita'i Samoa of all ages choosing to get it done.