THE TYPES OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE TO BE RETAINED FOR YOUNG NEW ZEALAND BASED SAMOANS: A SAMOAN GRANDPARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

As a result of mass migration from Samoa to neighbouring countries during the 1950s and 1960s, there are now more Samoans living outside of their homeland than there are within the country itself. As many Samoan migrants are getting older, there is an urgent need to transfer the wealth of indigenous knowledge that they possess to the younger generations before it is too late. This is to ensure the survival of Samoa’s culture, heritage, customs, traditions and principles. This research uses semi-structured interviews with eight New Zealand based grandparents to understand the phenomena at hand. The aim of this study is to find out what types of indigenous knowledge that older NZ-based Samoans consider desirable for retention by younger NZ-born Samoans. Emergent results include the importance of Fa’aSamoa (Samoan way of life) which lies at the very core of all things Samoan, the church, respect (fa’aaloalo) for elders, the Samoan language and the importance of family.

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