Drone image taken by Aaron Solofa of SkeEye Pacific, June 28, 2017. Courtesy of CSS.
Dionne Fonoti presented on the topic ‘E fili i le po, ae tatala i le ao’: New meanings in old Samoa, as part of the Centre for Samoan Studies Seminar and film series 2019. The presentation was held at the National University of Samoa on the 29th August 2019.
“This Seminar presents a PhD thesis which seeks to explore the relationships between Sāmoans and their past. Recent archaeological research undertaken in Sāmoa has provided proof of a past that has largely been forgotten, representing what is termed a ‘meaning gap’ between the past and the present. This research examines how Sāmoans will attempt to reconstruct this past using the recently recovered archaeological features as a mechanism to trigger negotiations of socio-cultural relationships, or vā, with material remains of the past. The motivation for this research is the potential for the examination of the dynamic emergence of new understandings of Sāmoan ethnohistory, considering specifically how Sāmoa’s enigmatic past can be re-interpreted in the highly subjective present. This research looks at what happens when culture, history and archaeology intersect at a ‘meaning gap’ in Sāmoan pre-history.”
Dionne Fonoti is an Anthropologist, filmmaker and she is also a PhD Candidate in Cultural Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington.
