At the age of 78, Muliagatele Vavaō Fetui, a lifelong educator who has dedicated his career to teaching Samoan language and culture, has made history by completing the second-ever doctoral thesis written entirely in Samoan. The thesis, entitled “Notions of Respect and Politeness in a Transnational Samoan Community: Toe Laumeanuti o le Fa’aaloalo i Agatausili a Samoa i Atualuluga,” is the first Samoan-language doctoral thesis to be awarded by a university outside Samoa. Muliagatele graduated with his PhD in Pacific Studies from the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts.
Muliagatele’s thesis focuses on the Samoan matai (chiefs) ava (kava) ceremony as a metaphor for respect (faaaloalo). His research explores the relationship between the matai and Samoa, both within Samoa and in the diaspora, by examining the meaning and use of politeness and respect in Samoan culture. The thesis features findings from interviews with 24 members of the Samoan diaspora in Sydney, San Francisco, and Hawaii, providing a unique perspective on the evolution of the relationship between matai and Samoa over time and space.
Muliagatele’s achievement is significant not only for him personally but also for the wider Samoan community. Samoan is notable for its differences between formal and informal speech, as well as a ceremonial form of the language used in Samoan oratory. His thesis is a significant contribution to the preservation and development of Samoan language and culture, providing a model for future research in the language.
Muliagatele was raised and educated in Samoa until he was 20, when he travelled to New Zealand on a government scholarship and attended teachers’ college in Auckland for two years. He returned to Samoa to work as a teacher, then moved back to New Zealand to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) at Mt Roskill Grammar School. He eventually found himself working at the Ministry of Education as a principal writer on the new curriculum, which introduced the teaching of Samoan language and culture for the first time in New Zealand.
Muliagatele’s achievement comes after Ta’iao Dr. Matiu Tautunu, a lecturer at the National University of Samoa’s Center for Samoan Studies, became the first Samoan to publish a doctoral thesis in the Samoan language and the first to be awarded a doctorate in culture. His thesis focused on the changes in customary lands from 1845 to 2020, specifically within the villages of Amaile and Samusu in Aleipata, and the issues and changes in customary lands and the passage of the Land and Titles Registration Act in 2008.
Both Muliagatele’s and Ta’iao’s achievements demonstrate the importance of preserving and developing Samoan language and culture through academic research and scholarship. Their theses provide a model for future generations of Samoan researchers and scholars, and their achievements pave the way for the continued growth and development of Samoan language and culture both within Samoa and in the diaspora.
Reference
Evans, J. (2023, 5 May). Thesis in Samoan only second in the world. Auckland University News. https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2023/05/05/thesis-in-samoan-only-second-in-the-world.html
Sanerivi, S. S. (2021, 3 October). First academic to publish a thesis in Samoan humbled. Samoa Observer. https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/92508
