Fa'a-Samoa: continuities and change : a study of Samoan migrants in Australia

Abstract

The primary aim of this thesis is the study of the .lifestyles of the Samoan migrant community in the two Sydney municipalities of Canterbury and Bankstown, with special emphasis on the nature of the continuities and social changes affecting the community, particularly those relating to the key social practices of fa'a-Samoa. These practices relate to various aspects of religious organisation, for example, the feagalga relationship between the pastors and their congregations; social exchange ceremonies which strengthen kinship affiliation; family practices particularly moral and aeonomic support for relatives in the form of remittances and fa'alavelave contributions; and attempts at forming a distinctive Samoan ethnic community under the aegis of the Samoan Advisory Council. The data for this research were obtained through a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. I spent nine months in Sydney ao a participant observer, living with Samoans and attending their redistributive feasts and ceremonies. During that time, I also conducted a household survey involving 137 households representing a wide range of Samoan churches and congregations. I focus attention on the nature of the relationships between pastors and their congregations, chiefs and commoners, parents and children and the Samoan Advisory Council and community in examining the continuities and social changes within the Samoan migrant community in Canterbury-Bankstown, and emphasise the importance of contextualising such a local study in a wider political-economic context.