It was the coolest yet strangest twisted thing. Here I am, surfing the web and gathering information in preparation for another visit to Faleasao, and I find a young woman, who's blogging about teaching in Faleasao and has a post about this very nice woman, Leafa, and how she got to attend a one year reunion of the funeral of her father. Strangely, it sounds all to familiar...and here's one of the pictures posted on her blog...The fathers name....Tualemoso, well Ahsoon and Tualemoso. I'm still learning about the namesake stuff. Her blog is interesting, some of it I expected, some of it I didn't. This picture definitely falls under the "some of it I didn't" part.
Cousins, Keith, Sky, Stallone, Natalie, Leafa and others....Clearly loyal family members. My Cousin Usu is their mother, Tualemoso, their grandfather and her father. Her father, actually has no blood relation to me, however, his wife, Katerina, Usu's mother, was my fathers sister. Katerina and Tualemoso raised my father, and many other of my cousins, first, second and third. I believe, he was an honorable and noble Samoan and accepted the family name of my Auntie Katerina. Tualemoso, as a leader and "talking chief" for the family. ??? I do need more clarification on these matters...I am learning as I go and of course welcome advice and corrections and clarification.
Betty Robles has just published a book about American Samoa in the 1960's called "American Samoa The Heart of a Giant". Her husband Frank was the first school principal at Faleasau. There, as on Aunu'u, all the supplies had to come by boat, and off-loaded on tulula for rowing through the surf to the shore. Lots of interesting pictures, and a chance to buy the book at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theheartofagiant.com/