^{page 104 note 1} Ceremonial oratory is an important aspect of Samoan culture, yet no specimens of usuga speeches seem to be available. The two given here were recorded privately during the course of work on house-building and lack the scope of those which would be delivered at the actual ceremony, but they give a fair idea of the recondite and stylized nature of the orator's art.

^{page 104 note 2} For details of the construction of a, fale, tele, see Krämer, A., Die Samoa-lnseln, II, 221 et seq.Google Scholar, and Buck, P. H., Samoan material culture (Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin, 75), 22 et seq.Google Scholar

^{page 104 note 3} Some notes on carpenter guilds are given in Handy, E. S. C. and Handy, W. C., Samoan house building, 15–17Google Scholar, and Buck, , op. cit., 84–90Google Scholar.

^{page 104 note 4} Loloi consists of taro and pe?epe?e (coconut-cream) wrapped in breadfruit leaves and baked in the Samoan oven (umu).

^{page 105 note 1} The following is perhaps the origin of the two styles. In the nineteenth century, there began in Samoan an isolative dental-velar consonant shift by which [t], [n] moved back to [k], [ŋ]. Either before the shift started or before it became at all widespread, missionaries and native Tahitian teachers arrived from Tahiti. They reduced the language to writing and set up schools, using [t] and [n] both as a basis for the script and in giving oral instruction. (Note that [t] and [n] both occur in Tahitian, but not [k] and [ŋ].) The conservative forces of writing and education were thus thrown behind the dental style and succeeded in preserving it in those fields where their influence was strongest (schools, churches, etc.). Elsewhere, however, the shift was carried through and the velar style became widespread as a colloquial medium. Further situational differentiation has set in, each style having its own fairly well-defined sphere of influence, but the position is still far from stable. There is an illuminating footnote added to the second edition of Pratt's, Samoan grammar and dictionary (1876)Google Scholar: ‘When I went to Samoa in 1863, I heard k used only on the island of Tutuila and on the eastern portion of Upolu. Now it is used all over the group. It is difficult to say how this change commenced, but its spread has been noted, and every attempt has been made to arrest it, but without effect. Many of the people now seem unconscious of the difference. The more intelligent (even though they may fall into the careless habit of using k in conversation) use t quite correctly in reading and in public speaking’.

^{page 106 note 1} Keesing, F. M. and Keesing, M. M., Elite communication in Samoa, 74Google Scholar.

^{page 106 note 2} Ali?i-fai-?oa ‘chief who makes wealth’, the ceremonial title of the owner of the house. ?Oa ‘wealth’ is the ceremonial term for the house itself.

^{page 107 note 1} There was some disagreement among the talking-chiefs I was able to consult about the precise application of the terms ao na tāpua?i, tāufalemau, and tāufaletu?ufeagai. It was generally agreed, however, that they are ceremonial titles for the owner of the house and other members of his family who have supported the enterprise and have sat with the master-carpenter while the work is in progress. (Custom demands the carpenter must always be attended by the owner or a prominent member of his family.) Cf. Buck, , op. cit., 88Google Scholar, where the titles are given somewhat differently. Tāpua?i is ‘to encourage and pray for success’. The term was originally applied to those members of a village or clan who did not go to the wars themselves, but remained at home praying for the success and safe return of the warriors. The word is still in common use. For instance, when a Samoan tells a friend he is going out fishing on the reef, the other may reply: la, ?o le ?ā?ou tāpua?i, meaning he will not fish himself, but may come along to keep him company and give help and encouragement.

^{page 107 note 2} Ali?itaeao ‘a visit by chiefs on a ceremonial occasion’ or to make such a visit.

^{page 107 note 3} ‘The master-carpenter has distributed the kava’. Le agai-o-tupu, i.e. le agai o le tupu ‘the king's attendant’, is the title given to the master-carpenter. It is said to have been bestowed on the first carpenter, Tangaloa Matua, by the king of Manu?a. The kava is first presented to the owner of the house, who waives the right of distribution (pule), leaving this honour to the carpenter with the words: ?O le ?ā tu?ua ali?-fai-?oa, ?a ?o le ?ā te?a atu le fa?aaloalo maualuga i lau susuga a le agai-o-tupu ‘I, the owner of the house, cede the right of distribution. Let the kava, which symbolizes honour and respect, be carried thither to you, sir, the master-carpenter’.

^{page 107 note 4} Taeao is the ceremonial word for an important occasion and the accompanying ritual.

^{page 107 note 5} ‘?Ua vale lalō …’. This is the first of three fa?amaulalo (expressions of humility), with which the village orator humbly apologizes for the (supposed) inadequacy of their contribution to the feast. Such an apology is de rigueur, even when the village has actually managed to supply a good deal. The full expression is: ?ua vale lalō, epei?o le faiva i tai ‘like the fishing at sea, there is nothing to be had down below’.

^{page 107 note 6} Le fetalaiga iā Lufilufi ‘the saying about Lufilufi’. Lufilufi is a village on the island of ?Upolu, famous for two great orators, Fuataga and Lēifi. It is said that when a party from Lufilufi travelled abroad without their famous orators, their prestige was much reduced and their entertainment correspondingly less lavish. This is the second oblique apology for the paucity of food supplied by the village.

^{page 107 note 7} ‘?Ua naumati Vailoa’ ‘Vailoa has dried up’, with the double meaning ‘Vailoa has run out of water’ and ‘Vailoa has run out of semen’. Vailoa is a village by Palauli on the island of Sava?i, where once lived a senescent chief, Tuālaulelei, and his beautiful young wife, To?amapu, who remained barren, despite all the efforts of her husband and the legendary hero, Lilomaiava. (Cf. Schultz, E., Proverbial expressions of the Samoans, No. 474, for a slightly different account.Google Scholar) This is the third apology: their village, too, is infertile, and has not been able to contribute as much to the ceremony as they would have liked.

^{page 107 note 8} Another play on words. Vai-o-le-Tama is the name of a spring near ?Āmaile in the district of Aleipata in ?Upolu. The phrase ‘?ua pā?i Vai-o-le-Tama’ ‘Vai-o-le-Tama has been reached’ is used by orators to indicate the successful arrival of the usuga party with their gifts. The expression is artfully placed, however, to carry on the reference to the unhappy Tuālaulelei: ?ua pā (?i) vai o le tama could refer to the impotence of the Vailoa chief.

^{page 107 note 9} Fa?atamatama is another ceremonial term for the house.

^{page 107 note 10} Maota, honorific for ‘house’, strictly speaking, a chief's house. An informant believes the word is derived from the tree maota (Dyzoxylum), under which people used to shelter for the night in the old days.

^{page 107 note 11} Laoa, honorific for ‘house’, strictly a talking-chief's house. The word may be derived from le aoa ‘the banyan’, cf. n. 10 above.

^{page 108 note 1} ?Ua tū le failā ‘the mast is up’, the reference being to canoe-building. The stepping of the mast is one of the final stages in making a canoe. The phrase may be taken to mean ‘the house is nearing completion’ or, possibly, ‘the main central post is erected’.

^{page 108 note 2} ?Ua ?ātoa tino o Va?atausili ‘Va?atausili's body is full-grown’. For the origin of this saying, see E. Schultz, op. cit., Nos. 404, 405. Like Va?atausili, the house has grown to its full size.

^{page 108 note 3} ‘?Ie?iē's mats were not praised’, because, according to the legend, they were so numerous and so lovely that they took the beholders' breath away. This is a well-known expression of gratitude. The love and mercy of God are similarly beyond praise.

^{page 108 note 4} Here begins the first set of salutations, directed towards the guild of carpenters and their tools.

^{page 108 note 5} Meana?i is the ceremonial title given to the master-carpenter's wife.

^{page 108 note 6} Api sā ‘sacred lodging’, the carpenter's accommodation in the village.

^{page 108 note 7} ?Atotō, the carpenter's tool-bag, an ola (type of basket) woven from coconut-leaves.

^{page 108 note 8} ‘The wet of morning’, the heavy dew when the men go out into the bush in the early morning to get the timber.

^{page 108 note 9} Lago se?e, sliding rollers used in shaping the curved fau (arched end-purlins).

^{page 108 note 10} Lago mau, a fixed timber-support, a kind of trestle.

^{page 108 note 11} Lago tā, said to be the same as the lago lele, a suspended noose used to support one end of a piece of timber on which the carpenter is working.

^{page 109 note 1} Logo pa?ia ‘sacred support’ or ‘chiefly support’. This refers to the knees of the carpenter on which he rests the smaller pieces of timber as he sits cross-legged shaping them.

^{page 109 note 2} Tōfā, honorific term of address to a talking-chief, a rank held by the master-carpenter.

^{page 109 note 3} Le Malama, one of the most important guild titles and held by many master-carpenters in the western half of Tutuila. Malama was the niece and adopted daughter of the first carpenter, Tagaloa Matua. She married the king of Manu?a. All her sons became famous carpenters, and took their mother's name as their guild title.

^{page 109 note 4} Here begins the set of salutations to the owner, his family, and his house. I have heard this section of the speech from other talking-chiefs in this part of Tutuila, and the similes used for the different parts of the house are usually the same.

^{page 109 note 5} ‘Like a glance from Saua’ (in Manu?a). A tribute to the true vertical alignment of the main pillar.

^{page 109 note 6} I?a sā ‘sacred fish’; the term is applied to different fish in different parts of the island, and may be a totemistic survival. In Amanave it is commonly the gaiufi (Pratt: naiufi), a kind of shark.

^{page 109 note 7} Ulima?o ‘the arcs of a rainbow’, to which the arched purlins are likened. Ulima?o is an archaic word, now superseded by nuanua.

^{page 109 note 8} Moegā ise ‘a school of garfish’. The elongated garfish float side by side in the still waters of the lagoon. The tiers of so?a, horizontal braces or collar-beams, are similarly aligned.

^{page 109 note 9} ‘They face one another like brothers.’ The coconut-wood rafters (niu or fatuga) face each other in pairs and meet above the ridge-pole.

^{page 109 note 10} ?Ua fa?afale?upolu ai nei le agai ‘the master-carpenter has been playing the part of a talking-chief’. Earlier in the ceremony the carpenter made a speech distributing the kava (cf. p. 107, n. 3), thus fulfilling one of the functions of a talking-chief to whom the task of making the distribution (pule) normally belongs.

^{page 109 note 11} ‘Our village has come without any clothes on’, i.e. we feel naked and ashamed because wo have brought so little with us. This part of the speech is delivered in the low-voiced style that accompanies fa?amaulalo utterances.

^{page 110 note 1} A Samoan proverb: ‘there is desire for the yam but fear of the rock’, i.e. ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’. See Schultz, E., op. cit., No. 214Google Scholar, for another version. Yet a third is: ?ua mana?o le ufi, ?ae fefe ?i le papa ‘the yam desires, but fears the rock’; the roots of the yam are said to coil away from stones in the ground. See also Herman, Brother, Tala o le Vavau, No. 96Google Scholar.

^{page 110 note 2} Talo afulu is taro placed in the Samoan oven the night before and allowed to bake until morning.

^{page 110 note 3} ?Auselau ‘a hundred’. ?Au- is a classifier used before the words for taro, yams, and bunches of bananas. See Churchward, S., Samoan grammar (1951), paras. 158–60Google Scholar.

^{page 110 note 4} Fa?atumutumu lima or fa?atemutemu lima ‘to pick something up gingerly’ (using only the tips of the fingers), hence ‘to make merely a half-hearted effort’.

^{page 112 note 1} ‘The dew is falling on the arrow of your speech’, i.e. it has remained a long time unanswered.

^{page 112 note 2} ‘Taliga-o-Fialogo, Mata?utia's mountain’. Taliga-o-Fialogo is either ‘Fialogo's Ears’ or ‘Maiden's Ears’; Mata?utia is ‘the Feared One’. The mountain is near Papa in Sātaua in Savai?i and was the lair of a cannibal who cut out his victims' tongues. There is a play on words in the name Taliga-o-Fialogo, which in this context may be taken as ‘ears wanting to hear’. The general sense is ‘we have listened with great pleasure to your speech’.

^{page 112 note 3} ‘The cave at Tufumoe is now illuminated throughout.’ For a possible origin of the expression, see Tala o le Vavau, No. 87. The phrase is meant as a compliment to the wisdom (mālamalama) and insight into Samoan tradition shown by the village orator.

^{page 112 note 4} ‘The saying about Fulu?ula Limatoto, “the six great feats are all achieved”, has come true.’ I have no data about this legendary woman, except that she was noted for great physical strength, courage, and wisdom.

^{page 112 note 5} ‘Most pleasing was the kava at Tuamāsaga’ (a district in ?Upolu). The reference is to the punning proverb: ‘ta te inu i Malie, ta lē malie’, ‘I drink in Malie (a village in Tuamāsaga), but I am not malie (satisfied)’, usually a polite expression of dissatisfaction, cf. Schultz, E., op. cit., No. 221Google Scholar. However, the phrase must here be taken to mean: I find your gifts and courtesies most acceptable', i.e. I am not dissatisfied, like Asomua with his entertainment at Malie in Tuamāsaga. A different explanation of the proverb is given in Tala o le Varan, No. 51.

^{page 113 note 1} Another reference to the Va?atausili legend.

^{page 113 note 2} Falelua ‘Two Houses’ is one of the fa?alupega (ceremonial titles) of Amanave and the neighbouring village of ?Āgugulu.

^{page 113 note 3} ‘Gā-ma-le-lāi’—this expression is said to be used by an orator when he wishes to avoid reciting a long list of taeaos.

^{page 113 note 4} ‘They nurse the mornings’, i.e. they keep alive the memory of great occasions in the past, of titles and ceremonial—an excellent definition of one of the most important of the talking-chief's roles in Samoan society.

^{page 113 note 5} Fa?apoipoia lā?au tūmanu ‘aim at the tree where the bird is perched’, perhaps an allusion to the old Samoan sport of fowling. The phrase is used here to mean ‘just take aim at the subject’, i.e. hint at it, mention it in passing.

^{page 114 note 1} ‘May the threatening clouds hold off or blow over’, cf. the chiefly valediction: ?la mātafitafi ao valevale.

^{page 113 note 2} ‘May your orators' staffs never be broken or your fly-switches lie idle.’ The staff (to?oto?o) and the fly-switch (fue) are the orator's badges of office, said to symbolize life and death.