Samoan Funeral

final resting site of the departed. yes this common to bury your dead in your front yard. some say this is so ur dead will keep away evil spirits. others say it makes for settling land disputes in the future. this grave will have a few more layers and decorations added to it once finished. (nice water tank!)

A high talking cheif delivers a speech to the family. just out of view to the left is a chief and group of the family who thanks the high chief and delivers his own speech.

matai doing the ceremonial walk to the gravesite.

i partially witnessed my first samoan funeral last week. only partially because it turns out i was at the start of a case of dengue fever, and my first because ive done my best to avoid previous ones. funerals in samoa are almost like family reunions at the same time. they usually involve family coming home from australia, nz, and american samoa. the service itself can be anywhere from a few days after the death to about 2 weeks later. lots of gift are donated to the greiving family usually in the form of fine mats, cows, pigs, money, and boxes of canned fish. the tendancy is to give more than you can afford or should, and then things are redistributed back to contributing families at the end. a concept we americans will never understand. they last at least one whole day.