American Samoa Governor fears for Samoan culture

Transcript

American Samoa's Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga has expressed concern that English is becoming the dominant language of youth in the territory, and is becoming a threat to Samoan culture and way of life.

In his State of the Territory address before the Fono, he said the Samoan culture is rooted in values such as respect and sharing, and children are schooled form an early age to respect their elders.

Our correspondent Monica Miller told Leilani Momoisea that the Governor says there have been indications that the Samoan culture is beginning to lose its values and meaning to the young people.

Monica Miller: The governor has said previously that language is a very important part of the culture, and that if you lose your language, that means you will also lose your culture. There has been under the Lolo administration efforts to make Samoan the official language of instruction in the schools. He saw it fit to bring out in his state of the territory address that we really need to be looking at ways to preserve our culture. The things that he mentioned is that he's seen or observed that some families, the children are using English, rather than Samoan as the every day language in their homes. And the governor, he is a former teachers, he's a teacher by profession, he saw it fit to mention that he's made this observation, and is worried that if this continues that we'll lose the language and in the process also the culture. He mentioned that he's seen young people being disrespectful.

Leilani Momoisea: What's the governor proposing to do to address the of language and strengthening the culture?

MM: He only said that we should really be looking at giving the office of Samoan Affairs, which is local government, and we're talking about the village mayors, the district governors, and these are almost like a traditional arm that keeps peace in the villages, they also carry out beautification, and then they generally would be the first ones to know if there have been any incidents in the village or if there's new people coming in causing trouble. So he says the office of Samoan affairs should be stepping up and go back to what it was like in the early days, when this was really our law and enforcement in the villages.

LM: So he's talking about village councils, and village rule, making that stronger?

MM: That's right, because the village councils also have their own form of punishment, they are also the ones that would reinforce for families why it's important for them to speak the Samoan language and also ensure that their kids are following the traditional norms instead of behaving in foreign ways that are not conducive with the culture.