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Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
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Unit 9

Colonialism and Christianity in the South Pacific

A cross stands in silhouette against a sunset in purple hues.

In this unit (to accompany the SAPIENS podcast S6E5), students will learn about colonialism in the South Pacific and Samoa. Students will explore the history of colonialism and examine how colonialism and the influence of Christianity shaped the Samoan people and their views toward anthropologists Margaret Mead and Derek Freeman.

Learning Objectives
  • Outline the history of colonialism in the South Pacific.
  • Examine how colonialism and Christianity shape how Samoan people view Mead and Freedman.
Sapiens articles
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Archaeological Tropes That Perpetuate Colonialism

Nicholas C. Laluk and Joseph Aguilar
Two Indigenous archaeologists from the U.S. Southwest shed light on how “abandonment” and other common archaeological terms continue to cause harm. They offer insights into how to rewrite narratives of the past.
Yardenit Baptismal
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How Tourism Reinvented Jesus’ Baptism Site

Sara Toth Stub
Pilgrims and tourists are flocking to a baptismal site in the Holy Land in search of religious experience—and souvenirs.
Keywords
View All in Colonialism
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I Was Penalized for Learning a Language at Home

Veronica Valencia Gonzalez
A researcher explains why the Fulbright-Hays fellowship should change its rules that have kept native and heritage speakers from working where their languages are spoken.
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poem / Reflections

To Wear the Wind

Beni Sumer Yanthan
A tribal scholar from the state of Nagaland in India engages with the loss of traditional cultural practices and locates the creation of a new world order where the “natural” is increasingly isolated from the “human.”
A person wearing a brown floral shirt, red beaded necklace, and feather in their hair closes their eyes. In a blurred background, other people—one holding a red-and-white STOP sign—gather on a lawn in front of a white building.
essay / Viewpoint

Archaeological Tropes That Perpetuate Colonialism

Nicholas C. Laluk and Joseph Aguilar
Two Indigenous archaeologists from the U.S. Southwest shed light on how “abandonment” and other common archaeological terms continue to cause harm. They offer insights into how to rewrite narratives of the past.
Two people in uniforms—one in black, the other in tan—wearing black boots and hats topped with matching fans face each other and kick one leg up, their feet traveling above their heads. Other people in uniform stand at attention along the roadside behind them.
essay / Crossroads

Imagining Other Worlds at the India-Pakistan Border

Rashmi Sadana
For decades, soldiers at the border between Attari, India, and Wagah, Pakistan, have staged an elaborate ceremony for onlookers. An anthropologist reflects on the ceremony as a legacy of Partition—and imagines other futures for the two nations.
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poem / Reflections

Cold Hubris and Fundo

Alma Simba
A poet-historian reflects on the legacy of colonial-era collecting practices in Tanzania that tore Black Indigenous ancestors from their communities and history.
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poem / Counterpoint

Feeling What We Are/A’yel jtaleltik

Delmar Ulises Méndez-Gómez
An anthropologist and writer from the Tseltal community speaks back to a colonialist history of suppression—instead claiming his identity, language, and people.
View All in Religion
Under an arched ceiling, a person wearing a white headwrap and T-shirt nestles a pencil in the palm of their hand while drawing with charcoal on a large white canvas. The scene they are sketching depicts a building and public square flanked by flowering trees.
photo-essay / Expressions

The Vibrant Worlds of Batuan Paintings in Bali

Annie Tucker and Robert Lemelson
A new multimedia project connects the development of a Balinese regional painting style with anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, who began commissioning art in the region in the 1930s.
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essay / Decoded

What Ancient Egyptians Knew About Meteorites—Long Before Modern Astronomers

Victoria Almansa-Villatoro
An Egyptologist’s study of hieroglyphic texts has revealed that ancient Egyptians likely understood the celestial origins of iron-rich meteorites.
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op-ed / Material Culture

What Happens When Catholic Medals Become Mainstream Jewelry

Emma Cieslik
Retailers are selling medallions cherished by Catholics who favor conservative gender roles. Are secular buyers sporting anti-feminist symbols?
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essay / Excerpt

Why Nahua Pilgrims Carry Thousands of Papers Up Sacred Peaks

Alan Sandstrom and Pamela Effrein Sandstrom
Along mountain pilgrimages, two anthropologists learn how an Indigenous Mesoamerican religion helps people practice a reciprocal relationship with the Earth.
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poem / Phenomenon

“T”

Peter-Jazzy Ezeh
A poet-anthropologist celebrates how the Orring people of southeastern Nigeria conceptualize the origins—and workings—of the cosmos.
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Should Paviland’s Red Lady “Come Home”?

Ffion Reynolds and Jacqui Mulville
Two archaeologists explore the complicated story of 33,000-year-old human remains—and calls for their repatriation to Wales.
Glossary
Colonialism

  1. A practice that has one nation gain physical control and political power over another nation, often for the purpose of extracting resources and labor.

Christianity

  1. A monotheistic religion that follows the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Religion

  1. A system that follows a specific set of values and beliefs.

Sovereignty

  1. Being independent from anyone else’s influence.

Professor Talking Points
  • The Samoan islands were colonized for many years, with several different nations sharing part in control of the region. Some of the colonizers included Germany, New Zealand, the United States, and Great Britain. At one time, three nations shared control before splitting Samoa into different sections and allowing different nations to rule over those sections. As such, Samoan culture was influenced by different nations in these areas.
  • In the 20th century, the nation of Samoa began a nonviolent movement to protest for independence. This was known as the Mau Movement. Despite its beginnings as nonviolent, the movement did turn deadly for some.
  • With the Christian influence in Samoa, some cultural and traditional norms shifted. Margaret Mead talked about the open sexuality of Samoans. At the time of Mead’s study, custom dictated that the chief’s daughter needed to be a virgin when entering into marriage. However, this standard did not necessarily guide the sexual lives of the other young women on the island. Once Christianity gained influence in Samoa, cultural expectations and norms shifted and virginity upon entering into marriage became important.
Academic Articles

  1. Efi, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Ta’isi. “Whispers and Vanities in Samoan Indigenous Religious Culture.” Parliament of the World’s Religions, February 15, 2015. https://parliamentofreligions.org/articles/whispers-and-vanities-in-samoan-indigenous-religious-culture/.

  2. Naepi, Sereana and Marcia Leenen-Young. “Gathering Pandanus Leaves: Colonization, Internationalization and the Pacific.” Journal of International Students 11, no. S1 (2021): 15-31.

  3. Salesa, T. Damon. I. “’Travel-Happy’ Samoa: Colonialism, Samoan Migration and a ‘Brown Pacific’.” New Zealand Journal of History 37, no. 2 (2003): 171-188.

Student Discussion Questions
  • What role did the Mau Movement play in the push for Samoan sovereignty? See the additional resources in this unit for a video on this topic.
  • What were the most pivotal moments during the history of colonialism in the South Pacific?
  • How did the history of colonialism and Christianity influence Samoan people’s opinion about Mead and Freeman?
  • How did Christianity change Samoan traditions and culture? Compare and contrast traditions before and after Christian influence increased.
  • Native Hawaiians have been arguing for their sovereignty from the United States for for decades. Compare and contrast similarities between U.S. colonialism in Hawai’i and Samoa.
Activities
  • Create a quiz on the history of colonialism in the South Pacific.
  • Based on “AMERICAN SAMOA: Which Road Ahead?” (found in Additional Resources), how did colonialism influence American Samoa? How does that differ from what was formerly known as Western Samoa?
  • Create a timeline of colonialism in the South Pacific and incorporate Mead’s and Freeman’s work.
Slides

Infographic: History of Colonialism in Western Samoa

Slides: Colonialism and Christianity in the South Pacific

Additional Resources

  1. Article: James Bishop’s “AMERICAN SAMOA: Which Road Ahead?”

  2. Documentary: The CoconetTV’s “Samoana Documentary”

  3. Podcast Episode: Holger Droessler: “Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa”

  4. Video: The CoconetTV’s “Untold Pacific History: Episode 3 – Samoa / N.Z.’s colonisation of Samoa & the Mau Movement”

Unit By

Nadine Rodriguez, Freedom Learning Group

Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
-
Unit 10

Legacies of Colonialism in Samoa

A sepia-toned image of soldiers and men in uniforms, and Samoan men in formal white coats, and women in front in traditional Samoan clothing.