First Impressions of Samoa

On 27 June 2025, we departed Brisbane for Apia. The purpose of the trip was to take our Grandmother’s ashes to Samoa to be disperse in the waters between Upolu and Savaii, in accordance with her wishes.

.Elizabeth Rachel Kilner (Bessie) died on 18 October 1996 aged 92 and despite her wishes to have her ashes returned, no progress was made until our father Lionel Edward (Ted) Kilner died in late 2022. At his funeral, the family committed to return Bessie’s ashes. Elizabeth Rachel Kilner (Bessie)

Those making the trip to Samoa are most of Ted’s children John, Anne, Maureen, Kerry, and Damien, plus Joanne (John’s wife), Morgan (Maureen’s son), as well as Wendy Middleton and Karen De Ross (Bessie’s granddaughters and children of Diana) and Chris (Karen’s husband) as well as Diana, (Wendy’s daughter) and Diana’s children Dex and Davina.

John and Joanne stayed at the Sheraton Aggie Grey’s in Apia. The room has views over Apia Harbour. Aggie Grey was involved in providing accommodation for the film crew making the movie Return to Paradise in 1953 and in facilitating the recruitment of Moira McDonald, a niece of Bessie, to co-star in the film. The other siblings and Morgan rented a house in the hills above Apia. Wendy and family as well as Karen and Chris stayed in different hotels in Apia.

Samoan Culture

Samoan culture is deeply rooted in Fa’a Samoa, the Samoan way of life. This rich cultural heritage is vividly expressed through traditional singing and dancing, which are integral to ceremonies, celebrations and daily life.

The key aspects of Samoan Culture includes Fa’a Samoa, Family (aiga), the Matai system, environmental stewardship, its religion, cuisine as well as ‘Ava Ceremony, and Tatau (tattooing).

Tatau is a significant cultural practice for both men (pe’a) and women (malu) symbolising a rite of passage, social status and devotion to community. Some family members underwent this practice.

Samoan singing and dancing are integral to its culture, reflecting community values, history and storytelling. They help preserve oral histories and are central to ceremonial purposes. During our stay we have enjoyed attending the Samoan Cultural Centre to witness the ‘Ava ceremony, dancing, witnessed wood carving, tattooing, fire dancing (Sive Ali) and watching similar dancing and an ‘Ava ceremony at Taumesina Island, not far from where Bessie swam as a child near Bessie’s aunt Maria’s house.

To-Sua Ocean Trench, Women and the Politics of Samoa

A popular tourist spot on Upolu is the To Sua Trench. located next to the village of Lotofaga. While the island of Upolu is small, with effectively one coast road and two cross island roads, it takes a long time to travel anywhere. The speed limit is now 56km/h with a 40km/h speed limit in the villages that you pass through. Apart from a few horns beeping when overtaking, most people travel around the speed limit while local villagers travel far slower. From Apia to To-Sua it takes 70 minutes to travel 49 km.

To-Sua literally means giant swimming hole in Samoan. It’s a 30 meters deep hole, only accessible via a wooden ladder to a platform from which swimmers can jump or dive into the water. The site is situated on an ancient lava field and tube system. The pool is fed through a cave that leads out to the ocean.

There is quite a current in the trench, but there are two ropes across the trench to hold on to if necessary. At low tide, you can swim through the underwater trench to the ocean, but it is risky. Two people went missing there, presumably having drowned and being swept out to sea, one in 2017 and one in 2018.

The To-Sua Ocean Trench is owned by members of the Fiame family, Salati and Samuga Petelo Fiame, and is adjacent to the village of Lotofaga, which is where the current Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa comes from, representing the Lotofaga Constituency in Parliament.

Fiame is a high ranking matai (chiefly) title. It’s not a common name, but rather a title passed down within prominent families. Prime Minister Mata’afa’s father Mata’afa Faumuina Fiame Mulinu’u II, was the first Prime Minister of Samoa, and served in the parliament from 1959 to 1970. Mata’afa is one of the four main Samoan chieftainships, known as the tama ’aiga (the others are Malietoa, Tupua Tamasese, and Tuimaleali’ifani) and he was also a descendent of the Malietoa family. All heads of state of Samoa have been drawn from the tama ’aiga.

His daughter, the current Prime Minister’s has had her leadership challenged by factions within her own party, the FAST Party, leading to a minority government. In turn, this led to the Government’s budget being voted down in Parliament and the calling of a snap election on 29 August 2025.

There have been ongoing economic and social challenges facing Samoa, including a struggling understaffed and under-resourced national hospital, rising cost of living that has made life difficult for many, the urgent need for pay rises for civil servants and nurses, as well as a needed increase in social benefit payments. Also may years of poor maintenance of Samoa’s infrastructure has led to problems with water and electricity supply, including substantial blackouts.

Samoa’s economy is fragile, due to its limited diversification and susceptibility to external shocks e.g Covid and natural disasters. Its economy is characterised by its dependence on tourism (23%), agriculture and fishing, remittances ( 29% - Samoa is one of the most remittance-dependent economies in the world) and development aid (15%).

Samoa’s nominal GDP is about USD$1bn, a GDP per capita of around USD$5,000 per capita (Australia’s is USD$62,000). Samoa is one of the MIRAB economies (Migration, Remittances, Aid and Bureaucracy). A substantial portion of the Samoan budget, over 50% is dedicated to direct government operations, public sector salaries, and the delivery of essential services - health, education, police and social welfare. Aid remains a vital component of Samoa’s external financing and development efforts, about 15% of its income.

Prime Minister Mata’afa, an unmarried woman, received gendered insults including by MP Fuiono Tenina Crichton, who Fiame had fired as Associate Minister, after he called for her removal from the party weeks earlier. “If only there was someone who could advise you. Your leadership would have been remarkable if you had gotten married and someone would advise you.”

Prime Minister Mata’afa was expelled from her own party after removing the party chairman La’auli Leuatea Schmidt from her cabinet, due to criminal charges he was facing (conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, conspiracy to commit an offence (fabricate evidence), harassment utilising electronic communications, false statement causing harm to a person’s reputation, using insulting words with intent to provoke a breach of peace, as well as a hit-and-run case involving a 19 year old.

This has led to a three-way political battle with Mata’afa’s new Samoa Uniting Party, facing off against La’auli’s rebranded FAST Party and the Human Rights Protection Party the previous government for nearly 40 years.

Low voter registration is a concern with only 55% of eligible voters having registered.

While the electoral framework is largely democratic, there are ongoing concerns and, discussions, such as the requirement for parliamentary candidates to hold matai (chiefly) titles, which has limited the eligibility of women to stand for Parliament. To ensure female representation, a 2013 constitutional amendment introduced a 10% quota for women in the Legislative Assembly i.e 5 of 49 seats. After the 2021 election, there were 7 women in parliament (13%). This would make Austalia’s LNP feel quite at home, given there are only 6 LNP women in the House of Representatives and 37 men (16%).

The 2021 election outcome saw a significant constitutional crisis, as conservative forces prevented Mata’afa from becoming Prime Minister, highlighting tensions between the judiciary and the executive. The outgoing Prime Minister , head of of the Human Rights Protection Party, refused to leave office. The Head of State, holder of one of the four paramount Matai titles in Samoa, issued a proclamation purporting to prevent the Legislative Assembly from meeting. This led to a makeshift ceremony held outside Parliament to swear in Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as Prime Minister. Subsequenty, Samoa’s Court of Appeal overturned the Head of State’s decision, upholding the election result.

The election comes at an interesting time with Samoa seen as a strategic player in the growing influence between China and traditional partners like Australia and the United States.

Religion, Family and Belonging

The Samoan landscape is bursting with churches. Most villages have at least three churches; a Congregational Christian Church (CCCS), a Catholic Church, a Latter Day Saints church, and then either a Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Assembly of God, or other church. We visited Manono Island with a population of 900 people, which has seven churches. On Sundays, nearly all businesses are closed as everyone goes to church.

Our visit to Samoa, to return our beloved grandmother’s ashes to Samoan waters, to the waters and land of her mother Silefaga Ainu’u, is about honouring family or ‘aiga (pronounced ah-ee-nga) and about belonging. ‘Aiga (extended family) is the central pillar of Fa’a Samoa (the Samoan Way) encompassing a wide network of blood relatives, those related by marriage, and even adopted connections. It acknowledges a matai (the head of Aiga), collective responsibility and welfare, tautua (service), Fa’aaloalo (respect), and Alofa (love) as well as Feagaiga (sacred covenant - deeply respectful relationships), hospitality, and intergenerational connection.

In 1830 John Williams, an “explorer missionary” of the London Missionary Society, arrived at Sapapali’i on the island of Savai’i aboard his ship the Messenger of Peace, His visit coincided with the end of a bloody war in Samoa, in which, after the death of his chief rival Tamafaiga from Manono Island in 1829, Malietoa Vainu’upo decimated A’ana (the western district of Savai’i and subsequently claimed the kingship of Samoa, eventually becoming the Tupu Tafa’ifa (holder of the four paramount titles).

John Williams managed to have Malietoa Vainu’upo, accept Christianity almost immediately upon his arrival in August 1830. This acceptance was a significant moment for the spread of the new religion in Samoa, as a large part of the population soon followed suit.

The Malietoa’s acceptance of Christianity may have been strategic and pragmatic. He had only recently managed to gain power over Samoa. Working with missionaries gave him an edge, as he could exert some influence over their presence in the islands, and he could get access to European goods, including weapons. While he accepted Christianity, there is some doubt about whether he was actually baptised. Although the Malietoa took a Christian name, Tavita (David) he remained polygamous until his last moments, to the chagrin of post-Williams missionaries.

The LMS missionaries, were instrumental in setting up a printing press in 1839 to print bibles and in the translation of the English Bible into the Samoan language in 1855. The Malua Theological College was also established in 1844 to train Samoan pastors. My great grandmother Silefaga Ainu’u was educated at the Malua theological college.The missionaries continued to be prominent figures in the church. It was not until 1967, five years after Samoa gained independence, that the church appointed its first Samoan principal of the college.

The church established by the LMS became the Congregational Christian Church in Samoa (CCCS), still the largest church denomination today with about 57% of the Samoan population belonging to the CCCS/EFKS Church (EFKS - Ekalesia Fa’apotopotoga Herisiano Samoa). It is one of the main Christian denominations in Samoa, alongside the Catholic and Methodist Churches and the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). 98% of Samoans are Christian.

The family in Sapapali’i is very proud of its association with John Williams and a monument to him sits across the road from the Sapapali’i village’s main church. The church is attended by all the villagers every weekend (300 people). There are two ceremonial fales alongside the church, one for the Ainu’u clan, and the other for the Malietoa line. The grave of Malietoa Vain’upo is situated between the two fales.

Malietoa is a state dynasty, one of the four chiefly titles of Samoa, It is the titular head of one of the two great royal families of Samoa - Sā Malietoa and Sā Tupua. Melietoa Vainu’upo was the 23rd Malietoa. The descendants of the Malietoa lineage, both titular and biological, are referred to as the Sā Malietoa. Our family can trace their genealogies to Sā Malietoa, through my great great grandfather, Ainu’u Paniani, my great grandmother Silefaga’s father.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) - Mormons first arrived in 1863 and are now either the third or fourth largest Christian denomination in Samoa (noting that there is a lot of double affiliation in Samoa - an example of the pragmatism of Samoans in dealing with foreign influence - the palagis). Mormons have been very successful in Samoa. One reason is the central importance of genealogy to Mormons, which coincides with a similar interest among Samoans. The focus on education by Mormons attracted many Samoans to the church, including it’s financial support for university studies. Its interesting to note that the LDS did not lift its restriction on men of Black African descent holding becoming priests until 1978.

More recently, there has been somewhat of a revolutionary change taking place in theological colleges in the Pacific Islands. From the clothes that Samoans wear, to the language they use, and so much of what they think of as Samoa today is a response to the presence of the outsiders - palagis. There are churning questions of identity and belonging. This new thinking involves a reinterpretation of Christianity by Pacific theologians with several different strands including a strong emphasis on reconnecting with Pacific cultures, a heightened identification of traditional values and mythology, an increased emphasis on social justice, including women’s rights, and re-awakening to the sacredness of the land through modern ecological concerns. It suggests an expansion of aiga (extended family) to include the whole family of creation.

Given his own acceptance of Christianity but his continued honouring of Samoan tradition, Malietoa Vainu’upo would probably have approved.

The Catholic Church’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Apia

The CCCS/EFKS Church at Sapapali’i and Malietoa fale.

The Return of Bessie to Samoan Water

We travelled to Manono Uta to board boats to disperse our grandmother Elizabeth Rachel Kilner’s (Bessie) ashes in the waters between the two main islands of Upolu and Savai’i. Between the two main islands, there is a small island called Manono which has an islet called Fatuanava Island adjacent to it.

What stories we were told about Samoa from our grandmother revolved around her enjoyment of swimming in the Samoan waters.

When Bessie returned from Fiji to Samoa she was raised in the village of Sapapali’i on the island of Savai’i by her grandparents, Ainu’u Paniani and Perise Tuala.

In Anne’s book “Kerrigan Kinship - Untangling the Knots”, she writes: that Bessie and her siblings are likely also to have stayed on Upolu at Malua (where Silefaga was apparently born), and visited family at Malie and Vial, near Apia, as well as visited their grandmother Perise’s family at Safa’atoa, Lefaga Bay. The village is near Matautu, where the Return to Paradise Resort is now located.

Anne also writes:

“Bessie, who was 14 at the time, when Silefaga died, recalled walking along the beach when someone came and gave her the news. It must have been a very poignant moment for her.”

Given her connections to both islands, and her love of the water, it seemed appropriate for her ashes to be dispersed between the two main islands. We dispersed them next to Fatuanava Island (pictured), off Manono Island. Fittingly, but accidentally, it was Manono Island, where Bessie’s ancestor Malietoa Vainu’upo’s chief rival Tamafaiga hailed from.

Return to Paradise

We travelled to the Return to Paradise Resort outside the village of Matautu. The resort is named after the 1953 adventure/romance film set and filmed in Matautu, Lefaga.

The film is based on the short story of “Mr Morgan” from James A Michener’s 1951 collection, also titled “Return to Paradise”. The story revolves around a drifter Mr Morgan (Gary Cooper) who arrives there and meets a strict puritanical Pastor Corbett (Barry Jones), who has imposed rigid rules on the Samoans, including daily church attendance and strict curfews, enforced by bullying police.

Morgan was in love with a local beauty Maeva (Roberta Haynes) and inspired the islanders to challenge the oppressive regime, bringing about significant changes to their social life and customs. The film also touches upon the arrival of World War 2 and how it impacts the island.

One of the co-stars was a Moira Macdonald who played Turia, the illegitimate child of Mr Morgan and Maeva. Moira is also credited in other films including “Sons for the Return Home” (1979) and “Brothers” (1982) as Moira Walker (her married name). She may also have appeared in “Pacific Destiny” and “Tala Pacifika - The Cat’s Crying” as Seiuli Moira Walker.

The story goes that Moira MacDonald was discovered for her role in “Return to Paradise” when producers visited a bank in Samoa where she was working behind the counter. She was 21 at the time of filming. Her family was friends with Aggie Grey and the producers and cast were staying at her hotel, and it was Aggie who persuaded Moira’s parents to let her join the cast.

Moira was the daughter of Maria Macdonald (née Kerrigan), Bessie sister, making Moira a cousin of our father.

Samoan Kinship

Samoan Kinship is a foundational element of Samoan society, It is characterised by a strong emphasis on extended family (Aiga). It provides a strong sense of identity, belonging and mutual support.

In the preparation for and conduct of this visit to Samoa, we have seen this in practice.

Anne’s efforts in tracing ancestry and in her informative narratives as well as in primary planning and mentoring others was essential in making this trip the success it was.

To all those that assisted, contributed and attended - our thanks. Our thanks also to our extended family that opened their hearts and houses with little notice, helping connect us to our heritage.

Return to Paradise - A Samoan Elegy