#1 Wedding traditions in Samoa

Assalamualaikum and hi readers ! :D

So I will briefly explain about wedding traditions in Samoa for my first entry. Haaa have you ever heard about Samoa? Yes? No? Me either no hahaa *hi five*. So let us check it out what and where is Samoa?

The map of Samoa

The national flag of Samoa

*pssst. If you are google-ing, you might find Samoa and American Samoa. But they are two different countries, and I am writing about "SAMOA" okayy?*

Samoa, formerly Western Samoa, is in the South Pacific Ocean about 2,200 mi (3,540 km) south of Hawaii. The larger islands in the Samoan chain, Upolu and Savai'i, are mountains and of volcanic origin. There is little level land except in the coastal areas, where most cultivation takes place.

Enough for this. Let us see their wedding culture ! 

From Youtube : Traditional Samoa Wedding, Le Vasa Resort

What's unique about them?

The bride dress made from the bark of mulberry tree.

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What capture me the most instead how they celebrate the ceremony is, their unique dress, and called as Siapo. Siapo is the Samoan word for a fine cloth made from the bark of the paper Mulberry tree. It is regarded as one of the region's finest and most distinctive art forms. This fabric is important especially during wedding ceremonies where the culture demands that the bride should put on a wedding dress made of this fabric.

The Samoan cloth or Siapo is beginning to disappear from our Cultural experience because creating it is very labor intensive, Is it so "Important" though to our traditional fabric that we as Polynesians including other Islands in the South Pacific like Tonga & Fiji Islands, should hang on to it?

Siapo, is one of the oldest Samoan cultural art forms. For centuries Siapo designs were passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, it is becoming a lost art. Siapo is not only a decorative art, it is a symbol of Samoan culture. It is used for clothing, burial shrouds, bed covers, ceremonial garments, and much more. Siapo is very important for cultural ceremony, especially weddings and funerals where it is used to wrap the dead body before being put in the grave. That's a very special dignity for one who dies in the islands and was what was used before coffins became more popular.

That is a wrap up from Samoa. Thanks ! :)