Samoan Flag Day Fautasi Race

Flag day is the holiday in American Samoa. It marks the day in 1900 that the chiefs of Tutuila signed the Deed of Cessation, making it an official American territory, and the subsequent flying of the American flag (hence the Flag Day thing). I'm a little fascinated by it because the guy who was responsible for all this, Commander (at the time, Captain) Benjamin Franklin Tilley, became the acting governor and forwarded laws within the same month that protect the Samoan traditional way of life, mainly by protecting the communal land and matai systems. I'm so impressed that he had the foresight and desire to prevent the complete Westernization of the islands, and that these laws have worked so well to prevent displacement of Samoans from their native land. People can, and some do, live off the land here. It's a crazy concept for a palagi coming from US suburbia.

Anyway, April 17th is also the one Samoan holiday we've learned a lot about because, while watching our one channel on tv, occasionally the few US shows that are on will be interrupted and they will start broadcasting last year's Flag Day celebrations. Last week we were given both Thursday and Friday off, it seems almost a necessity because everyone -literally, everyone- is involved in the Flag day celebrations. There are two full days of speeches, singing, and dancing at the stadium, along with evening performances all week in the Fagotogo malae. Every village or group seems to make an appearance at least once.

I was most excited about seeing the fautasi race.


Fautasi are longboat canoes that used to be the main mode of transportation between islands. They hold up to fifty people and can be over 90 feet long. I wish I knew more details on them because it's pretty amazing to see them glide through the waves. The fautasi race begins out in the ocean and the rowers race the five miles toward shore.

We got out early to make sure we didn't miss it. We've gotten a little too acclimatized and were cold that morning, even though it rarely gets lower than the high 70's here. It might have been 75 degrees...

I had expected a huge group of fautasi boats to come up to the finish line, with a close exciting finish. Well, I should have known not to have expectations! There were only 8 boats in the race and they were so spread out that it seemed like there wasn't much competition. It was still pretty amazing to see them come rowing into the harbor. I love watching them all paddle in unison.

As an interesting side note, I later learned that the top 8 finishers won cash prizes. The top eight, huh? Convenient!