Visitors are welcomed with ava rites, mats

Tag : Place Mats

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa -Both men and women, young and old played their respective roles inthe official welcome ceremony for delegates to the Tenth Festivalof Pacific Arts in American Samoa Tuesday morning.

While the men were busy preparing for the ava ceremony (kavaceremony), the women were getting ready to display their finelywoven mats.

Boys and girls also pitched in, taking their place beside theirelders to help welcome guests to their shores.

Despite a downpour during the ceremony, the beautiful array ofcolorful outfits worn by the hosts and different groups fromparticipating countries brightened the ceremony and kept spiritshigh.

Men in traditional dress took part in the ava ceremony after whichwomen displayed their fine weaving.

As is the tradition, the first cup of ava was poured on the groundto mark appreciation and respect for the earth, the provider ofwealth and good health.

Each guest of honor was presented with a coconut shell filled withava as a sign of welcome. All the delegations were then offered adried root of the ava plant as a token of appreciation from thehosts.

Wearing traditional American Samoan dress made from woven pandanus,Kalasa Atuatasi, wife of a local matai (chief), led the women'sceremony with a Samoan chant.

The women proceeded to offer guests gifts of finely woven pandanusmats in an age-old custom called “fa'alelega-pepe.” Themats, woven by women from all over the territory, were presented toeach participating country as a mark of respect and welcome.

Atuatasi said the custom of “fa'alelega-pepe” involveswomen who weave the fine mats in preparation for a ceremony fit fora king. The finely woven mats used to be the main currency of thepeople of the land before dollars and cents were introduced.

“The value of the mats depends on how finely they are wovenand how old they are, or how many hands they have passed through.When we present the fine mats we chant in our native tongue,praising the work that has been done and saying thank you forthem.”

The tradition of “fa'alelega” is passed from onegeneration to the next.

Atuatasi says despite not having village societies to help preservesome of these practices, the island is lucky because the governmenthas allocated funds to help preserve customs and traditions.

“Although there are certain things that change, the value ofthese mats remains. You can't avoid change. Some things arereplaced with more modern things but the value behind why wecontinue these customs still remains. The important thing is tokeep the value of our cultures intact.”

Work on the mats presented in Tuesday's opening ceremony began fouryears ago, just after the last Festival of Pacific Arts in Palau in2004.

“Because so much time and effort is put into making thesemats, there's a lot of value placed on them and we present them toour guests as a token of our appreciation.” (SPC)
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