Welcome to Samoa
Talofa!

Was Samoa a jumping off place for voyagers to the east? Chants and legends from the Cook Islands suggest that it was. They tell of explorers from the Samoan islands of Manu`a (Manuka) and Upolu (Kuporu). Archaeological evidence increasingly supports these ancient traditions.

The Hawaiian Islands also have historical links with Samoa, as seen through landscape and language. Both groups have islands with active volcanoes and barren plains of unweathered lava. The ancient Polynesians noticed these striking similarities as well; they called the volcano island of Western Samoa "Savai`i" and that of the Hawaiian chain "Hawai‘i ".

At this island station play the computer game and see how language is a measure of ancestry and history.
Welcome to Hawai‘i
Upstairs Gallery of the Hawai`iloa Exhibit

Back to the Hawai'iloa page
Back to the Past Exhibits Page
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Revised on August 29, 1996 by mcb