The Samoans: A Global Family

Ua fuifui faatasi, ae vaoeseese
“Gathered into one flock from different parts of the forest”

The beauty of this Samoan proverb poetically describes The Samoans: A Global Family. From the tea estates of Sri Lanka to the deserts of the Sudan, from the Himalayas of Bhutan to the jungles of Brazil, and from the People's Republic of China to Papua New Guinea, a family is gathered in 285 color photographs captioned with the proverbs of 30 languages.

Each person recounts his or her autobiography: a cardinal in Rome, a cowboy in the outback of Australia, a champion sumo wrestler in Japan, a jet pilot in nothern Alaska, an NFL football player at the Super Bowl, a nun in the slums of Lima, Peru. Each brings a story from his part of the “forest.”

The book is the result of a two-and-a-half-year odyssey around the world, through 45 countries and 20 states and into the lives of over 125 Samoans documenting what it means to be Samoan not only in Samoa but in the farthest reaches of the globe.

• Frederic Koehler Sutter, Author