Nafanua

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Nafanua is a titled woman known throughout Samoa as a goddess of war. She was bestowed the title because she was highly respected by her family and village council and very dependable. As a goddess of war, it was her responsibility to protect her family and save her village from enemies. Her village was located on the western side of the island of Savai'i'i. During Nafanua's time, there was a war between the eastern and western sides of Savai'i'i as each side was competing for the land and title of the entire island. In the Samoan culture, land is very important because there are more people than inhabitable land. A family is more prestigious if they own a lot of land; and the family members (especially males) receive greater titles. Because of this tradition, Lilomai'ava, the High Chief from the eastern side of Sava'i'i, tried to conquer the whole island. During this war, if High Chief Lilomai'ava caught anyone from the east side on the west side, he would force the person to climb a coconut tree feet first, with head down as a punishment. He did this to show his power to the whole island that he planned to conquer.