The Legend of Taema & Tilafaiga
Ulufanuasesee and Sinaalalofutu became the parents of siamese twin girls. Legend has it, that when they were still conjoined babies, the girls were so badly startled that they jumped into the ocean and split apart.
“The twins had not been given names yet. After awhile they saw some pale [debris] floating in the sea. One of the girls said, ‘Sister I have found a name for me.’ The other asked, ‘What is it?’ Her sister replied, “Taema, because of these pale [debris] in the seas.’ They swam on and, after awhile, they met with the top end of a mast that was floating about. With every wave it would turn over. The nameless girl said, ‘I, too, have found a name.’ Taema asked what it was. Her sister replied, ‘Tilafaiga - the bobbing mast.’”
Tala O Le Vavau: Myths, Legends and Customs of Old Samoa, p 124
Many years later, when Taema and Tilafaiga were older, they traveled to Viti (Fiji) and learned the art of tatau. Before they left the island, the Fijians told them:
“E tata fafine, a e tuu tane - Tattoo the women and not the men”
Tala O Le Vavau: Myths, Legends and Customs of Old Samoa, p 9 & 104
The girls swam all the way from Viti to Samoa carrying a basket of tools needed for tattooing. Once they reached the shores of Falealupo on the big island of Savai'i, they saw a clam at the bottom of the reef. The sisters swam down to see this marvel, and once they resurfaced they had become confused. They started to say:
“E tata tane, a e tuu fafine - Tattoo the men and not the women”
Tala O Le Vavau: Myths, Legends and Customs of Old Samoa, p 9 & 104
There is a Samoan song describing the origins of how tatau came to the islands:
Samoan
O le mafuaaga lenei na iloa
I le ta’aga le tatau i Samoa
O le malaga a Fafine e to’alua
na feausi mai fiti i le vasaloloa
Na la aumai ai o le ato au
Ma si a la pese e tutumau
Fai mai e tata o Fafine ae le tata o Tane
O le ala na tata ai Tane
Ona ua sese si a la pese
Taunu’u i gatai o Falealupo
Ua vaaia loa o le faisua ua tele
Totofu loa lea o Fafine
Ma ua sui ai si a la pese
Fai mai e tata o Tane
ae le Tata o Fafine
Silasila i le tama ua ta’atia
Ma le tufuga lea ua amatalia
Talofa ua tagi aueue
ua oteote solo i le Autapulu tele
Sole, sole ia e loto tele
O le ta’aloga faatamatane
e ui lava ina tiga tele
Ae mulimuli ane ua e fefete
O Atunu’u uma o le Pasefika
E sili Samoa le tauta’ua
O le Sogaimiti ua Savalivali mai
Ua Fepulafi mai ana Fa’a’ila
O aso faaifo, faamuli’ali’ao
Faaatualoa, selu, faalaufao
O le sigano faapea faaulutao
Ua ova i le vasa laolao
Maosi, One Samoana
English
This is what we know
of how the art of tattoo came to Samoa
Two women (sisters)
swam across the deep ocean from Fiti
They carried a basket with them
(filled with tatau equipment)
and repeatedly chanted the song:
‘Only women receive tattoos, not men’
The reason men receive tattoos today
is that their song was sung incorrectly
They arrived to the coast of Falealupo
and encountered a huge [clam]
They dove into the water for it
and when they surfaced again
they began singing that it is men who receive tattoos
and not women
2013, One Samoana