Posted on: Sunday, April 25, 2004
High chief is boss in Pago Pago
By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist
KAHULUI, Maui — Today we will discuss the lifestyle of a Samoan high chief in the 21st century. He is Fai'ivae Galeai, 6 feet in his lava-lava, well over 200 pounds, who has a master's degree in education, eight pigs and 14 acres in taro, breadfruit and bananas, coconuts, cacao and yams.
Fai'ivae came up from Pago Pago to conduct the wedding ceremony of my second son on Maui (he's also an ordained minister) so we had a chance to talk about what it's like being a Samoan high chief in the space age.
His clan numbers about 3,000, all related to him. His title, Fai'ivae, the highest rank in the clan, was conferred upon him in 1972 after a competition among half a dozen contenders when the old Fai'ivae died. In addition, he's a senator and the assistant minister in the church.
There are eight or 10 clans in Samoa with a high chief. His parents sent him to medical school in Fiji. Then he went to the University of California at Berkeley for a master's in education, and finished off graduating at the Pacific School of Religion.
"As chief of my village, I want to set an example for my people," he said. When he came back from college, he went to the soil, clearing land. "I didn't waste my time drinking and playing cricket," he said. "I planted my land."
Fai'ivae sold his produce, then opened a store. One of his classmates at Berkeley was a baker. Fai'ivae invited him to Samoa because Pago Pago needed a bakery. "I got 10 young men to work as apprentice bakers," he said.
"After six weeks, my friend told me that the Samoan boys were good bakers but 'they cannot see dirt.' I said, 'I will teach them to see dirt.' They learned to be clean." Today Fai'ivae is breaking in a son to operate the bakery.
His oldest son runs the
grocery store and the family corporation that includes a gas station operated by Fai'ivae's daughter and son-in-law, the bakery, and a small-machine repair shop run by a daughter and her husband.
Fai'ivae himself runs the farm with the help of three hired hands. They are like members of the family who sleep in a house Fai'ivae provides them and eat there
at no cost. He also leases
four acres to a Chinese farmer who grows vegetables. Now Fai'ivae wants to start a bank.
As a senator, he has an office in Pago Pago equipped only with paper and pencils because he doesn't believe in typewriters or computers. The secretarial pool does all that.
The first thing he wanted to see on Maui was a
pig farm. One thing I noticed about Fai'ivae is his appetite. After the wedding feast, he said, "Let's get some sushi." That night, he blamed his stomachache on too much wasabi, the Japanese horseradish condiment.
He's used to having people at his beck and call and he's high-maintenance to be around. But a warmer and more entertaining friend you'll never find.
