An in-depth examination of traditional Samoan cultural concept Tofā Māmāo by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington senior lecturer in Pasifika Health, Dr Aliitasi Su’a-Tavila, has recently been published, highlighting the way in which indigenous knowledge can be applied in contemporary academic and policymaking contexts.
An article about Dr Su’a-Tavila’s work—The examination of the Tofā Māmāo cultural concept and repositioning it as a theoretical approach to guide Pacific research—has recently been published in Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online. The research findings provided a cultural understanding of what shapes the Tofā Māmāo cultural concept and its appropriateness to guide Pacific research.
“Tofā Māmāo is deep knowledge informed by ancestral wisdom that is held by paramount chiefs, and which is passed down through generations,” she explains. “The chiefs are always consulted when anything happens in Samoan communities or villages because the expectation is that their archive of knowledge will allow them to come up with a decision that will benefit everybody in the community.”
Dr Su’a-Tavila says when Tofā Māmāo is applied in an academic context, it provides a useful theoretical framework to guide Pasifika research.
“It’s really relevant in guiding research—the underlying principle is not about necessarily holding the traditional knowledge yourself as a researcher, but about understanding how to find it by engaging with the Pacific community in the most culturally-appropriate way,” she says. “It’s a blend of the academic with deep cultural tradition: in everything from recruiting research participants to the ways data is collected and analysed, the researcher needs to ask themself, ‘what is the most culturally appropriate way to do this?’
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s being applied to Samoan, Tongan, or any other Pasifika culture: there are common values of mutual respect, compassion and sacred space that underpin them all. If a researcher is using the principles of Tofā Māmāo they understand what they’re looking for and they know how to approach the appropriate people in the right way to get the answers,” she says. “Both Pacific and non-Pacific students and academics can effectively employ this theoretical approach, provided they possess a clear understanding of the foundational principles guiding it.”
Dr Su’a-Tavila has utilised the Tofā Māmāo concept to address family violence issues in Pacific communities through facilitated workshops and seminars. She says it could also be applied more widely, to guide the way government policies and decisions are made.
“Because I’ve been part of that community work, utilising the concept in a very real way, I’ve been able to see how it’s also a very, very relevant tool for decision-making that any organisation can use.”
She says with an increasing number of Pasifika academics working in Aotearoa and across the globe, it’s hugely important for universities to incorporate diverse Pacific approaches in academic research.
“There is a growing popluation of non-Western communities here, so it’s crucial to have a broad understanding and knowledge base in terms of how we conduct research within the Pacific context,” Dr Su’a-Tavila says. “There is definitely a gap there, but in developing this authentic Samoan cultural concept and getting a really good understanding of what is behind Tofā Māmāo, it feels like a significant milestone.”
Dr Su’a-Tavila is integrating her Tofā Māmāo research into her Pacific health teaching, so it’s a methodology her students are already familiar with. She says some of her colleagues have already added the published article to their courses’ reading lists.
“For some Pacific students, Tofā Māmāo is a concept they are familiar with in a cultural sense, but they never realised it’s also relevant for conducting research, so having my work published feels momentous—it validates the role indigenous ideas can play in an academic setting.”