What is the fa'aSamoa? Is it fair to just say the "Samoan Way"? This study aims to define and determine the significance of such an all-encompassing concept. The objectives of this investigation is to illustrate the evolution of the fa'aSamoa, from its "classical" model to a "variant" model practiced among the Samoan Christchurch community; yet, still be classified as the fa'aSamoa. This investigation aims to look at the institutions of the fa'aSamoa to highlight how change within the Samoan community is not only from "external" forces but also change has occurred from within the Samoan community. One of the objectives of this thesis is to highlight the different groups within the Samoan community, who have different needs from that of other members in the community. The transportation of the fa'aSamoa successfully to these shores has brought about an element of "togetherness" among the Samoan communities. Furthermore, the fa'aSamoa has evolved from the "Samoan Way" to a concept of traditions.

Often disconnected from the African diaspora, the Black South Pacific is constantly laid to the wayside. My research works to shed light on the voices of Afro-Oceanic scholars who are fully capable of articulating their own narratives based on their traditional foundational knowledge that may not align with standard western notions of knowledge but in fact create a system or methods of knowledge unique to the Afro-Oceanic community and traditions. The indigenous Afro-Oceanic agenda of self-determination, indigenous rights and sovereignty, integrity, spiritual healing, reconciliation and humble morality, builds capacity towards a systematic change and re-acknowledgement of indigenous Afro-Oceanic epistemologies. By identifying and analyzing indigenous Oceanic epistemologies, ontologies, and cosmologies, my research seeks to place Afro-Oceanic peoples within the broader African Diaspora. Scholars throughout Afro-Oceania such as Dr. A.M Tupuola, Dr. Vaioleti T.M, and Dr. Helu-Thaman inter / African American Studies