Restoring Samoan Galuēga Taulima: Bringing the 'Ula Lei Back to Life

During the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, whale ivory pendant necklaces were highly prestigious regalia indicating nobility and wealth among chiefly classes in Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji. Their unique form and exclusive status made them prime acquisitions for private collections and museums, where they remain largely inaccessible to the people of western Polynesia where they originate. 

Since modern analogs are replicas (made of plastic, wood, cow bone, and coconut shell), few Samoans today are aware that 'ula lei were ever made of whale ivory. As cheaper, more accessible materials replaced scarce and expensive ivory, the traditional tools and techniques of transforming crude whale teeth into refined works of art were lost. 

This revival project uses collections at the Peabody Museum at Harvard—like this ‘ula lei collected in Samoa by William M. Woodworth circa 1898—to inform the materials, form, and tools involved in making these whale ivory necklaces that date to the late-nineteenth century. By examining the worked surfaces and dimensions of the ivory pendants, the project team hoped to glean information on how the teeth were cut, shaped, polished, and drilled, as well as how the fiber cordage and suspensory lashings were constructed and incorporated. 

In restoring technical knowledge of traditional materials and tools, this project not only revitalized the long-dormant practice of Samoan ivory work, but also hoped to inspire contemporary interpretations of the historical significance of ivory regalia, and stimulate discussion about themes like symbolism, cultural permanence, and artistic “authenticity” among modern, urban Pasifika identities. As such, re-introducing Pacific Islander communities to this unique artform is more than just an educational exposure, it is the reestablishment of a semiotic relationship between material culture and the descendants of those who once handled those materials. 

In December 2021, the HOCEF group was able to come to Harvard to spend several days in person with the collections at the Peabody Museum to inform their project and learn more about the Oceanic collections more broadly. Read more about their visit on our Collections Blog.

This fellowship team comprises a multigenerational working group based in Utah with a wide array of practical cultural knowledge, academic credentials, museum research experience, and artistic capacities.

Laneta Fitisemanu was born and raised in Utah; her mother is Native Hawaiian and Chinese from Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i and her father was born in Aotearoa and raised in Vaivase, Samoa. He is of Samoan, Tokelauan, Scottish, and Portuguese descent. Laneta has used community organizing and engagement to connect with her Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community through her work with the Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition. She enjoys web and graphic design and uses her skills to help preserve her culture by making it digitally accessible. Her school thesis project was a website dedicated to preserving Samoan fables and can be viewed at fagogo.org. She also created and manages the Samoana Integrated Language Initiative website saili.org.

Jacob Fitisemanu was born in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Karen Jun Lin Dang (of Kaimuki, O'ahu, Hawai'i) and Papali'i Sauaga Fitisemanu (of Falefa, 'Upolu, Samoa). He was raised in Hawai'i and Utah and is of Samoan, Chinese, Korean, Scottish, and 'Uvean ancestry. Jake is a first-generation American who was raised in Hawai'i and Utah with a love of his vibrant Samoan and Asian American heritage. An avid, lifelong student of Pasifika cultures, languages, and histories have taken him around the world on research projects including documenting kava rituals in Samoa, cataloging Kramer's collection at the Linden Museum (Germany), and reconstructing pule ta'i fe'e (octopus lures) and palefuiono (nautilus shell headbands) from historical prototypes in the Bishop Museum (Hawai'i). A director of the Samoana Integrated Language Initiative, Jake's mission is to perpetuate and promote Pasifika cultural arts and knowledge in ways that resonate with diasporic Oceanians in contemporary, urban settings. Jake holds a bachelor's degree in Social Science with an Anthropology emphasis, a master's degree in Public Health, and currently serves on the City Council of West Valley City, Utah.

Kimo Watanabe has spent decades working to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian culture and arts. As a hanai son of Uiha Ai; he represents an ancestral lineage that spans Hawaiʻi island, Maui, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and originates with the storied Tahitian wayfinder Maweke. He is an entrepreneur, musician and craftsman based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. As a cultural arts proponent through the Hui Hawaii ʻO Utah Hawaiian Civic Club and the Malama Haloa ʻO Utah cultural preservation group, Kimo coordinates free community workshops that share knowledge and practices on an array of topics ranging from pounding poi and playing ukulele, to reciting Hawaiian chants and learning about indigenous lunar calendars. Under his mentor Su'a Suluʻape Keone Nunes and others, Kimo is actively learning traditional techniques associated with carving wood, bone, stone, whale ivory, as well as making traditional instruments, regalia, and tools.

Nu'uausala Eliga Tilo Iii is a high school student from Kearns, Utah who has Samoan, Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and European roots. He is a ninth-grade scholar at the Mana Academy Charter School where he has been recognized for his academic achievements and excellence in cultural arts. The eldest of six children, Nu'u is an emerging young leader and an aspiring artist who has organized his own cultural performing arts troupe and is praised for his excellence in traditional artforms such as caving 'upeti (tapa cloth stencil boards) and 'ohe kapala (tapa cloth dye stamps), and creating 'elei fabric designs. Nu'u recently went above and beyond a school assignment to learn about the Tongan fale by not just writing about it, but meticulously building a scale model of the fale, complete with authentic lashing patterns and a thatched roof. His achievements and efforts in his family, school, and community were acknowledged last year when his father's village of Aua, Tutuila (Amerika Samoa) bestowed him with the Mataitoa chieftain title, making him the youngest chief on the island.

The Samoan proverb "e le'o Tagaloa po'o Pava 'ae Lefoaga'' acknowledges the fundamental role that artisans, creators, and builders play in our society. Commerce and consumerism allow us more leisure and wealth than at any other time in history, yet that convenience comes at the cost of lost opportunities to create, construct, and build for ourselves. 

Our project's initial objective—to replicate a traditional Samoan ‘ula lei—gradually broadened in scope, deepened in meaning, and expanded to include family and community in profound, unanticipated ways. The intergenerational dynamic of the project was especially meaningful, as children and youth were able to participate in unique activities that might otherwise have been restricted to a handful of adults. 

The most interesting part of the project has been the varied responses to the 'ula lei by those who see it and learn about the journey of bringing it back to life. Some see it as a sacred tapu object to be admired from a distance, some are fixated on the technical processes, while others are drawn to the striking aesthetics, or functional value. Ultimately, no matter how people view the ‘ula lei—as sacred and powerful, or as utilitarian and decorative—we hope it can serve as a catalyst for our community to find opportunities to create, construct, and build as a means to reconnect with our ancestors in tangible ways. 

Making an ‘Ula Lei Today in Salt Lake City  

While the creation of whale ivory necklaces was once an exclusive art form held within mataisau crafting guilds, we believe that all Pacific Islanders are descendants of mataisau and creators in our own ways, and as such we have been documenting and sharing the ongoing progress of our project as a community learning experience.  

Due to the scarcity of whale tooth available, many of the pendants were carved using deer antler and a variety of modern equipment, but at least one was able to be utilizing traditional tools out of historic sperm whale tooth. This allowed us to document how the process was done and gain a better understanding of how these pieces were made historically.

Follow along with our process (PDF). 

The project culminated in a series of intergenerational carving sessions that experimented with a variety of both traditional and modern equipment, tools, and materials. Teeth from sperm whales, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act , can only be acquired and used under specific circumstances. This project explored alternative materials such as cow bone which was found to be too brittle, and deer antler, which comprises the final piece, referred to as nifo aila, worn by project member Laneta Fitisemanu.

The work was presented to the public on August 13, 2022 at the Kearns Library in greater Salt Lake City, Utah. Watch a video of the event (3:24). It was also featured on Utah’s local news station KSTU (6:04).