International promotional material on coconut oil commonly references its centuries of use as a beauty and health aid by Pacific people. However, this gesture towards indigenous Pacific use of coconut oil is rarely accompanied by substantive information.
In this seminar, Alefosio and Henderson discuss multiple stages of a project exploring the topical application of coconut oil in three Samoan practices: fofō, or massage by taulāsea and other forms of customary healers; samaga, the anointing with coconut oil of the newly inked pe‘a or malu to mark the completion of these customary tattoos; and liutofaga, the ritual ‘washing’ of the bones of a deceased relative with coconut oil prior to reinterment.
Arising initially from Henderson’s Marsden-funded research on Pacific coconut commodities, this project featured phases as Summer Research Scholarship work by Alefosio, a co-authored contribution to Professor Judith Bennett’s 2017 Valued Coconuts: Hear Our Voices symposium at University of Otago, a 2017 PASI 429 Comparative Research essay by Alefosio, and was finally synthesized as a 2018 co-authored publication in the Journal of Pacific History. Alefosio and Henderson conclude that there are interrelated practical, medicinal, and spiritual dimensions to Samoan uses of coconut oil, and that these are usefully understood through reference to Samoan conceptions of sociospatial relationship, or vā.
Toaga Christina Alefosio is studying towards a Master of Intercultural Communication and Applied Translation (MICAT), having completed her BA Honours in Pacific Studies and BA majoring in Pacific Studies, Development Studies and Samoan Studies. She has academic research interests in indigenous practices within Samoan diasporic communities, including tattooing, customary ceremonies, and medical beliefs and practices. She’s served as a Teaching Fellow in Samoan Studies (2018–2019) and a tutor for Pacific Studies (2017–2019). This experience encouraged her to pursue the MICAT focusing on translation in the Samoan Language.
Dr April K. Henderson is Programme Director of Va‘aomanū Pasifika and Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies. Her recent project, “Kernels of Hope: Following Coconut Commodities from the Pacific to the West,” funded by a Marsden FastStart grant, follows virgin coconut oil (VCO) from Pacific nations to metropolitan consumers, illuminating the beliefs, hopes, and investments in the product at either end of the supply chain. While primarily focused on VCO, the production, uses, and circulation of other forms of Pacific Islands coconut oil are also of interest.
