Abstract:
Of the most important ritual events among Samoans, referred to as fa‘alavelave,
funerals are often the most elaborate. In this article, I examine the factors that influence
decisions about graves and the location of grave sites, and the most recent option of
cremation, rather than burial, in the context of migration and social change. I also
argue that place as identity is intimately bound up with conceptions of kinship that
define where the ‘äiga (extended family, kindred) are buried, fa‘asinomaga (identity,
belonging) and fanua (land).
