Storytelling For The Next Generation

What began with nightly postings of Samoan tales on Facebook during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in both Pacific Islanders and non-Pacific Islanders from all around the globe sharing and reading the posts.

It became clear that as Samoans become more spread out and assimilated in other parts of the world, there is a yearning to understand and learn about Samoan culture, geography, language, and history.

As such, Fāgogo connects, provokes thought, learning, and wonder. It fosters a new sense of understanding and ways of knowing for Samoan peoples to ponder about and feel a sense of belonging even though they may be miles away from the islands. 

The collective is meant to be a platform for everyone to read, learn, and share their family versions of stories so that we can all learn more about Samoan history and culture. We invite you to contribute to the collective by sharing your stories.

Who We Are

As a not-for-profit online project, we do not sell content/information or charge for usage of the site. We are a dedicated group of individuals committed to preserving our history and culture and volunteer our time and resources to providing this website to the public free of charge.

If you are interested in helping with the collective, please contact us. We’d love to have your involvement.

Jacob Fitisemanu

Lead Contributor & Content Curator

Jacob "Jake" Fitisemanu Jr., MPH, was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Karen Dang (Honolulu, Hawai’i) and Jacob Fitisemanu Sr. (Falefā, ‘Upolu, Sāmoa). Jake was raised in Hawai'i and Utah with a love of his vibrant Samoan, Chinese and Korean heritage. Jake earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science (2007) and a Master’s Degree in Public Health (2014) from Westminster College. He co-founded the Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition and has chaired the annual statewide Pacific Islander Health Week since 2012.

Jake is a Community Health Program Manager for Intermountain Healthcare and an Advisor to the National Academy of Medicine's Culture of Health program. He lives with his wife Lucia and their two daughters in West Valley City, where he serves on the City Council. Having served in many local and statewide capacities, Jake was appointed to the US Census National Advisory Council in 2014 and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. In 2015, he was appointed to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders a role which he served until 2017.

Laneta Fitisemanu-Taukei’aho

Web Design & Content Curator

Laneta is the Communications Director at Voices for Utah Children, a non-partisan organization dedicated to advocating for policies that positively impact all Utah children. Her mother is from Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i and father from Vaivase, ‘Upolu, Sāmoa. A dedicated community volunteer, Laneta assists the Sāmoana Integrated Language Initiative (SAILI) with their communication outreach efforts along with the Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition. She also chairs the West Side Community Review Board, providing a platform for residents of Salt Lake's west side communities to voice their opinions on research. Laneta's education includes master's degrees in Public Administration from the University of Utah and Strategic Communication from Westminster College. As her final strategic communication degree project, Laneta built the Digital Fāgogo Collective website, this involved creating the collective’s logo, curating images, and researching content.

Fa’afetai Lava

We would also like to acknowledge and thank the additional research and editing contributions that were made by Laira Fitisemanu-Van De Wiele, a current student at the University of Arizona. As well as Professor Curtis Newbold, a faculty member with the Westminster College Masters in Strategic Communication program for his consultation and feedback for this project.