Taema is the name of a female figure referred to in different legends in

Samoan mythology Samoan culture tells stories of many different deities. There were deities of the forest, the seas, rain, harvest, villages, and war. There were two types of deities, ''atua'', who had non-human origins, and ''aitu'', who were of human origin. Taga ...

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Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago and Long Before by George Turner, ISO-8859-1

Different Legends

* One well known legend relates that Taema and her sister Tilafaiga are the Matriarchs of Samoan tatau. The sisters brought the art of tattooing to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

from

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

. As they swam, the sisters sang a song that women get the tattoo, not men. But as they neared the village of

Falealupo Falealupo is a village in Samoa situated at the west end of Savai'i island from the International Date Line used until 29 December 2011. The village has two main settlements, Falealupo-Uta, situated inland by the main island highway and Falealu ...

at the western end of the island of

Savaiʻi Savaii is the largest (area 1,694 km2) and highest ( Mt Silisili at 1,858 m) island both in Samoa and in the Samoan Islands chain. The island is also the sixth largest in Polynesia, behind the three main islands of New Zealand and ...

in Samoa, they dove underwater to get a clam. When they emerged, their song changed. Only men get the tattoo, not women. However, Samoa has traditional tattoos for both males and females. The traditional male tattoo is the Soga'imiti. The female tattoo is the

malu is a word in the Samoan language for a female-specific tattoo of cultural significance. The covers the legs from just below the knee to the upper thighs just below the buttocks, and is typically finer and delicate in design compared to the , t ...

. In a similar legend, Taema's sister Tilafaiga was the mother of the Samoan goddess of war,

Nafanua Nafanua was a historical ''ali'i'' (chief/queen) and ''toa'' (warrior) of Samoa from the Sā Tonumaipe'ā clan, who took four ''pāpā'' (district) titles, the leading ali'i titles of Samoa. After her death she became a goddess in Polynesian reli ...

, the daughter of Saveasiʻuleo, god of the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

Pulotu Pulotu is the resting place of those passed on in the Polynesian narrative of Tonga and Samoa, the world of darkness "lalo fonua" (as opposed to the human world of light). Tonga In the Tongan narrative, Pulotu is presided over by Havea Hikule� ...

. * Taema was the name of a war god, incarnate in the kingfisher bird and was an omen in war. * Taema was a war god present in a bundle of sharks' teeth. * Taema and Tilafaiga were the names of two household gods in a family at the east end of the Samoa Islands. Taema and Tilafaiga were Siamese twins, their bodies joined back to back. They swam from the east and a wave struck them and separated their bodies. Everything ''double'' such as double yams or bananas, were sacred. * Taema was the name of a goddess found by fishermen swimming between the islands of

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approxi ...

and Tutuila. The fishermen covered her with fine native cloth, took her to land in the bush, and built a temple for her. * Taema was the founder of a high-ranking chief title on Tutuila.
Dictionary of Polynesian mythology by Robert D. Craig, p. 248

References

Samoan deities Polynesian goddesses {{goddess-stub