According to a legend 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 ...

Tilafaiga was one of the twin sisters who brought the art of '' tatau'' (Samoan tattoo) 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 Fitiuta in Manu’a. Tilafaiga's twin sister's name is

Taema Taema is the name of a female figure referred to in different legends in Samoan mythology.
Samoa ...

. Tilafaiga and Taema can also be referred to as the Matriarchs of the Samoan tatau.
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago by George Turner Tilafaiga is the mother of

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 famous Samoan Warrior Princess, whose father was Saveasi'uleo the Ali'i of the spirit

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 underwor ...

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� ...

References

See also