Satala Cemetery.wmv       12/24/09         2:48

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Tsunami damage to Satala Cemetery in Pago Pago highlighted the difference between the way American Samoans and mainland Americans bury their loved ones.

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Steve Phillips
FEMA Enviornmental Advisor

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December 18, 2009

The American Samoa government has applied to Public Assistance for a grant to repair the Satala Cemetery to pre-disaster condition.

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David Herdrich
Historic Preservation Officer
American Samoa Historic Preservation Office

The Satala Cemetery is owned by the American Samoa government and it is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation. The Satala Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally, the land was originally purchased by the naval administration, which was put in charge of American Samoa in 1900. Traditionally Samoans bury their loved ones in front of their houses and naval personnel weren't from Samoa so they didn't have any family members. So the Navy created a cemetery in order to bury naval personnel and visiting foreigners. The cemetery is essentially broken up into two sections. There's the naval section down here and then in this upper level, which wasn't damaged by the tsunami fortunately, is a Korean and Chinese section. The tsunami knocked markers off of pedestals and headstones off of graves. 

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In 2005 the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office photographed every grave site in this historic cemetery. And that has been just a huge help to FEMA in coming up with a plan to repair this old cemetery to its pre-disaster condition.

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The Veterans Affairs Officer of American Samoa, a retired U.S. Marine, explained why Samoans bury their loved ones near their homes.

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High Chief Lili'0 Allitai
Veterans Affairs Officer, American Samoa
U.S. Marine Corps, retired

You see it all the time. There are graves in front of people's homes. 

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Fagasa, AS
December 23, 2009

This is the grave of my uncle Lili'o. He was the title holder of my family, Chief Lili'o, which I am the title holder right now. We buried him in front of our house to remember him, not only to show our love for him during the time of his reign, but not only that, he's done a lot of great things for the family. To us they are still alive. They are still part of the family. And these pass on down to generations when we are all gone and a lot of our loved ones will ask who is that and they can relate to that. And that's an important part of our culture.

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For more information contact www.fema.gov or www.americansamoa.gov