Pepe meamea in the spirit of the collective: Embedding Samoan Indigenous philosophy in ECE for

In the first year of the study, Samoan conceptualisations and philosophy of pepe meamea were PEPE MEAMEA IN THE SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTIVE: EMBEDDING SAMOAN INDIGENOUS PHILOSOPHY IN ECE FOR SAMOAN CHILDREN UNDER TWO | FINAL REPORT SUMMARY 2 explored, which led to the development of a Samoan glossary with 89 Samoan concepts inspired by Samoan onto-epistemologies of pepe meamea. [...] The leaves, the many hands (from Samoan villages), the soil, the history, and the genealogies from the Samoan villages that sourced the laufala were entangled within the talanoa weaving events. [...] The first Aoga Amata was established in Wellington in 1987 with the specific purpose of grounding the Samoan language, culture, and spirituality in the fostering of the wellbeing, identity, and culture of Samoan children (Ete, 2013). [...] The diversity of teacher representation in terms of age and background within this phase of the project illuminated intersectional cultural nuances, such as differences between New Zealand-born Samoan and Samoan-born faiaoga and the distinction between the roles of “elders” and of younger Samoan teachers in the Aoga Amata context. [...] Faiaoga discussed the skin of pepe meamea as mu’amu’a (fresh/ supple), and they noted that the pedagogy of the hands is part of the first experiences of touch for the pepe meamea.