#samoa

Elusive, Critically Endangered Bird—and One of the Closest Living Relatives of Dodos—Was Spotted for the First Time in Five Years

Conservationists are racing to save the manumea, a chicken-sized bird that lives only on two Samoan islands, from extinction.

January, 2026

During a recent field survey, experts with the Samoa Conservation Society recorded numerous sightings of the manumea, also known as the tooth-billed pigeon. They’re hopeful they can still save the elusive bird from extinction. “Although we couldn’t capture a photo this time—the bird’s quick movements in and out of the canopy, sudden and long viewing distance made it nearly impossible—the sightings are strong confirmation that the Manumea is still here,” the group wrote on Facebook on November 7. The last confirmed sighting was in August 2020, according to Save the Manumea, a joint campaign from the Samoa Conservation Society and Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The most recent known evidence of breeding was in December 2013, when a juvenile was spotted and photographed in a tree...

4 Jun 2025

The Samoan government announced June 3 that it has enacted a law establishing a marine spatial plan to sustainably manage 100% of its ocean by 2030.

The country has also created nine new marine protected areas that cover 30% of its ocean.

Why do I feel like everyone’s Samoan mom whenever I see the Wicked press tours.

Dwayne Johnson points this out in a lot of his films. His mother was a big influence.

Okay, here it is! In "Asian and Pacific Islander" the second group often gets overshadowed, so here it is... a Pacific-only book list. This is of course by no means comprehensive. I tried to cover as many areas as I could find literature for. I've marked queer and disability rep based on book blurbs, but I have not read most of these (yet!). Feel free to comment if you know more!

Novels

Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt classic novel, Samoa The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt mythology epic, Samoa Scarlet Lies (series) by Lani Young romance, humor, Samoa (🏳️‍🌈 side character) Mata Oti: Eyes of Death by Lani Young zombie thriller, Samoa Telesā (series) by Lani Young YA paranormal romance, Samoa Scar of the Bamboo Leaf by Sieni A.M. YA contemporary, Samoa ♿ Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel literary novel, Samoa They Who Do Not Grieve by Sia Figiel literary novel, Samoa Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier Pacific fantasy, Guam author Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario YA contemporary, Filipina-CHamoru-American A Mansion on the Moon: A Guam Love Story by C Sablan Gault historical romance, generational, CHamoru (Guam) Lei and the Fire Goddess (series) by Malia Maunakea MG mythology adventure, Kānaka Maoli (Hawai'i)

House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport generational novel, Hawai'i Song of the Exile by Kiana Davenport historical novel, Hawai'i The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera classic children's novel, Māori All That We Know by Shilo Kino contemporary, Māori ♿ The Pōrangi Boy by Shilo Kino YA contemporary, Māori How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid contemporary semi-autobiographical, multiple Pacific characters 🏳️‍🌈 The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach fantasy mystery, Māori 🏳️‍🌈 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (series) by Monty Soutar pre-colonial epic, Māori Auē by Becky Manawatu contemporary novel, Māori Dawn Raid by Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith MG historical 1970s, Samoan-Aotearoa Falling into Rarohenga by Steph Matuku YA fantasy, Māori The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke by Tina Makereti novel, historical, Māori 🏳️‍🌈

The Bone Tree by Airana Ngarewa novel, Māori Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn novel, Tongan-Australian The Shark That Ate the Sun by John Puhiatau Pule literary novel, Niue [read here] Breadfruit (series) by Célestine Hitiura Vaite novel, humor, Tahiti Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz historical novel, Tahiti Kalyana by Rajni Mala Khelawan novel, Fiji, Indian diaspora Maiba: A Novel of Papua New Guinea by Russell Soaba classic novel

Short Stories

This Is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila short stories, Hawai'i Tales of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau'ofa short stories, Tonga The Unpainted Mask by Steven Edmund Winduo short stories, Papua New Guinea

Poetry

‘Āina Hānau / Birth Land by Brandy Nālani McDougall poetry, Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Hawai'i) Ocean Mother by Arielle Taitano Lowe poetry, CHamoru (Guam) from unincorporated territory (series) by Craig Santos Perez poetry, CHamoru (Guam) Coconut Milk by Dan Taulapapa McMullin poetry, Samoa 🏳️‍🌈 Rangikura by Tayi Tibble poetry, Māori Goddess Muscle by Karlo Mila poetry, Tongan-Aotearoa Civilized Girl by Jully Makini poetry, Solomon Islands [read title poem here]

Nonfiction

Polynesian Panthers: Pacific Protest and Affirmative Action in Aotearoa New Zealand 1971 - 1981 edited by Dr Melani Anae, Leilani Tamu, Lautofa Luli Hine Toa by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku memoir, Māori activist 🏳️‍🌈 Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii by Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask Desert Warrior by M.B. Dallocchio memoir, CHamoru (Mariana Islands)🏳️‍🌈 No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies by Julian Aguon memoir, climate essays, CHamoru Don't Ever Whisper by Giff Johnson biography of Darlene Keju, Marshall Islands anti-nuclear activist [author not Pasifika] Samoan Queer Lives by Dan Taulapapa McMullin 🏳️‍🌈 Pasifika Heroes series by David Riley and Michel Mulipola illustrated legends/biographies, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands

Anthologies

Indigenous Pacific Islander Eco-Literatures anthology, climate focus (🏳️‍🌈several contributors) Vā: Stories by women of the Moana anthology, Pacific women Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia, anthology Sista, Stanap Strong! anthology, Vanuatu Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia anthology, Kiribati, Palau, CHamoru, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, more An Ocean of Wonder: The Fantastic in the Pacific spec-fic anthology Hiwa: Contemporary Māori Short Stories edited by Paula Morris

Footnotes below: