Taema
Samoan · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Taema, the conjoined twin (with Tilafaiga) who brought the tatau from Fiji to Samoa, landing at Falealupo on Savaiʻi; reckoned also a war-goddess. The two sisters, born joined back-to-back, were severed by a canoe-spar as they swam. Documented by Krämer and Turner (secondary).
Domains
- tattooing tatau
- war and protective power
Powers
- Bring the art and instruments of the tatau from Fiji to Samoa with her twin
Relations
- twin sibling: TilafaigaConjoined twin of Tilafaiga, born joined back-to-back and severed in the sea.A. Krämer, Die Samoa-Inseln (1902/03): Taema and Tilafaiga, the conjoined twins of the tatau (secondary)
Sources
- existence: A. Krämer, Die Samoa-Inseln (1902/03; Eng. The Samoa Islands), the tatau-origin twins (secondary); G. Turner, Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago and Long Before (1884) (secondary)
- co-bringer-of-the-tatau-from-fiji: A. Krämer, Die Samoa-Inseln (1902/03): Taema, twin of Tilafaiga, who brought the tatau (secondary)