A big thank you has to go out to marathon/open water swimmer Bruckner Chase, who created the ‘Bruckner Chase Toa o’le Tai’ (Oceans Heroes) program, that was implemented into the Department of Education, with Samoana high school being the pilot school for this first year program, billed as the Ocean Swimming/Ocean Science physical education class, in an attempt to increase the students health, safety and knowledge of the ocean. The Toa o’le Tai program, not only wishes to teach this to the students, but to anyone as well, in order to try and bring the Samoan people back to the water, where our ancestors spent so much of their time in fishing and traveling. They (our ancestors) were forced to learn how to swim, learn about the tides and currents. It was crucial. Their lives, the lives of the their families and the Samoan people as a whole, depended on it. It was a must that they knew how to swim, knew how to fish, where to fish and how to survive in the open water. The Samoans have gotten away from the water so much, that only very few know how to swim today.
The days of the canoes are past. Today, it’s about what is convenient. It is much more easier to buy fish at the store, than to fish for it. It is easier to splash and play in the water, than to learn how to swim. Why? Because there is nothing that we need from the water, so why learn to swim, which is the attitude of many Samoans. If we start getting back in the water and learning these skills that our ancestors deemed necessary, maybe, just maybe, we will have a better understanding of the ocean and with that better understanding, comes respect. Respect for our past (ancestors), the ocean and ourselves. spiritwriter1967@gmail.com
I can relate, I live near the ocean in Amanave village and hardly ever get into it, I do know how to hold my own in the waves though lol. But the point is I’ve definitely taken it for granted. Especially when you realize my people’s livelihood spanning back thousands of years derived from the ocean!
A lot of people don’t realize I was trained as a life guard back many moons ago (lol) when I was still a Junior at Leone High under an Oceanography program that the Univeristy of Hawaii used to host for a selection of South Pacific students. It was grueling but well worth it, I never knew then I could swim a mile in a half or so in 20 minutes. Nowadays I’d be lucky if I made it a couple kilometers. Anyhow back to the subject at hand…
The program I was referring to earlier was held at UH Manoa and it promoted and educated students on the science and aesthetics behind the Ocean and its ways.
The wealth of knowledge I gained was priceless but it made me realize at the time how much we here in American Samoa took the ocean and its bounty for granted. Back then the ocean was big business in the South Pacific education circles, even on into my undergrad days at Chaminade Univeristy where I took up a minor in Environmental Studies that added to opening my eyes on the topic.
Nowadays I hardly hear about it on island (American Samoa). After reading this article I’ve actually given myself a mental beating. I did exactly what my previous instructors asked me not to do, which was not to forget about the ocean.
I think it’s time ZNI Entertainment chips in to bring recognition back to the ocean! If you’d like to join us hit us up. You can contact spiritwriter at spiritwriter1967@gmail.com or myself with my contact info listed below.
Till then “THE OCEAN AWAITS!”
Agent E out! Contact: email:zena@znientertainment.com ph: (684) 258-2699 website: http://www.znientertainment.com