Turtle and Shark!

What is the Turtle and Shark?

This cove of steep cliffs is the starring location in the Samoan legend of Turtle and Shark!

What Makes It Historical?

Folklore comes with plenty of variations, being told by different folks in different places over many generations, and there are many written versions of the Legend of Turtle and Shark! Author Frank Coffee’s 1925 version tells about a Samoan prince and princess leaping into the sea to save their village, while another by Brother Herman in 1955 tells of a husband and wife who escape a cannibal king by jumping into the sea! But most are about an old, blind woman named Fonuea who can’t feed her family (daughter or granddaughter) during a famine. The villagers either refuse to feed her or try to trick her into eating something gross like rat meat or a poison root, so she takes the youngster to the ocean, and they both leap into the water!

Most versions of the stories agree that they transformed into a Shark and a Turtle and swam away from their village (either ‘Ili’ili on Tutuila or farther away in western Samoa). When they arrived here at Vaitogi, they were treated kindly and made this cove their home. So even today, when the right song is sung, it’s widely claimed that a shark and a turtle will appear off this wave-battered coast! Today, this story is quintessential in American Samoan cultural identity and literature!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!