Faʻatama
| Etymology | Samoan prefix faʻa-, meaning "in the manner of" + tama, meaning "boy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Gender identity | ||||
| Other terms | |||||
| Synonyms | Faʻatane, fakatane, fakatama | ||||
| Associated terms | Faʻafafine, two-spirit, trans man, whakatāne, Māhū | ||||
| Demographics | |||||
| Culture | Samoan | ||||
| |||||
Faʻatama (Samoan pronunciation: [faʔatama]; lit. 'in the manner of a man') are natal females who align with a third gender or masculine gender role in the Sāmoan Islands.[1]
Faʻatama do not enjoy the same levels of acceptance as their Faʻafafine counterparts, but there is some growing support.[1]
Terminology
The word faʻatama includes the causative prefix faʻa–, meaning "in the manner of", and the word tama, meaning "boy", "young man", or "male" depending on context.[2]
A precursor to the word faʻatama is the word faʻatane, though it has fallen out of use. It is a cognate of related words in other Polynesian languages, such as Māori: whakatāne.
The Rogers
The Rogers Club is an organisation based in Samoa, which provides support for LGBTQ+ communities.
| Formation | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Apia, Samoa |
President | 'Ice' Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather |
| Website | The Rogers Club on Facebook |
The Rogers is named in honour of 'Mama Roger' (Toʻotoʻoaliʻi Roger Stanley, former president of the Samoa Faʻafafine Association, SFA) and the group was subject of the film The Rogers of Samoa (2020).[3]
The leader of the group is 'Mr. Ice' (Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather).[4] Ice is also the faʻatama representative on the SFA Executive Council 2025.
Notable Faʻatama
- Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather 'Mr. Ice', founder and president of The Rogers[4]
- Zetta Tiatia, vice-president of The Rogers
Faʻatama in poetry and fiction
- Faatane shooting pool in Apia bars, Fa‘a Fafine Poem Number Twenty-Two by Dan Taulapapa McMullin[5]
- Matalasi, Matalasi by Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa[6]
References
- ^ a b Treagus, Mandy; Enari, Dion (15 October 2024). "Fa'atama: Indigenous Tomboys of Sāmoa". ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics. 23 (2): 197–212. doi:10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4065. ISSN 1448-2940.
- ^ "tama – Gagana Samoa". Retrieved 16 October 2025.
- ^ TheCoconetTV (7 March 2020). The Rogers of Samoa. Retrieved 16 October 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather". The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
- ^ McMullin, Dan Taulapapa; Zepeda, Ofelia (2013). Coconut Milk. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-3052-6. JSTOR j.ctt183gz5x.
- ^ Luke (27 June 2018). "Matalasi". Granta. Retrieved 16 October 2025.