There are more than 500,000 Samoan speakers in the world; it is the most popular Polynesian language. Most native speakers reside on the Samoan Islands, but Australia and New Zealand also have large populations. Samoan was solely a spoken language until being transcribed into the Latin script during the mid 1800’s.
- - - - -
Calophyllum inophyllum - The fetau tree is an evergreen found growing along the coastal areas extending from Madagascar to the Pacific islands and from Japan to Australia. Being a hardwood, the trunk of the tree was harvested by Polynesian boatbuilders in fashioning the keel of their canoes. The leaves, bark, latex, and fruit contain various toxins: saponin, hydrocyanic acid, and jacareubin. The tree sap had been used as a lethal coating for poison arrows. The fruit, if prepared correctly, is edible; it is usually pickled.
