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National Park of American SamoaAwa ceremony at a Samoan village.
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National Park of American Samoa
The Home Stay Program
 
Family and visitors in Vatia Village residence offering Home Stay opportunity.
An NPS Photo
Vatia family of a residence offering Home Stay opportunity
 

The Home Stay program provides an opportunity for visitors to become acquainted with Samoan people and culture in a village setting. Residents of villages associated with the National Park offer accommodations and the opportunity to learn local customs, crafts and the south Pacific lifestyle. Imagine staying in a village with the sights and sounds of the rainforest around you. Sleep in a Samoan house (fale), live with a Samoan family and start the day participating with village activities. Some may be familiar. Others, like cutting the Pandanus (laufala) tree leaves and drying them to weave mats, may not.

 
 Samoan woman showing visitor how to weave the laufala mat.
Home Stay Activities
Samoan woman demonstrating weaving.
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Samoan homestay bedroom.
The Hosts
Samoan bedroom in a homestay setting.
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A homestay house at Fiti'uta village.
The Details.
There are several homes to rent from the Homestay Program.
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 Samoan chief at meeting in the village fale.
Samoan customs.
Many Samoan activities require Samoan etiquette.
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Pacific golden plover in breeding plumage—soon to be flying 5,500 miles to the Alaskan Arctic  

Did You Know?
During northern summers, three shorebirds--plover, turnstone, and tattler--nest in Alaska and northern Canada. After nesting, they fly non-stop over 3,000 miles of open ocean to Hawaii. After briefly resting there, they fly more thousands of miles to Samoa. The round-trip is 11,000 miles.

Last Updated: November 19, 2009 at 19:02 EST