Taema
Taema is one of two sisters in Samoan mythology who brought the art of tattooing to Samoa from Fiji. She is portrayed as a cultural transmitter and is considered a divine figure among the atua. Taema’s role emphasizes the importance of tattooing in Samoan society.
↻ synthesized from 5 sources
When
Relationships
- manifests as
- kingfisher bird, bundle of sharks' teeth
- sibling of
- Tilafaiga
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“Another well-known legend tells of two sisters, Tilafaiga, the mother of Nafanua, and Taema, bringing the art of tattooing to Samoa from Fiji.”
#950 · extracted by claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
“Taema is the name of a female figure referred to in different legends in Samoan mythology. One well known legend relates that Taema and her sister Tilafaiga are the Matriarchs of Samoan tatau. The sisters brought the art of tattooing to Samoa from Fiji.”
#31443 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“In one tradition, Nafanua's mother was Tilafaiga the sister of Taema, the legendary conjoined twins, whom brought the malu tattoo to Samoa.”
#31451 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Tilafaiga's twin sister's name is Taema. Tilafaiga and Taema can also be referred to as the Matriarchs of the Samoan tatau.”
#31490 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat
“Nafanua's mother is Tilafaiga, the sister of Taema another figure of Samoan mythology. One day Saveasiʻuleo met his twin nieces Tilafaiga and Taema swimming back to Samoa from Fiti where they had learned the art of tattooing. The story of the sisters bringing a basket of tattoo tools for the peʻa to Samoa is another well known legend.”
#32237 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001