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Description

Watercolour, ink, and acrylics

A while ago I was requested by a very good friend of mine to draw more stuff to do with Samoa because she was doing some anthropology studies on Samoan society and really enjoyed my artworks of stories from the region. So here you go, my illustration of the story of Sina and the Eel.

This story is well known throughout Polynesia and serves as an origin story for the first coconut tree. Because the story is so widespread there are also many different versions of the story depending on the specific island or region.

One version describes how, on the island of Savai’i in Samoa, the most beautiful girl was born. Her name was Sina and as she grew, her beauty became known all across the Pacific. Tales of her beauty finally reached the Tui Fiji (King of Fiji) who became very intrigued and wanted to know for himself if there was any truth to this rumour. Using his Mana (not an easily translatable word, but something along “personal magic or life force power”) [1] he transformed himself into an eel and swam across the sea to find the village where Sina lived. When he found her, he saw that she was just as beautiful as people had been saying. However, when Sina saw the king in his eel-form, she was disturbed and cried: “You stare at me with eyes like a demon!” (in Samoan: E pupula mai, ou mata o le alelo!) But quickly Sina noticed that the eel was very nice and interesting, and she decided to keep it as a pet. [2]
Years passed and the Tui Fiji became old and weak from living as an eel. But he had grown fond of Sina and would not leave her. Before he died, He told Sina who he was and that, when he died, she had to cut off his head and bury it in the ground beside her house. Sina did this and out of the ground grew a coconut tree. When the husk is removed from a coconut, there are three round marks which appear like the face of the fish with two eyes and a mouth. One of the marks is pierced for drinking the coconut, and hence when Sina takes a drink, she is kissing the eel. [3]

In another version of the story, it was Sina’s mother who brought her the eel when Sina is a little girl. They grew up together, but when Sina became a woman she became very busy with work and caring for her family and her village, so she did not have much time left for the eel. This made the eel very sad and he then begged Sina to marry him so they could be together. Sina refused and though the eel was devastated, he understood and instead requested that Sina let her father chop off his head and bury it in the ground next to her home. Sina could not make herself do it, but the eel insisted and finally, Sina agreed to let her father cut off the eel’s head. This story ends the same was with the coconut tree growing from where the eel’s head was planted. [4]

Myths and legends such as "Sina and the Eel" have shaped Samoan and Polynesian identity. [5] The coconut tree has many uses and is an important source of food for Samoans and other Polynesian people. It is also used to make oil, baskets, rope, traditional fale (houses) and export of coconut meat serves as a great source of income throughout the pacific. The word Sina also means silver-haired (grey-haired in age) in Samoan and there is an old Samoan song called Soufuna Sina based on the story. [6] In another song called: Tagi Sina by the Tokelauan band Te Vaka, the name Sina is also mentioned. The song refers to when the people of Tokelau were taken by South American slave traders between 1850 and 1872. By 1872 the population of Tokelau was down to eighty people, mainly old men and women and little children. The song expresses the sadness and desperation felt by those left behind and the song is sung from the perspective of a woman called Sina. Tagi Sina. Ko kalalaga tuku mai te vaka e (Sina is crying “please bring back the boat”)[7]

BONUS INFO: The story is also referenced in the Walt Disney Pictures film Moana where the character Maui mentions having caught an eel and buried its guts to grow coconut trees. [8] Although never directly mentioned in the film, Moana’s mother is also called Sina and at the beginning of the film, she is shown teaching Moana the various uses of the coconut tree.

MORE BONUS INFO: please listen to this song. I promise it’ll be worth it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0AOGe…

[1] anthropology.iresearchnet.com/…

[2] www.wgtn.ac.nz/llc/llc_resourc…

[3] Craig, Robert D. 2004. Handbook of Polynesian Mythology. P. 88.

[4] www.sheilalamb.com/sina-story.…

[5] www.livingheritage.org.nz/scho…

[6] archive.org/details/asamoandic…

[7] tevaka.com/track/2048749/tagi-…

[8] www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dwayne…

Description

Watercolour, ink, and acrylics

A while ago I was requested by a very good friend of mine to draw more stuff to do with Samoa because she was doing some anthropology studies on Samoan society and really enjoyed my artworks of stories from the region. So here you go, my illustration of the story of Sina and the Eel.

This story is well known throughout Polynesia and serves as an origin story for the first coconut tree. Because the story is so widespread there are also many different versions of the story depending on the specific island or region.

One version describes how, on the island of Savai’i in Samoa, the most beautiful girl was born. Her name was Sina and as she grew, her beauty became known all across the Pacific. Tales of her beauty finally reached the Tui Fiji (King of Fiji) who became very intrigued and wanted to know for himself if there was any truth to this rumour. Using his Mana (not an easily translatable word, but something along “personal magic or life force power”) [1] he transformed himself into an eel and swam across the sea to find the village where Sina lived. When he found her, he saw that she was just as beautiful as people had been saying. However, when Sina saw the king in his eel-form, she was disturbed and cried: “You stare at me with eyes like a demon!” (in Samoan: E pupula mai, ou mata o le alelo!) But quickly Sina noticed that the eel was very nice and interesting, and she decided to keep it as a pet. [2]
Years passed and the Tui Fiji became old and weak from living as an eel. But he had grown fond of Sina and would not leave her. Before he died, He told Sina who he was and that, when he died, she had to cut off his head and bury it in the ground beside her house. Sina did this and out of the ground grew a coconut tree. When the husk is removed from a coconut, there are three round marks which appear like the face of the fish with two eyes and a mouth. One of the marks is pierced for drinking the coconut, and hence when Sina takes a drink, she is kissing the eel. [3]

In another version of the story, it was Sina’s mother who brought her the eel when Sina is a little girl. They grew up together, but when Sina became a woman she became very busy with work and caring for her family and her village, so she did not have much time left for the eel. This made the eel very sad and he then begged Sina to marry him so they could be together. Sina refused and though the eel was devastated, he understood and instead requested that Sina let her father chop off his head and bury it in the ground next to her home. Sina could not make herself do it, but the eel insisted and finally, Sina agreed to let her father cut off the eel’s head. This story ends the same was with the coconut tree growing from where the eel’s head was planted. [4]

Myths and legends such as "Sina and the Eel" have shaped Samoan and Polynesian identity. [5] The coconut tree has many uses and is an important source of food for Samoans and other Polynesian people. It is also used to make oil, baskets, rope, traditional fale (houses) and export of coconut meat serves as a great source of income throughout the pacific. The word Sina also means silver-haired (grey-haired in age) in Samoan and there is an old Samoan song called Soufuna Sina based on the story. [6] In another song called: Tagi Sina by the Tokelauan band Te Vaka, the name Sina is also mentioned. The song refers to when the people of Tokelau were taken by South American slave traders between 1850 and 1872. By 1872 the population of Tokelau was down to eighty people, mainly old men and women and little children. The song expresses the sadness and desperation felt by those left behind and the song is sung from the perspective of a woman called Sina. Tagi Sina. Ko kalalaga tuku mai te vaka e (Sina is crying “please bring back the boat”)[7]

BONUS INFO: The story is also referenced in the Walt Disney Pictures film Moana where the character Maui mentions having caught an eel and buried its guts to grow coconut trees. [8] Although never directly mentioned in the film, Moana’s mother is also called Sina and at the beginning of the film, she is shown teaching Moana the various uses of the coconut tree.

MORE BONUS INFO: please listen to this song. I promise it’ll be worth it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0AOGe…

[1] anthropology.iresearchnet.com/…

[2] www.wgtn.ac.nz/llc/llc_resourc…

[3] Craig, Robert D. 2004. Handbook of Polynesian Mythology. P. 88.

[4] www.sheilalamb.com/sina-story.…

[5] www.livingheritage.org.nz/scho…

[6] archive.org/details/asamoandic…

[7] tevaka.com/track/2048749/tagi-…

[8] www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dwayne…