Fa'atama
| Etymology | Samoan prefix faʻa-, meaning "in the manner of" + tama, meaning "boy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Gender identity | ||||
| Other terms | |||||
| Synonyms | Fa'atane, fakatane, fakatama | ||||
| Associated terms | Fa'afafine, 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]
Fa'atama do not enjoy the same levels of acceptance as their fa'afafine counterparts, but there is some growing support.[1]
Terminology
[edit]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][better source needed]
A precursor to the word fa'atama is the word fa'atane, though it has fallen out of use. It is a cognate of related words in other Polynesian languages, such as Māori: whakatāne.[citation needed]
The Rogers
[edit]The Rogers Club is an organization 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 honor of 'Mama Roger' (To'oto'oali'i Roger Stanley, former President of the SFA) and the group was subject of the film The Rogers of Samoa (2020).[3][better source needed]
The leader of the group is 'Mr. Ice' (Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather).[4][better source needed] Ice is also the fa'atama representative on the SFA Executive Council 2025.[citation needed]
Notable Fa'atama
[edit]- Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather 'Mr. Ice', founder and president of The Rogers[4][better source needed]
- Zetta Tiatia, vice-president of The Rogers[citation needed]
Fa'atama in poetry and fiction
[edit]- 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
[edit]- ^ a b Treagus, Mandy; Enari, Dion (2024-10-15). "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 2025-10-16.
- ^ TheCoconetTV (2020-03-07). The Rogers of Samoa. Retrieved 2025-10-16 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Vanila Galumulivai Ualegalu Heather". The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. Retrieved 2025-10-16.
- ^ McMullin, Dan Taulapapa; Zepeda, Ofelia (2013). Coconut Milk. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-3052-6. JSTOR j.ctt183gz5x.
- ^ Luke (2018-06-27). "Matalasi". Granta. Retrieved 2025-10-16.
 | This Samoa-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to LGBTQ studies is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to gender studies is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |