Togialelei Safua Akeli Amaama (born ~1982) is a

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

academic. She works as the Head of the Department of Ethnology and Curator Oceania at the Übersee-Museum in Bremen. Formerly she was Head of New Zealand and Pacific Histories and Cultures at

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

, the National Museum of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and is the first Pacific person to hold the role. She is also Adjunct Research Fellow in the Museum and Heritage Studies programme at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in New Zealand and an Associate Researcher for the Centre for Pacific Studies at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Career

Amaama left Samoa at the age of five and was raised in New Zealand and Australia. She has family links in Samoa in Tiavea,

Vaiala Vaiala is a village in the eastern side of Apia township on Upolu island in Samoa. It is situated on the central north coast of the island, to the east of the capital Apia. The village is in the political district of Tuamasaga Tuamāsaga is a dis ...

Samalaeʻulu Samalaeulu is a village on the northeast side of Savaii island in Samoa. The village is situated on the main island highway about a 40-minutes drive north west from Salelologa ferry terminal and township and is part of the electoral constituency ...

, and

Falese'ela Falease'elā is a village on the Southwest coast of Upolu island in Samoa. United Nations Development Programme. the village is part of Lefaga ma Faleaseela Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which forms part of the larger A'ana political ...

. Amaama obtained a BA degree from the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, an MA in history from the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, and a PhD in philosophy and history from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Her research interests are in cultural heritage, health, migration, gender and governance. From 2008 to 2013 Amaama worked for Te Papa as curator of Pacific Cultures. She moved to the

National University of Samoa The National University of Samoa () is the only national university in Samoa. Established in 1984 by an act of parliament, it is coeducational and provides certificate, diploma, and undergraduate degree programs, as well as technical and vocationa ...

in 2015 to join the Centre for Samoan Studies. In 2018 she was appointed Director of the Centre, where she oversaw teaching programmes, research projects and community engagement activities. One of her innovations was the use of film for participatory research. In June 2020 she was appointed Head of History and Pacific Cultures at Te Papa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaama, Safua Akeli Living people Samoan curators University of Otago alumni University of Canterbury alumni University of Queensland alumni Academic staff of the National University of Samoa Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Academics of the University of St Andrews 1982 births