Sale'aula is a village on the central north coast of Savai'i island in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and is the traditional center of the Gaga'emauga political district. Chief council meetings are held at Vaitu’utu’u malae in the village. The village has a population of 600.

Volcanic eruptions

Volcanic eruptions of

Mt Matavanu Mount Matavanu is an active volcano on the island of Savaiʻi in Samoa. The volcano was formed during an eruption in 1905. Lava flows from the eruption covered a large area of land in the Gagaʻemauga district, leading to the relocation of severa ...

(1905 - 1911) in central Savai'i swept northwards towards the coast and destroyed villages in its path. The lava flowed over of countryside to the sea and also destroyed another village Salago. The depth of the lava flow in some parts was 400 feet. A

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and a meetinghouse of the LDS Church were also buried. Sale'aula land was covered by lava that reached other villages to the east including Mauga and Samalaeʻulu. The colonial German administration acquired land on the main island Upolu and resettled villagers at Salamumu and Leauva'a. Today, those villagers are still part of the Gaga'emauga electoral district on Savai'i. Today, a few families have re-built homes upon the lava fields where there is sparse volcanic vegetation. There are some church ruins and the grave of a nun which was encircled by the lava flow. Local families provide fale accommodation for visitors and tourists by the lava and the coast.

Origins

Samoa has different stories about the origins of different names and villages. For the origin of Sale'aula village, one version tells of two brothers, Le'aula and Letufuga. Le'aula founded the village of Saleaula (''Sa Le'aula'', family of Le'aula), and Letufuga founded Safotulafai.

References

{{Gaga'emauga Populated places in Gaga'emauga Lava fields Populated places destroyed by volcanic eruptions