|
|
Executive Offices of the Governor American Samoa Government |
|
Cultural Organizations
|
|
The American Samoa Community College (ASCC)
American Samoa Community College (ASCC), the only institution of higher learning in American Samoa, was founded in 1970 to provide post-secondary educational opportunities in liberal arts, teacher training, Samoan and Pacific Studies, and general and vocational-technical education. ASCC is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and College, and offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees, as well as Certificate programs in a variety of academic and technical fields. Many ASCC graduates transfer to off-island universities in the United States to receive higher degrees, while others find immediate employment in the territory. ASCC's mission is to enable successful student learning by providing high quality programs that meet the educational needs of its students and of American Samoa. ASCC has an estimated 75 faculty and an average of 1,200 students. Tuition for full time enrollment for American Samoan and US citizens is $500/semester (as of Feb. 2003).
ASCC Samoan and Pacific Studies Program (SAMPAC) The Samoan and Pacific Studies Program is an inter-disciplinary program under the Division of Instruction at American Samoa Community College. The study of Samoa and the Pacific is one of the five specified program areas in the ASCC's mission, and it is to this program area that SAMPAC holds primary responsibility. SAMPAC's work is divided into three main components: 1) Academic curriculum, 2) Extra-curricular training workshops and activities, and 3) Research and Documentation. SAMPAC has thirteen regular accredited courses in the Arts, Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences. It also organizes and conducts annual archaeological and ethnographic field schools in partnership with both on-island and off-island agencies and institutions. Non-academic workshops increase the skills of students and the community at large in various aspects of Samoan culture, traditions, and arts. SAMPAC offers consultation to students, researchers, and faculty as well as other educators, seeking information and advice about Samoan and Pacific topics. SAMPAC research is well documented and housed in its growing video archive and production center, and is a source of original footage and programs for the classroom, for research, and for public broadcast.
Feleti Barstow Public Library The Feleti Barstow Public Library is a center for lifelong learning dedicated to meeting the informational, technological, and cultural literacy needs of all age groups by providing both current and historical reading and instructional materials in a variety of formats. As the central public library for American Samoa we serve as a model for other libraries and information centers to increase access to reading materials and to promote literacy. Our services include the following: A children's room which holds the juvenile book collections as well as story hours, crafts, reading skills programs. A computer room for library card holders. The computer room provides access to the Internet and other programs including word processing. The Pacific Collection Room which contains materials on Pacific Islands and Nations, rare books, and Samoan history. The library also offers a large selection of fiction reading materials for adults, young adults, and in large type format for the vision impaired.
The American Samoa Historical Commission
The American Samoa
Historical Commission is created by law for the purpose
of advising the Governor on matters of cultural and
historical preservation, and its members are appointed by
the Governor. The six-member Commission acts as the
community oversight board for the American Samoa Historic
Preservation Office and meets quarterly to review the
activities of the Office and report to the Governor on
matters requiring his office's attention. The Commission
also acts as the Historical Records Advisory Board,
overseeing the activities of the American Samoa Archives.
In recent years the Commission has been especially active
in its oversight duties and has initiated public meetings
in the outlying villages of the Territory.
The Jean P. Haydon Museum
The Jean P. Haydon
Museum was established by Governor Haydon in 1970 and was
the original home of the Historic Preservation Office.
The Museum has displays of various aspects of Samoas
history, culture, and natural history and is the official
repository for collections of artifacts for the
territory. The Museum is housed in a National Register of
Historic Places building, part of the U.S. Naval Station
Tutuila Historic District in the village of Fagatogo on
the island of Tutuila. The Museum is funded in whole by
the American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture and the
Humanities and is the venue for many of the cultural
resource activities in the Territory.
The American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture and the Humanities (ASCACH) The American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture and the Humanities (the Arts Council) is primarily funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Its dual mission is the maintenance of Samoan arts and culture and the presentation of art forms from the broader world beyond the archipelago. The Arts Council supports through subgrants and funded activities the practice and preservation of both Samoan material culture and performance traditions. The Arts Council and the Historic Preservation Office have worked closely together on such projects as tours of historical buildings and the presentation of historic photographs. The Arts Council also serves special communities, such as the outlying islands through an Underserved Areas grant, and the schools through its Arts in Education Program. The Historic Preservation Office has assisted the Arts Council in these programs when they deal with traditional and historic matters.
The American Samoa Humanities Council
The recently
established American Samoa Humanities Council is wholly
funded through a grant from the National Endowment for
the Humanities. The Historic Preservation Office works
with the Humanities Council on oral history and oral
tradition projects, and other joint projects are planned.
Aiga Tautai o Samoa (Samoan Voyaging Society)
Aiga Tautai o Samoa was incorporated as a non-profit organization
for the advancement of traditional Samoan sailing vessels,
techniques, and navigation. Its initial project was the
successful construction and sailing of a traditional
Samoan ocean-voyaging vessel (alia). The Historic
Preservation Office has been closely associated with the
Society since its inception, seeing as the Society's aim
of encoraging the community's consciousness of its
traditional past is closely aligned to the Historic
Preservation Office's goal of raising public awareness
about Samoa's prehistory.
The American Samoa Office of Archives and Records Management
Historical Research Services:
American Samoa Office of Records and Vital Statistics
The function of the
Office of Records and Vital Statistics is to assure that
all vital records on births, marriages, and deaths in the
territory of American Samoa are well kept to ensure that
the needs of the government, individuals, or other
appropriate agencies for such information are adequately met.
The Office of Records
and Vital Statistics is responsible for issuing birth,
death, and marriage certificates. It is also responsible
for receiving, recording, maintaining and amending
certificates of all births, marriages and deaths occuring
in American Samoa. Furthermore, it provides documents for
immigration purposes, prepares monthly statistical
reports, issues identification cards, health cards, and
handles Traveling Documents/Affidavits. Attends to
requests from various governmental agencies such as
Housing, Military, Passport and Social Security agencies.
Works very closely with the Office of the Attorney
General with regards to investigfations of fraud in terms
of invalid birth certificates.
National Archives:
San Bruno
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) assists agencies of the United States government in managing and maintaining their records. The San Bruno branch contains records from more than 80 federal agencies concerning, among other regions, American Samoa and the Pacific Trust territories. Materials are in a variety of formats such as photographs, maps and drawings as well as textual documentation, and are available for research. American Samoan records at the Pacific Sierra branch include those of the American Samoan High Court, the Governor's Office and the Attorney General's Office. They cover such subjects as civil and criminal cases, census returns, Fono proceedings, naturalization and immigration, laws, annual reports, prison records and Copra Fund books. The dates of the records vary, but in general lie between 1899-1966.
The American Samoa Department of Commerce Formerly known as the Economic Development Planning Office (EDPO), the Department of Commerce (DOC) has interests in historic preservation under a number of its mandates. From an economic perspective the department has interests in the extent that historic preservation can play an economic role such as in tourism. In its planning role the office routinely includes consideration of historic properties in plans it develops for the Territory. In addition, the Coastal Managment Program, a branch of DOC, has interests in historic preservation as provided by its local legislation, the American Samoa Coastal Management Act of 1990. This act established a local review board known as the Project Notification Review System (PNRS) which reviews all land-use projects for adverse impacts on the environment. Included in their review is a consideration of whether or not projects under review cause the "disruption of historic, cultural, or archaeological properties or sites." It is an objective of the program to protect the archaeological, cultural, and historic resources of the Territory. The American Samoa Historic Preservation Office is a member of the PNRS review board and provides advice concerning historic properties. In addition, a 1992 amendment to the National Hitoric Preservation Act of 1996 entails that projects permitted by the PNRS be reviewed under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. |
|
[Top] [Program] [History] [Walking Tour] [Maps of Samoa] [Photo Galleries] [Videos] [Links] [Home] [Publications] [Cultural Organizations] [Bibliography] [Download Library] |