Case file · Folklore / legend
Fafā, the gateway of souls at Falealupo
In Samoan belief the souls of the dead travel to Cape Mulinuʻu at Falealupo, on the western tip of Savaiʻi, and enter the underworld through the Fafā; missionary George Turner recorded the belief in 1884.
1884 CE · -13.51, -172.79 · status: legend
The account
Two holes in the reef, one for chiefs and one for commoners, were said to lead to Pulotu. The village still guards the area as a sacred site.
The sceptical view
A sacred tradition; Turner's account reflects missionary framing.
Connections in the atlas
- Nafanua's prophecy of a new kingdom
- Mariner's account of Pulotu
- Te Rerenga Wairua, leaping place of spirits
- Kaʻena Point, a leina of souls