ZMT: Tuesday, July 04, 2023

7 ways Indigenous peoples changed American life and culture

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7 Contributions From Indigenous Nations That Changed America

The human history of the United States begins with Native Americans. Here's a look at just a few of the ways Indigenous peoples impacted American culture.

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Daily Fact: Samoa once had two July 4s in a row

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Original photo by Victor Maschek/ Shutterstock

In 1892, Samoa had two July 4s in a row.

The international date line, established in 1884, lies smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far removed from the coasts of any major continent. That's a convenient location for the marker officially designating where "today" ends and "tomorrow" begins. But even though the date line might look like it's in the middle of nowhere, this imaginary boundary has caused a few temporal oddities over the years.

Take, for example, Samoa. In 1892, in a move to strengthen ties to the U.S., the island nation decided to move to the eastern side of the line, essentially moving back in time. (Countries bisected by the date line can choose which side to be on.) Because this change was officially implemented on July 4, the Pacific archipelago then experienced the same day twice.

But that wasn't the end of Samoa's journey. Fast-forward to 2011, and Samoa decided to strengthen ties with its other, now-more-important trading partners, Australia and New Zealand, by moving back to the western side of the date line. This means Samoa never experienced December 30, 2011; when the clock struck midnight on December 29, Samoan calendars flipped over to December 31. Today, Samoa is still on the western side of the international date line, but when its very close neighbor American Samoa — a U.S. territory only about 135 miles away — was asked to join them, they declined, and stuck with the U.S. on the eastern side. That makes American Samoa the very last inhabited place in the U.S. to enter a new year.

Numbers Don't Lie

Year Western Samoa changed its name to simply Samoa (also on July 4)

1997

Percentage of land birds in Samoa that are endemic to the nation

Population of Samoa as of 2022 (95.6% of whom are ethnically Samoan)

222,382

Amount (in millimeters) the sea around Samoa has risen per year since 1993

In traditional Samoan culture, there are four genders.

For centuries, many Indigenous cultures have viewed gender beyond the binary of male or female, and in Samoa, there are four recognized genders. That includes the typical male and female roles, but also two other genders, named fa'afafine and fa'afatama. The former translates to "in the manner of a woman," and the latter to "in the manner of a man." Fa'afafine and fa'afatama fulfill important roles in Samoan culture by educating their fellow Samoans about sex (otherwise taboo for men and women to discuss directly), taking care of the elderly, and performing rituals such as the dance of the taupou. Today, organizations like the Samoa Fa'afafine Association continue to advocate for equal rights throughout the archipelago.

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7 ways Indigenous peoples changed American life and culture

Daily Fact: Samoa once had two July 4s in a row