The Aualuma is the formal organization for the young, unmarried women and wives of untitled men in a village. It is structured as a less formal counterpart to the men’s Aumaga and functions primarily as a ceremonial body. Mead describes its members as “forming a group of maids of honour” (54) organized around the taupo, the village’s ceremonial princess. The duties of the Aualuma are occasional and primarily consist of assisting older women in communal work, such as weaving, and serving as village hostesses who welcome visiting parties with formal dances.

The Aumaga is the highly organized society of untitled men and youths, which functions as the village’s primary labor force and body of ceremonial servers. Described by Mead as “the strength of the village” (25), it plays a central role in communal work, including plantation labor, fishing, and service to village chiefs. This system shapes male adolescence into a period of competitive striving for status and competence, a stark contrast to the more informal and less demanding experience of girls in the Aualuma.

The brother-sister taboo is a foundational concept in Samoan social life, referring to the strict set of rules that forbids familiar interaction between male and female relatives of the same generation after early childhood. As Mead observes, “Relatives of opposite sex have a most rigid code of etiquette” (32) which prohibits them from touching, sitting near one another, eating together, or speaking informally. This rule is a key mechanism that structures adolescent socialization, patterns of friendship, and the entire landscape of formal sex relations.

A matai is the titled head of a Samoan household, acting as the central authority figure who manages the group’s land, labor, and resources. Every household, as Mead notes, “is presided over by a headman called a matai” (29). This individual holds immense practical power over the daily lives of all members, including adolescents. The matai directs communal work, allocates resources such as food, and represents the household in the Fono, or village council.