White Sunday

White Sunday, (in the Samoan language Lotu Tamaiti, literally "Children's Service"), is a national holiday in Samoa falling on the second Sunday of October, with the Monday following a public holiday. It is also celebrated in American Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga.[1]

For other uses, see White Sunday (disambiguation).
White Sunday
Observed bySamoa and Tonga and Niue
DateSecond Sunday in October
2020 dateOctober 11  (2020-10-11)
2021 dateOctober 10  (2021-10-10)
2022 dateOctober 9  (2022-10-09)
2023 dateOctober 8  (2023-10-08)
Frequencyannual

The day is for parents and communities to acknowledge and celebrate childhood by hosting special programs during church services which include scriptural recitations, biblical story reenactments, and creative dance performances. Children receive gifts (often new clothing and/or school supplies) on White Sunday and are allowed privileges normally reserved for elders, such as being the first to be served food at family meal time.

Observance

On White Sunday, Samoan women and children dress completely in white clothing. Some of them trim the clothes with the other two colors of the Samoan flag, red and blue. Men will wear white shirts with either white slacks or the traditional 'i.e. faitaga form of the lavalava. If a lavalava is worn it need not be white.

Background

Some believe White Sunday to be a Christian adaptation of an indigenous pre-contact celebration of certain planting and harvesting seasons. Others assert that the holiday coincides with a family celebration that became widespread in the 1920s in commemoration of Samoans who succumbed to the influenza epidemic of 1919; this epidemic, introduced through the ambivalence of the New Zealand colonial administration, took the lives of 1/5 to 1/4 of the Samoan population, many of them children. White Sunday is a time to also get with brothers, sisters and even cousins to recite something together. It is a tradition in all the Protestant churches.

White Sunday (or Children's Sunday) was originally practiced by The Congregational Christian Church in Samoa (CCCS) in 1898 (while called London Missionary Society-LMS). During its annual Conference in May 1898 it was resolved to set up a special Sunday for children, and so the first such White Sunday was held on the last Sunday of June the same year 1898, which was celebrated in all the LMS churches in Samoa. During the International Sunday School Conference held in Rome in February 1909, it was resolved to make the 3rd Sunday of October to be the International Children's Sunday, and so the Samoan White Sunday was likewise changed from June to the 3rd Sunday of October. Later on, this day was changed to the 2nd Sunday of October,(as Mothers' Day on 2nd Sunday May and Fathers' Day on 2nd Sunday August). The centenary 100 years of White Sunday was celebrated in 1998 not only by CCCS churches in Samoa but also in CCCS churches in USA, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa.

Today White Sunday is observed and celebrated by all Christian Churches in Samoa. For CCCS churches, most children are baptized on White Sunday. A special service is held on Saturday evening to prepare everyone - minister, children, parents and families for the White Sunday.[2]

Cultural references

New Zealand hip-hop artist Mareko has released an album named after it.

References
  1. "White Sunday – American Samoa & Samoa – Public Holiday". South Pacific Tourism Assoc. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. Fauolo, Oka. Vavega o le Alofa Lavea'i (History of CCCS). p. 755. ISBN 982 9065 04 9.


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