The Naga of Lake Lanotoʻo and Samoan freshwater traditions

Record summary

Samoan landscapes contain traditions concerning powerful beings, ancestral presences and dangerous freshwater or coastal places, although English-language summaries sometimes incorrectly recast them as ‘dragons’ or ‘sea monsters.’ Lake and spring traditions can be investigated alongside Samoan concepts of sacred space, genealogy and vā. This lead is deliberately place-focused rather than a claim about one universally named creature: a researcher should identify a specific village tradition or published account before comparison. It may illuminate how Pacific environmental knowledge is translated into global monster categories.