Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
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Unit 14
Reading Sia Figiel
In this unit (to accompany SAPIENS podcast S6E7), students will learn about the significance of Sia Figiel and consider how her writings empower marginalized voices and seek to help girls reclaim their lives. Students will compare the significant themes in Figiel’s works, including gender, power, and culture.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how Sia Figiel’s work challenges existing narratives and empowers marginalized voices.
- Compare the significant themes in Figiel’s writings, including gender, power, culture, identity, sexuality, colonialism, and coming-of-age experiences.
Sapiens articles
Preserving the Voices of the Antioch Colony
Archaeologists are working with descendants to preserve the history of a community in Texas formed by Black freedmen and women after the Civil War.
What Is Freedom in a Brazilian Favela?
In a new book, Minoritarian Liberalism, an anthropologist explores how favela residents of Rio de Janeiro create their own versions of liberty—even under conditions of violence, poverty, and marginalization.
Keywords
View All in Memory
![A close-up image features two stained-orange hands holding a cluster of objects that look like small, orange strands.]()
![A person stands inside a moving flame of yellow light while sparks fly out in all directions. A second person stands on the left side holding an umbrella against the sparks.]()
![A narrow, paved trail cuts through a grassy field and ends at a small white building in the distance that has a cross on its roof.]()
![A weathered hand grabs a tree branch laden with fresh green olives.]()
![Shot from above, a close-up photograph features a cluster of flowers with white petals and yellow centers with green blades of grass growing out of a rough, rocky plot of brown soil.]()
![In a brick-covered public square surrounded by buildings, a metal statue features two people with flattened fronts and their hands extended sideways facing each other. They stand on opposite sides of a gap in the rounded brick hill they are built on.]()
The Land of Dreams
In a dystopian short story, an anthropologist imagines an alternate world in which Kashmiris are forbidden to dream.
A Call for Anthropological Poems of Resistance, Refusal, and Wayfinding
SAPIENS is seeking poetry submissions for a curated collection that will publish next year. Deadline: September 1, 2024.
Buried in the Shadows, Ireland’s Unconsecrated Dead
A visual anthropologist reflects on the history of cillíní, unmarked and mostly hidden burial sites in Ireland where loved ones continue to care for the dead.
A Palestinian Family’s History—Told Through Olive Trees
A new book chronicles a Palestinian family’s life and connections to their land over decades under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
Expert Witness Reviews Exhibits for Asylum Proceedings, Franco-González Class Member
A poet-anthropologist who has been an expert witness in asylum proceedings for Mexican nationals resists dehumanizing legal and political language to make space for the humanity of asylum-seekers.
Dismantling the Walls in Our Heads
The Berlin Wall fell more than three decades ago—but political, social, and economic divides between East and West Germany continue to reverberate, even among those born after Reunification.
View All in Emotions
![A photo shows the back of a person in a dark suitcoat standing at a podium and speaking to a large, captive, seated audience. Most onlookers wear red MAGA hats and Trump T-shirts.]()
![A man in a t-shirt, jacket, and jeans sits comfortably with a leg folded, on a stage. A microphone extends in front of him.]()
![Amid a rocky landscape, a grove of gnarled olive trees stands under a nearly cloudless blue sky.]()
![A stylized painting of a person’s head—with wide eyes, red lips, and a headscarf—is covered in various numbers and symbols, and set against a black background.]()
![A person stands inside a moving flame of yellow light while sparks fly out in all directions. A second person stands on the left side holding an umbrella against the sparks.]()
![A silhouetted woman sits in a chair in the center of a dark room looking directly at the camera. Close-up images of another woman are projected onto screens on the three walls surrounding her.]()
Five Reasons Why Trump Won Again
In an effort to address toxic polarization in the U.S., an anthropologist of the “Trumpiverse” explains MAGA supporters’ thinking in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Revisiting the Spiritual Violence of BS Jobs
Anthropologist David Graeber’s celebrated theory of “bullshit jobs” continues to provide a critical window into why modern work is often so useless, soul-sucking, and absurd.
Griko’s Poetic Whisper
In two poems, an anthropologist speaks to the timelessness and constant change of the minority language Griko in the Italian landscape.
Grappling With Guilt Inside a System of Structural Violence
Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous, a 12-step recovery program, has proliferated in California’s carceral system. An anthropologist investigates the program, which sees criminality as a chronic addiction that can be treated through intervention.
A Call for Anthropological Poems of Resistance, Refusal, and Wayfinding
SAPIENS is seeking poetry submissions for a curated collection that will publish next year. Deadline: September 1, 2024.
Spotlighting Black Women’s Mental Health Struggles
An anthropologist discusses her film that honors and grieves the loss of Kime, a friend who passed away after experiencing physical and state violence.
View All in Colonialism
![The ruins of a gray stone building stand below a cerulean sky with fluffy white clouds.]()
![A gnarled tree stands on a reddish cliff, beyond which stretches a landscape of deeply hued sandstone plateaus that an ox-bowed river cuts through.]()
![Dozens of papers with text on them are punctured and strung horizontally on wires.]()
![Two people sit face-to-face on a bench and sign with each other. Behind them, a mural shows the outline of a human ear with Arabic writing inside it.]()
![A close-up image features two stained-orange hands holding a cluster of objects that look like small, orange strands.]()
![A man with long, dark hair tied in a braid holds up a small child to a mirror, which reflects the child’s pensive face.]()
How Colonialism Invented Food Insecurity in West Africa
Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything.
Gathering Firewood—and Redefining Land Stewardship—at Bears Ears
At Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, a new co-management plan brings together federal agencies and a consortium of Native American tribes—revealing deep tensions over land rights and demands for environmental justice.
Archived Haints
SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence conjures the voices of those imprisoned in archives.
Gaza’s Deaf Community in the Face of Genocide
An anthropologist who works with deaf communities in the Arabic-speaking Middle East argues that ending Israel’s war on Gaza and occupation of Palestine is a matter of disability justice.
The Land of Dreams
In a dystopian short story, an anthropologist imagines an alternate world in which Kashmiris are forbidden to dream.
Finding Our Way Forward—by Remembering
In a personal essay, a mixed-race and Native anthropologist draws strength from his ancestors.
Glossary
Marginalized
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A group or person treated as insignificant.
Sia Figiel
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(born 1967) An award-winning Samoan novelist, playwright, and poet.
Professor Talking Points
- Figiel is a Samoan novelist, poet, and playwright. She has written several novels, which have been praised for her use of traditional Samoan storytelling techniques. One of her most noteworthy is the 1996 novel Where We Once Belonged, which won the Commonwealth Prize. Discuss how Figiel’s work is a source of empowerment for marginalized girls and women and serves to offer a voice to those often overlooked.
- Figiel’s work provides a glimpse into Polynesian and Samoan life, and her writings often reflect some of her own experiences. Lead students in a discussion about some of the biggest themes she explores, including gender, power, sexuality, identity, colonialism, and coming-of-age experiences.
- Where We Once Belonged serves as a counterbalance to Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa because in it Samoa is depicted as a deeply restrictive patriarchal society that is very different from the paradise of unrestricted freedom that Mead portrayed. The novel follows Alofa Filiga, a young girl growing up in the village of Malafou, as she faces the many restrictions of her culture and who works to come to terms with her womanhood. Discuss with students how the novel encompasses coming-of-age experiences and the challenges Alofa faces in claiming her identity.
- While Where We Once Belonged is Figiel’s most well-known novel, she has many other writings that explore Samoan culture. Lead a discussion about some of these.
Academic Articles
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Abubakar, Sadiya. 2018. “The Samoan Side: How Sia Figiel Debunks Orientalism in Where We Once Belonged.” International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 14 (2): 105–120.
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Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen. 2007. “The Long and Leisurely Route: Coming of Age in Europe Today.” Current History 106 (698): 130–136.
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Borzekowski, Dina. 2006. “Adolescents’ Use of the Internet: A Controversial, Coming-of-Age Resource.” Adolescence Medicine Clinic 17 (1): 205–216.
Student Discussion Questions
- How does Figiel’s work give voice to marginalized girls and women?
- In what ways do society and culture inhibit marginalized people?
- How does your society and culture empower marginalized voices? What can be done to improve this?
- What is the difference between gender and sex?
- How are coming-of-age experiences related to sexuality?
- What are the significant themes in Figiel’s work? What does each mean, and why is it important?
Activities
- Take five minutes to note a few things about yourself and your identity. As you think about these pieces of your identity, consider how they fit into all aspects of you as a person and throughout your life. In three to five pages, reflect on your identity characteristics and how they define you as a person in the culture of which you are a part. Consider the themes from Figiel’s writings and how identity is developed through culture as you write your response.
- Choose three poems from the collection Girl in the Moon Circle by Figiel and identify the different aspects of culture in each poem. Write an essay comparing the various cultural elements and discuss the importance of each one in terms of identity.
- With a partner, evaluate one of Figiel’s writings and demonstrate how her work provides a voice and empowers those in marginalized groups. Use examples from the chosen writing and other sources to support your response.
- Think about your own experience of becoming an adult. Write an essay discussing it as it relates to the major themes that emerge in Figiel’s work (e.g., identity, gender, power).
- Watch “An Exploration of Coming of Age Rituals and Rites of Passage in a Modern Era” in Additional Resources and create your own coming-of-age ritual. Be sure to include all elements from the video, including the life skills you would test, the character traits you would instill, and the wisdom you would share. How will you end your ritual?
Additional Resources
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Book: Sia Figiel’s Freelove
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Book: Sia Figiel’s The Girl in the Moon Circle
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Book: Sia Figiel’s They Who Do Not Grieve
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Book: Sia Figiel’s Where We Once Belonged
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Film: Kimberlee Bassford’s I of the Water
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Video: Ron Fritz’s TEDx Talk “An Exploration of Coming of Age Rituals and Rites of Passage in a Modern Era”
Unit By
Chelsea Wheeler, Freedom Learning Group
Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
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Unit 15
Intercultural Understanding
