How to Perform Samoan Vala'au i le Laulau (Call to Table)

Tu’u’u Apulu Uta’ile’uo Mary Autagavaia teaches her granddaughter, Tesia how to perform the Vala'au i le Laulau which is the calling of guests to the table to enjoy a meal. The Vala'au i le laulau is something that started since urbanization out of the villages where people acquired laulau Palagi (European dinner tables) to eat at.
In a village setting, guests arrive and sit on the floor. While discussions are taking place the cooks (tautua) are preparing food out the back in the umukuka (kitchen). When food is ready it is served on a Samoan laulau - food trays made from coconut leaves. Each person receives a laulau with all manner of food on it. So the food comes to the guests and the transition from discussions to eating is seamless.
However as people moved to Apia and overseas Samoans now also eat on a laulau Palagi, a dinner table usually located in the adjoining dining room and the meetings take place in the lounge. There needed to be a process to transition guests from the lounge to the dining table; hence the vala'au i le laulau.
So usually when the food is ready a young person will seat themselves on the floor to the rear of the lounge and "vala'au" (or call) the guests i le laulau (to the table).
There are 3 main parts to the vala'au:
1) Young person excusing themselves for speaking out of turn as a tautua (cook/help) and interrupting the conversations
2) Acknowledging the honourifics of those present in the lounge
3) An invitation to come to the table to eat
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