Back print: full tatau design of a solitary sea turtle (laumei) with hatchling — 'Fa'afanauga a laumei,' the turtle that eats its own young

The Turtle That Eats Its Own — Samoan Proverb Tee

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Back print: full tatau design of a solitary sea turtle (laumei) with hatchling — 'Fa'afanauga a laumei,' the turtle that eats its own young
  • Back print: full tatau design of a solitary sea turtle (laumei) with hatchling — 'Fa'afanauga a laumei,' the turtle that eats its own young
  • Back print: full tatau design of a solitary sea turtle (laumei) with hatchling — 'Fa'afanauga a laumei,' the turtle that eats its own young
The Turtle That Eats Its Own — Samoan Proverb Tee

The Turtle That Eats Its Own — Samoan Proverb Tee

$23.99
Color

Fa'afanauga a laumei.
"Like the young of the turtle."

This alagaupu (Samoan proverb) comes from an old Samoan belief about the laumei (sea turtle): she lurks near her eggs on the beach, and as soon as they hatch, she catches and eats her own young. Samoans use this saying as an upu faifai — mocking, reproachful words aimed at loveless, undutiful parents who fail the very children they should protect.

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