gridiron capital Gri diron Capit al duke university press Durham and London 2022 Gri diron Capit al how american football became a samoan game l isa uperesa © 2022 duke university press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid-free paper ∞ Designed by Aimee C. Harrison Typeset in Minion Pro and Helvetica Neue LT Std by Westchester Publishing Ser vices Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Uperesa, Lisa, [date] author. Title: Gridiron capital : how American football became a Samoan game / Lisa Uperesa. Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2021046445 (print) | lccn 2021046446 (ebook) isbn 9781478015468 (hardcover) isbn 9781478018094 (paperback) isbn 9781478022701 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Football— Social aspects— American Samoa. | Football— Economic aspects— American Samoa. | Football players— American Samoa. | bisac: social science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social | sports & recreation / Cultural & Social Aspects Classification: lcc gv959.54.a46 u647 2022 (print) | lcc gv959.54.a46 (ebook) | ddc 796.3309961/3—d c23/eng/20220104 lc rec ord available at https:// lccn. loc. gov/ 2021046445 lc ebook rec ord available at https:// lccn. loc. gov/ 2021046446 Cover art: Malik Alatasi Haynes. Photo graph by John Hook. Publication of this book is supported by Duke University Press’s Scholars of Color First Book Fund. for dad 551188--110011442233__cchh0011__33PP..iinndddd 55 1133//0044//2222 1100::1155 AAMM This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface i x Acknowle dgments x v Introduction. Fabled Futures and Gridiron Dreams 1 1 Malaga: Forging New Pathways in Sport and Beyond 23 2 Football, Tautua, and Fa‘asāmoa 4 8 3 Producing the Gridiron Warrior 7 1 4 Gridiron Capital 103 5 “Fa‘amālosi!”: Strength, Injury, and Sacrifice 123 Conclusion. Niu Futures 151 Glossary 1 55 Notes 1 59 Bibliography 1 85 Index 211 This page intentionally left blank Preface In the picture we stand smiling at the camera and bundled in jackets, with me in a yellow beanie cap and scarf and my b rother Derek in uniform, shiver- ing in the cold a fter the game. The stadium lights are still on in the back- ground, and it is long past sunset in autumn on the US East Coast. It was October 2004 and we had just finished watching his school team, St. Francis University (PA), play Stony Brook on Long Island, New York. From the bleachers of the small stadium our small group had cheered for him and the other players from Sāmoa, who gave all they had on the field. Our brief reunion far outshined the incidental outcome of the game. It was my second year of gradu ate school in New York City, and with no family on the East Coast, I was overjoyed to see one of my siblings there. The picture captures the excitement of our short visit, crossing paths on an island far from the one we called home. We were both part of the legacy of Samoan migration and mobility in the United States, even if our paths were dif er ent. Both wound through the edu- cational institutions and networks that connect the islands with Hawai‘i and the continental United States through an elaborate K–12 and college system headed by the US Department of Education and underpinned by longstand- ing po litic al agreements and structures of US empire. Like many young