Article The Feagaiga and Faife’au ‘Kids’ (FKs): An Examination of the Experiences of Parsonage Children of the Samoan Congregational Denomination in New Zealand Sadat Petelo Muaiava Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Abstract This article examines the experiences of faife’au ‘kids’ (clergy children) of the Samoan Congregational Christian Church denomination in New Zealand. The paper investigates the effects the indigenous concept of feagaiga (covenant) has on faife’au kids (FKs) parsonage experiences. Additionally, the Eurocentric concept of ‘tagata’ese’ (stranger) is also investigated. As part of a master’s research study, Talanoa sessions were conducted with eight FKs of the Congregational denomination in New Zealand. Participants were mainly from the Wellington and Auckland regions. Keywords Faife’au, faife’au kids, feagaiga, Samoan youth Introduction This paper examines the role the indigenous concept of feagaiga (covenant) has on the experiences of Samoan fai- fe’au (clergy) kids (FKs) of the Congregational Christian denomination in New Zealand. Closely aligned with the feagaiga is the concept of ‘tagata’ese’ (stranger). Unlike feagaiga, tagata’ese is a Eurocentric ideology introduced by the missionaries. The feagaiga and tagata’ese are contra- dicting ideologies, but both are idealized by the Samoan Congregationalism to determine their clergy’s calling to ministry. In terms of clergy children, FKs are directly impacted by both feagaiga and tagata’ese. Pacific Studies Rationale Research on FKs has been neglected in both Samoan and Pacific contexts. This research is significant in that it con- tributes to the existing literature on Samoan families, fa’a- sa ¯moa, religion, youth, identity, and migration. Though not theological per se, it engages sociological and anthropo- logical perspectives, albeit from a Pacific Studies perspective. Academics have not yet reached consensus on the def- inition of Pacific Studies, an interdisciplinary field of scholarship. A loose description could be that it is the study of the Pacific Islands region and its people, drawing from disciplines such as anthropology, history, and educa- tion (see Thaman, 2003). Arguably, the above could also be related to its evolution in academia. Pacific Studies is also constituted by a drive to empower Pacific voices, and to reclaim and develop Pacific knowledge for future reference (Gegeo and Watson-Gegeo, 2001; Hau’ofa, 1993; Wendt, 1987; Wesley-Smith, 1995). In spite of the lack of consen- sus about what Pacific Studies is, it has, in its various aca- demic locations, maintained an ability to construct and implement thematic discourse in research. Themes such as empowerment, decolonization, epistemologies and ped- agogies, insider vs. outsider perspectives, and contextual- ization have all been part of the building and growth process (Wesley-Smith, 1995). With the thematic discourse of Pacific Studies in mind, the research empowers the voices of FKs. This is brought forward by Wesley-Smith’s (1995) empowerment Corresponding author: Sadat Petelo Muaiava, Va’aomanu ¯ Pasifika, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140 New Zealand. Email: Sadat.Muaiava@vuw.ac.nz Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 2017, Vol. 71(1) 27–40 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1542305016687580 journals.sagepub.com/home/jpcc