Word: nafanua
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...ordinary student. He is a botany professor and dean at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, a world specialist in medicinal plants and, far from least in this exotic setting, the paramount chief of the nearby village of Falealupo. To people here, he is known as Nafanua, in honor of a legendary Samoan warrior goddess who once saved the village from oppression and protected its forests...
...during this period that the villagers informed Cox that they wanted to name him heir to the goddess Nafanua. When he declined, fearing that the title would interfere with his research, the villagers refused to sign the preservation agreement. Cox relented. "Being a deity is not my cup of tea," he says, "but Nafanua stands for conservation and rain-forest ecology, so I said to them, 'O.K., I'll take the cards I've been dealt.'" Now chiefs and children alike respectfully address him as Nafanua...
...rather than have the impetus come from outside. Behind this goal lies a philosophy that runs through Cox's work: helping native people understand the wealth of their heritage so that they will want to preserve it rather than sell it. Since it's no less than Nafanua who is urging them on, that seems a reasonable goal...
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