Look closely. You might recognize your bloodline. 👀

History lives in these photos. 

These are not strangers.

These are our people. Our bloodlines. Our ancestors.

Every face carried a story… leadership, sacrifice, identity, survival, and culture passed down through generations. Some walked through colonization, war, division, and change — yet still carried themselves with dignity and mana.

As you watch, look closely.

You may recognize a family name… a face… or a piece of yourself.

Do you see any familiar ancestors?

Tony Brunt 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

But this is the the gentleman on the left, that's Matavi Yoseto, that's another photo from the Solf Collection. Very cool photo. I think um there's been a big gathering at Mulligan and uh he's walking away uh under the sunshade of an umbrella. Really cool photo. Hands up from the roof to the club, let's go. We go wave and the way the way later I later right on night. The guy sitting lower right is um a gentleman who later went on to have the Mata Afa title. Uh and um and a collection of others on one of the ships, and the German admiral sitting there uh sort of in the middle, holding the hand of the Salmon lady. Um he he actually fell in love with her. We've got another photo of him staring longingly at her um with his arm around her and holding her hand. His name was von Kerper, and he seemed to have really fallen in love with this this woman whose identity I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

I noticed that there are numbers placed on each of the only on a few of them. So is it just for um uh labeling who they are then?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Yes. Yes, um I I I think Mrs. Solf or Wilhelm Solf, the governor, had had written in pencil or something on some of these people and must have indexed them somewhere. You can see on in the middle row on the left uh some on gentlemen with I think number seven written on him, and that was Afamar Sanamola being able to identify him, who was a translator and a personal assistant to uh the German governors and um an extraordinary administrator, actually. Uh there were there were four or five or six or seven salmons who were very had very responsible positions in the German administration, and uh uh Afamassonga was one of them.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Wow. There's I noticed the the soldier on the top is holding someone's baby.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Yes, that's true. A lot of these photos, the Germans wanted to hold on to the babies because I mean it's a pretty restricted life on uh and there's no family life on board uh on on board these naval ships. So these guys really enjoyed mixing with the locals. And that's Mrs. Solf sitting in the second row with a white blouse on.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Mataafa is mostly seen with the same woman uh every time.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

And so Yeah, well, um he got the Mataafa title, this gentleman, um, uh in about 1918, so he didn't have it at the time this photo was taken, though he was a senior uh Ali uh socially uh and he was from Falifar.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Is this the same Mataafa Yosefo?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

No, no, um um well Yosefo died in about nineteen twelve, nineteen eleven. Okay um and then another there was another person who succeeded to the title, and um then this this man uh succeeded to it in about nineteen eighteen.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Oh, that's good to know so that people are not mixed up with the different identities, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Sure, sure. No, that's that's not Matafe Yosefal.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

But this is the the gentleman on the left, that's Matahafa Yosefal. That's another photo from the the Solf collection. Very cool photo. I think um there's been a big gathering at Mullinol and uh he's walking away uh under the sunshade of an umbrella. Really cool photo.