observations formed part of the report of her travels for the Bible Echo (precursor to the Adventist Record), published January 1, 1892. In a letter to O. A. Olsen, then General Conference president,


White noted: “Te natives are in all kinds of dress. Some are entirely naked with the exception of a couple of yards of calico pinned about their loins. Teir limbs, arms, and body are elaborately tattooed. Tey are men of muscle, and live much in the water.”4 While this description of the Samoan men may seem very


out of character for Ellen White, she was not the only woman in Victorian America fascinated by the men of Samoa. Other women of her day wrote nearly identical observations. Frances Ormsbee, wife of the U.S. land commissioner in Samoa during the time White visited, similarly described Samoan skin as “of a pale brown color”; Ormsbee also noted the islanders had tattoos over their bodies, “wear very little clothing,” and are “in every way a most attractive race.”5


The Second Voyage A hospital chaplain once asked 94-year-old Ethel “May” (Lacey) White Currow whether her first husband’s mother, Ellen White, had ever smiled and laughed. May said right away that she oſten had, adding that while her mother-in-law didn’t joke, she had been very cheerful and did have a sense of humor. As proof, she pointed to a second stop in Samoa, during the White family’s return voyage to America aboard the Moana in 1900. Unlike her journey to Australia, this time Ellen White went ashore. “Te natives of Samoa, you know, were heſty fellows who


didn’t wear too many clothes,” White’s daughter-in-law reminds us.6 Given that the rowboats couldn’t quite make it to shore, two Samoan men formed a cradle with their arms and carried 72-year-old Ellen White to the beach, where she sat upon a large rock to watch the others disembark. Next, a “giant Samoan” on the boat turned toward White’s


daughter-in-law with her 4-month-old daughter, Grace, and took the baby in his arms as he stood at the bow. May, who was not a tiny woman and was also afraid of deep water, “could easily imagine those big, bare feet slipping off the slick wood.”7 Te Samoan man carried young Grace in his arms, while May was bidden to jump onto the man’s back and hold fast, arms and legs wrapped tight around his torso.


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Te sight of this shirtless, tattooed, muscular man coddling an


infant while an overdressed Victorian woman clung to his back was too much for Ellen White. May recalled: “Mother White laughed so hard at this sight that she couldn’t stop. She laughed until she fell off the rock.”8


Curiosity Over Superiority Tese Samoan stories show sides of Sister White that are rarely presented publicly: not only her sense of humor, but also her curiosity about the ways other people live. In her comments on the Samoan men, White could have clucked her tongue at their state of undress, but instead, she noticed their bodies, their tattoos, their muscles, and their (relative) lack of clothing without apparent judgment. White’s Victorian world, with its concern for modesty and its


focus on the American-European political axis as the focal plane of Bible prophecy, made little intuitive sense in Samoa. Even the importance of the weekly Sabbath was complicated by Samoa’s proximity to the international dateline. She didn’t stick around long enough to work through any of these problems. Instead, she did something unexpected, at least for jaded or


overawed Adventists. Outside of her comfort zone, Ellen White might have adopted an air of cultural and moral superiority. Instead, we witness her capacity to delight in the world around her. Tat’s why these Samoan stories remain some of my favorite anecdotes from White’s incredible life.


1 Ellen G. White, Manuscript 131 (Aug. 13, 1906). 2 White, Letter 76 (March 1894). 3 Demóstenes Neves da Silva and Gerson Rodrigues, “Te Conjugal Experience of James and Ellen White: Meanings Built by the Couple,” Andrews University Seminary Studies, Vol. 54, No. 2 (2016), p. 275. 4 White, Letter 91 (Nov. 27, 1891). 5 Mrs. E. J. Ormsbee, “Samoa—Its People and Teir Customs,” Te Congress of Women (1894), pp. 590-596. 6 Ed Christian, “Life With My Mother-in-Law,” Adventist Review (July 7, 1983), p. 5. 7 Arthur L. White, “Te Stop in Samoa,” Ellen G. White: Te Early Elmshaven Years: 1900-1905, Vol. 5 (1981), p. 20. 8 Christian, p. 5.


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