Pauli Pauli Ivan Williams has attributed this decline to new technological changes that Samoa is adopting for the races.
His dismay has been directed at the use of readymade paddles as opposed to the original and cultural Samoan made wooden oars, calling it an abomination of both culture and tradition.
“If we want to attract tourists through our Teuila Festival, then they want to see how Samoans in the past conquered the Pacific waters by long boats and they have to see that we used our own Samoan wooden-styled oars. That interests them,” he said.
