5"Samoans have learned by centuries of experience which trees provide the best timber, which plants are edible, which make the best cordage, and which can be used as medicines. However, as people move away from a culture based on the traditional use of the surrounding plants and animals to one based on imported goods, they lose a valuable part of their tradition.... Samoans have been the keepers of this knowledge and these plants for close to three millennia, but as we begin the new millennium, traditional lore is unfortunately no longer being passed on to the younger generation. This loss of traditional plant lore and traditional plants has prompted me to write Plants in Samoan Culture." --from the Preface