Anchorage's Pacific Islander community on Saturday held the first of what organizers say will be an annual memorial for the more than 180 people killed last month by tsunamis in Samoa, American Samoa and nearby islands.

Roughly 150 people gathered at the foot of the city's Veterans Memorial at the Park Strip in the late afternoon, their candles melting in the cold for a moment of silence. Cars rolling past on 9th Avenue made the only sounds as families stood in the damp grass and fall leaves.

"It is a sad day for our beloved Samoa. Sept. 29, 2009, will be remembered as a black Tuesday," said Pastor Afoa Malielegaoi Sialavai Lolofietele, alternating languages between American and Samoan as he read the book of Romans in the Bible.

Saturday's memorial was meant to honor the dead, as well as those who are hurt and homeless, said Lusiana Hansen, president of the Polynesian Association of Alaska.

Ruby Sokimi, treasurer for the association, knows of at least eight families in Anchorage that lost family members in the wake of the 8.3 magnitude earthquake and tsunami last month.

Anchorage had the third-largest per-capita population of Pacific Islanders and Hawaiians in the United States as of 2006. The Samoan community is one of the fastest growing in the city, said 30-year-old Lua Taufete'e, who learned last week that her family lost a cousin in the tsunami.

The Samoan community in Anchorage is divided into churches, Taufete'e said. One group doesn't always know what the other is planning. If there's something good to be made from the tsunami, it's unifying Pacific Islanders across the city, she said.

Taufete'e this month launched a Web site -- www.907polynesianpride.org -- to raise disaster relief donations and unite the various Polynesian churches across the city.

"As far as I know, this is the first candlelight service we've had in our community," she said.

There will be a gospel performance at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at ChangePoint church to benefit Samoan relief efforts, she said.

Memorial organizers said they're still looking for donations to help families rebuild homes on the islands. There are several ways to give, they said:

• RedCross.org

• HelpSamoa.com

• Call the Polynesian Association of Alaska at 229-7244 to donate money, or give books to help rebuild a Tongan library.

Twitter updates: twitter.com/adnvillage. Call Kyle Hopkins at 257-4334.

ADVERTISEMENT