Semisi Brown: an interview by Savani Aupiu, 23 September 2009: Pacific Islanders Oral History Project, U-2016

Transcript (22 pages) of an interview by Savani Aupiu with Semisi Brown on 23 September 2009. Part of the Pacific Islanders Oral History Project, Everett Cooley Collection tape no. U-2016

Semisi Brown was born and raised in Salt Lake City. He has eleven brothers and two sisters. He is married and has four boys and his family currently lives in Provo, Utah. Both of his parents are Tongan. He works for a web design company. He talks about the name Brown and where it came from. Semisi talks about what it was like to grow up in a large family. He had a lot of hand-me-downs and had to learn how to share at an early age. His parents moved to Hawaii from Tonga, and then moved to Salt Lake City where Semisi's grandparents had been established for a while. Semisi's parents moved because of the opportunities available to them in Salt Lake City and to be closer to the LDS church's headquarters. He talks about the stories his parents and his brothers would tell him about moving from Tonga. His parents encouraged them to participate in the American culture. Semisi's family spoke English in the home, but he understands Tongan. Some of his brothers speak Tongan because they were raised in Tonga for a time. He talks about his parents' education and how they supported his education. He earned a Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Utah. Semisi and his brothers had to work hard because they were going to school, playing sports and helping to support the family by working. Both Semisi's parents worked to support the family.Semisi describes the different responsibilities the boys and girls had. Boys generally did outside work and girls generally did domestic chores, but their parents also taught the boys to cook and clean. Their parents wanted them to become Americanized so they jumped into the new culture. He says he struggled with his identity as a Tongan, especially in high school. He had friends from both cultures. He has felt people treat him differently because he is Tongan. People expected him to be a gangster because a lot of students in his high school participated in that culture. Semisi wants to continue to exhibit the unselfishness and humbleness of the Tongan culture and to teach it to his children.Semisi talks about his religion. He was born and raised in the LDS church. He talks about the history of Mormonism in his family and how it has helped him in his life. He served a mission for the church in Spain. He wants to earn a graduate degree in the future but the most important thing for him is to raise his boys to be good people. Semisi thinks his family will probably stay in Utah, but they would move if the opportunity was right. Project: Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Interviewer: Savani Aupiu.