Ua fuifui faatasi, ae vaoeseese
Gathered into one flock from different parts of the forest

The beauty of this Samoan proverb poetically describes The Samoans: A Global Family. From the tea estates of Sri Lanka to the deserts of the Sudan, from the Himalayas of Bhutan to the jungles of Brazil, and from the People's Republic of China to Papua New Guinea, a family is gathered in 285 color photographs captioned with the proverbs of 30 languages.

Each person recounts his or her autobiography: a cardinal in Rome, a cowboy in the outback of Australia, a champion sumo wrestler in...