History of Samoa - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Myths

According to legend, Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

shares the common Polynesian ancestor of Tagaloa

Tagaloa

In Samoan mythology, Tagaloa is generally accepted as the supreme ruler, the creator of the universe, the chief of all gods and the progenitor of other gods and humans. Tagaloa dwelt in space and made the Heavens , the sky, the land, the seas, the fresh water, the trees and the people...

; according to many legends, Samoa was Tagaloa

Tagaloa

's first creation. Oral traditions trace Samoan ancestry back to pre-history.

Samoa is recognized as the center of Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

, from where people migrated eastward to the Marquesas, southward to Niue

Niue

Niue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to...

and the Pukapuka

Pukapuka

Pukapuka is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean, with three small islets threaded on a reef that encloses a beautifully clear lagoon. It is the most remote island of the Cook Islands, situated about 1140 kilometres northwest of Rarotonga. It is a triangular atoll with three...

islands of Rarotonga

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...

, and northward to the Tokelau

Tokelau

Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean that consists of three tropical coral atolls with a combined land area of 10 km2 and a population of approximately 1,400...

and Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...

island groups; in all these islands, oral tradition is maintained of ancestral voyages from the Samoan islands

Samoan Islands

The Samoan Islands or Samoa Islands is an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania...

. These migrations reflect the extraordinary courage of these seafaring people in navigating without instruments to sail throughout the vast Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

Samoa before the arrival of Europeans

Archeologists place the earliest human settlement of the Samoan archipelago at around 1500 B.C. This date is based upon the ancient lapita pottery shards found throughout the islands. Samoan oral history, however, extends only as far back as 1000 A.D. Whatever occurred between 1500 B.C. and 1000 A.D. remains a mystery, though this may have been the period of great migrations that led to the settlement of present-day Polynesia

Polynesia

.
Another mystery is why the making of pottery suddenly stopped. There is no oral tradition in reference to pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

use, but it abounds with proverbs on the starmounts used in the ancient sport of pigeon snarling, once popular among Samoan nobility. Linguistically, the Samoan language

Samoan language

Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most...

is part of the Austronesian language family.

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the early 1700s, Samoa's history was interwoven with that of certain chiefdom

Chiefdom

A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...

s of Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

as well as the history of the kingdom of Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

. The oral history of Samoa preserves the memories of many battles fought between Samoa and neighboring islands. Too, intermarriage of Tongan and Fijian royalty to noble Samoan women has helped build close relationships between these island nations that exists even to the present day; these royal blood ties are acknowledged at special events and cultural gatherings. Samoan folklore tells of the arrival of two maidens from Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

who brought the art of tatau, or tattoo

Tattoo

A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

, to Samoa, whence came the traditional Samoan malofie (malofie is also known as pe'a
Pe'a
The Pe'a is the popular name of the traditional male tattoo of Samoa, which was originally called the malofie, a term used in the Samoan language chiefly vocabulary and 'respect' register .-Description:...

for men and as malu
Malu
Malu can refer to:* Malu, a Samoan tattoo* Malu, Nepal* Malu, Giurgiu, a commune in Giurgiu County, Romania* Malu, a village in Bârla Commune, Argeş County, Romania* Malu, a village in Godeni Commune, Argeş County, Romania...

for women). Oral traditions record the use of the Samoan fine mat as a garment of atonement, draped over a Samoan maiden to pardon her from a Tongan king's wrath and criminal indictment.

Bestowal of the highly reverential title "Malietoa" marked a period in Samoan history when the islands were officially recognized as independent of Tongan rule. The title refers to the parting words of Tongan warriors, "Malie toa, malie tau" (literally, "Brave warrior, bravely fought"). Hence, the title was amended as part of the more ancient royal courts and titles of Tui-Aana, Tui-Atua.

These tales reflect Samoa's colorful and at times fierce past.

18th Century

Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century but did not intensify until the arrival of the British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

. In 1722, Dutchman

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to sight the islands. This visit was followed by a French explorer by the name of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), the man who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768.

An American expedition under Charles Wilkes

Charles Wilkes

Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...

reached Samoa 1839 and appointed of Englishman John C. Williams as acting U.S. consul. However this appointment was never confirmed by the U.S. State Department; John C. Williams was merely recognized as "Commercial Agent of the United States". A British consul was already residing at Apia.

19th Century

Missionaries

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

and traders arrived in the 1830s. In 1855 J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn

Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy

Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy was a German trader and Hanseat.He was the founder of Museum Godeffroy.-Family history and the trading company J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn:...

expanded its trading business into the Samoan Islands

Samoan Islands

The Samoan Islands or Samoa Islands is an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania...

, which were then known as the Navigator Islands. During the second half of the 19th century German

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

influence in Samoa

Samoa

expanded with large scale plantation operations being introduced for coconut, cacao and hevea rubber cultivation, especially on the island of 'Upolu where German firms monopolized copra

Copra

Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...

and cocoa bean processing. British business enterprises, harbour rights, and consulate office were the basis on which the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

had cause to intervene in Samoa. The United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

begin operations at the excellent harbor of Pago Pago on Tutuila

Tutuila

Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...

in 1877 and formed alliances with local native chieftains, most conspicuously on the islands of Tutuila

Tutuila

and Manu'a (which were later formally annexed as American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

).

In the latter part of 19th century, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

all claimed parts of the kingdom of Samoa

Samoa

, and established trade posts. The rivalry between these powers exacerbated the indigenous factions that were struggling to preserve their ancient political system.

The First Samoan Civil War and the Samoan crisis

The First Samoan Civil War

Samoan Civil War

The First Samoan Civil War refers to the conflict between rival Samoan factions in the Samoan Islands of the South Pacific. The war was fought roughly between 1886 and 1894, primarily between Samoans though the German military intervened on several occasions. The United States and the United...

was fought roughly between 1886 and 1894, primarily between rival Samoan factions though the rival powers intervened on several occasions with military forces. There followed an eight-year civil war

Samoan Civil War

, where each of the three powers supplied arms, training, and in some cases, combat troops to the warring Samoan parties. The Samoa Crisis came to a critical juncture in March 1889 when all three colonial contenders sent warships into Apia harbour, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent, until a massive storm on the 15th March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict.

Robert Louis Stevenson arrived in Samoa in 1889 and built a house at Vailima. He quickly became passionately interested, and involved, in the attendant political machinations. His influence spread to the Samoans, who consulted him for advice, and he soon became involved in local politics. These involved the three colonial powers battling for control of Samoa - America, Germany and Britain - and the indigenous factions struggling to preserve their ancient political system. He was convinced the European officials appointed to rule the Samoans were incompetent, and after many futile attempts to resolve the matter, he published A Footnote to History
A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa
A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa is a historical non-fiction work by Robert Louis Stevenson. describing the Samoan Civil War....

. The book covers the period from 1882 to 1892. This was such a stinging protest against existing conditions that it resulted in the recall of two officials, and Stevenson feared for a time it would result in his own deportation.

The Second Samoan Civil War and the Siege of Apia

The Second Samoan Civil War

Second Samoan Civil War

The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain, located in the South Pacific Ocean...

was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany

German Empire

, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

, and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoa Islands.

The Siege of Apia, or the Battle of Apia, occurred during the Second Samoan Civil War

Second Samoan Civil War

in March 1899 at Apia. Samoan forces loyal to Prince Tanu

Tanu

Tanu may refer to:*Tanu, a Samoan prince who was allied with American and British forces during the Second Samoan Civil War*Tanu , an important historical village of the Haida people on the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada...

were besieged by a larger force of Samoan rebels loyal to Mata'afa Iosefo

Mata'afa Iosefo

Mata'afa Iosefo was a Paramount Chief of Samoa who was one of the three rival candidates for the kingship of Samoa during colonialism...

. Supporting Prince Tanu

Tanu

were landing parties from four British

United Kingdom

and American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

warships. Over the course of several days of fighting, the Samoan rebels were defeated.

American and British warships shelled Apia on March 15, 1899; including the USS Philadelphia

USS Philadelphia (C-4)

The fourth USS Philadelphia , also known as "Cruiser No. 4", was a cruiser of the United States Navy.She was laid down 22 March 1888 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launched 7 September 1889, sponsored by Miss Minnie Wanamaker, daughter of merchant and philanthropist John...

. The Germany

German Empire

, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

quickly resolved to end the hostilities; with the partitioning of the island chain at the Tripartite Convention of 1899.

Division of islands

The Samoa Tripartite Convention, a joint commission of three members composed of Bartlett Tripp

Bartlett Tripp

Bartlett Tripp was an American lawyer, judge, and diplomat.-Early life and education:...

for the United States, C. N. E. Eliot, C.B. for Great Britain, and Freiherr Speck von Sternburg for Germany, agreed to divide the islands.

The Tripartite Convention gave control of the islands west of 171 degrees west longitude to Germany, (later known as Western Samoa), containing Upolu

Upolu

Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long, in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as the most populated of the Samoan Islands. Upolu is situated to the east of...

and Savaii (the current Samoa

Samoa

) and other adjoining islands. These islands became known as German Samoa

German Samoa

German Samoa was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1914, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state Samoa, formerly Western Samoa...

.
The United States accepted the eastern islands of Tutuila

Tutuila

and Manu'a, (present-day American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

). In exchange for United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

ceding claims in Samoa, Germany transferred their protectorates in the North Solomon Islands

North Solomon Islands

The Northern Solomons were the more northerly group of islands in the Solomon Islands archipelago over which Germany declared a protectorate in 1885. Initially the German protectorate included Choiseul, Santa Isabel, the Shortlands and Ontong Java Islands, but in 1900 these islands were transferred...

and other territories in West Africa. The monarchy was also abolished.

Independence

From 1908, with the establishment of the Mau movement

Mau movement

The Mau was a non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colonial rule during the early 1900s. The word 'Mau' means 'opinion' or 'testimony' denoting 'firm strength' in Samoan...

("opinion movement"), Western Samoans began to assert their claim to independence. The early beginnings of the national Mau movement began in 1908 with the 'Mau a Pule' resistance on Savai'i, led by orator chief Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe. Lauaki and Mau a Pule chiefs, wives and children were exiled to Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

in 1909. Many died in exile.

Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

sent an expeditionary force to seize and occupy German Samoa. Although Germany refused to officially surrender the islands, no resistance was offered and the occupation took place without any fighting. New Zealand continued the occupation of Western Samoa throughout World War I. In 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

, Germany relinquished its claims to the islands.

The Mau movement gained momentum with Samoa's royal leaders becoming more visible in supporting the peoples movement but strongly opposed violence. On December 28, 1929 Tupua Tamasese was shot along with eleven others during a peaceful demonstration in Apia. Tupua Tamasese died the following day, with the advice that no more blood should be shed.

New Zealand administered Western Samoa first as a League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

Mandate

League of Nations mandate

A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...

and then as a United Nations trusteeship until the country received its independence on January 1, 1962 as Western Samoa. Samoa's first prime minister following independence was paramount chief Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II.

Samoa was the first Polynesia

Polynesia

n people to be recognized as a sovereign nation in the 20th century. In 1977, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Samoa during her tour of the Commonwealth.

In July 1997 the constitution was amended to change the country's name from "Western Samoa" to "Samoa." Samoa had been known simply as "Samoa" in the United Nations since joining the organization in 1976. The neighboring U.S. territory of American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

protested the move, feeling that the change diminished its own Samoan identity. American Samoans still use the terms "Western Samoa" and "Western Samoans."

In 2002, New Zealand's prime minister Helen Clark

Helen Clark

Helen Elizabeth Clark, ONZ is a New Zealand political figure who was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008...

formally apologized for two incidents during the period of New Zealand's administration: a failure in 1918 to quarantine

Quarantine

Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....

the SS Talune

SS Talune

Three vessels have been named Talune. This article refers to the first SS Talune, built in 1890 and scuttled in 1925.A second SS Talune was built in 1930 for the Union Steamship company of New Zealand, and sold in 1959 to Transporte de Minerales, Panama, who renamed it the ‘Amos’...

, which carried the 'Spanish 'flu' to Samoa, leading to an epidemic which devastated the Samoan population, and the shooting of leaders of the non-violent Mau movement

Mau movement

The Mau was a non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colonial rule during the early 1900s. The word 'Mau' means 'opinion' or 'testimony' denoting 'firm strength' in Samoan...

during a ceremonial procession in 1929.

In 2007, Samoa's first Head of State, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, died at the age of 95. He held this title jointly with Tupua Tamasese Lealofi until his death in 1963. The late Malietoa Tanumafili II was Samoa's Head of State for 45 years. He was the son of Malietoa Tanumafili I, who was the last Samoan king recognized by Europe and the Western World.

Samoa's current Head of State is His Highness Tui-Atua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Efi, who was anointed the Head of State title with the unanimous endorsement of Samoa's Parliament. A symbol of traditional Samoan protocol in alignment with Samoan decision making stressing the importance of consensus in the 21st century.

External links

Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by George Turner (1884), an eText available from Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Myths

Samoa before the arrival of Europeans

18th Century

19th Century

The First Samoan Civil War and the Samoan crisis

The Second Samoan Civil War and the Siege of Apia

Division of islands

Independence

See also

External links