History of Samoa
The Samoan Islands were first settled some 3,500 years ago as part of the Austronesian expansion. Both Samoa's early history and its more recent history are strongly connected to the histories of Tonga and Fiji, nearby islands with which Samoa has long had genealogical links as well as shared cultural traditions.
European explorers first reached the Samoan islands in the early 18th century. In 1768,
After World War I, New Zealand took over the administration of what had been
Early history
It is estimated that the earliest human settlement of the
Samoa's early history is interwoven with the history of certain chiefdoms of
The dominant cultural traditions of Samoa, known as the
Linguistically, the Samoan language belongs to the Polynesian sub-branch of the Austronesian language family, which is thought by linguists to have originated in Taiwan.
According to oral tradition, Samoa and Polynesian share a common ancestor:
After European contact
18th century
Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century but did not intensify until the arrival of the
19th century
It has been suggested that this section be Kingdom of Samoa. (Discuss ) (January 2024) |
European and Tahitian and Cook Islander
The
In 1855
In the 1880s Great Britain, Germany and the United States all claimed parts of the kingdom of Samoa, and established trade posts. The rivalry between these powers exacerbated tensions between the indigenous factions which were all jockeying for complete political authority. The islands were divided among the three powers in the 1890s, and between the United States and Germany in 1899.[4]
The First Samoan Civil War and the Samoan crisis
The First Samoan Civil War was fought roughly between 1886 and 1894, primarily between rival Samoan factions, although the rival powers intervened on several occasions with military forces. There followed an eight-year civil war, where each of the three powers supplied arms, training, and in some cases, combat troops to the warring Samoan parties.[5] The Samoan crisis came to a critical juncture in March 1889 when all three Western contenders sent warships into Apia harbour, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent, until a massive storm on 15 March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict.[6]
Robert Louis Stevenson arrived in Samoa in 1889 and built a house at Vailima. He quickly became passionately 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 great powers battling for control of Samoa - America, Germany and Britain - and the indigenous factions which were all jockeying for complete political authority. He was convinced that 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. The book covers the period from 1882 to 1892.[6] 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.[7]
The Second Samoan Civil War and the Siege of Apia
The Second Samoan Civil War reached a head in 1898 when Germany, Great Britain and the United States disputed over who should control the Samoan Islands.
The
American and British warships shelled
Division of islands
The
The Tripartite Convention gave control of the islands west of 171 degrees west longitude to Germany, (later known as
From 1908, with the establishment of the Mau movement ("opinion movement"), Western Samoans began to assert their claim to independence. The 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 in 1909. Many died in exile.[2]
New Zealand rule
In November 1918, the
New Zealand administered Western Samoa, or Samoa i Sisifo in the Samoan language, first as a
Independence
Samoa received its independence from New Zealand on 1 January 1962 and adopted the name
A conflict briefly emerged between Samoa and American Samoa following Samoa's decision to drop the adjective "Western" from its name. The change was made by an act of the Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa adopted on 4 July 1997.[18] The step caused "surprise and uproar" in neighboring American Samoa, as for some American Samoans the change of name implied a claim to be the "real" Samoa and implied that American Samoa was just an American appendix.[19] Two members of American Samoa's legislature traveled to Apia in September 1997 to meet with Samoan head of State Malietoa Tanumafili II, and lobbied to have the name change reversed in order to maintain peace and good relations.[19] An American Samoan petition to the United Nations for a ban on Samoa's using the name Samoa was seriously discussed and ten American Samoan representatives sponsored an unsuccessful bill aimed at preventing American Samoa from recognizing independent Samoa's new name.[19] The proposed American Samoan bill was criticized by independent Samoa's Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana who called the bill "rash and irresponsible".[19]
In 2002, New Zealand's prime minister
In 2007, Samoa's first head of state, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, died at age 95. He held this title jointly with Tupua Tamasese Lealofi until the latter's death in 1963. 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 Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II, 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.
In May 2021,
In August 2022, Samoa’s Legislative Assembly reappointed Tuimaleali’ifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II as the Head of State for a second term of five years.[22]
Calendar usage in Samoa
As European traders began commercial (and later domination) activities in the Samoan Islands, they imposed their datekeeping system on their transactions. Thus by the 19th century, Samoan calendars were aligned with those of the other Asiatic countries to the west and south. However, in 1892, American traders convinced the king to alter the country's dating system to align with the United States; thus the country lived through 4 July 1892, twice. But 119 years later, the economic geography of the island had changed, and most business was being done with Australia and New Zealand. To make the jump back to the Asian date Samoa and Tokelau skipped 30 December 2011.[23]
See also
- American Samoa
- History of Oceania
- List of prime ministers of Samoa
- Malietoa - state dynasty and chiefly title
- Politics of Samoa
References
- ^ hdl:10289/3693.
- ^ a b Tuvale, Te'o. "An account of Samoan history up to 1918: Chapters I-IV". Retrieved 19 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d Ryden, George Herbert. The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa. (Yale University Press, 1928), p. 574; the Tripartite Convention (United States, Germany, Great Britain) was signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900.
- ^ Paul M. Kennedy, The Samoan Tangle: A Study in Anglo-German-American Relations 1878–1900 (University of Queensland Press, 2013).
- ISBN 9781851099511.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4264-0754-3.
- ^ Letter to Sidney Colvin, 17 April 1893, Vailima Letters, Chapter XXVIII
- ^ Mains, P. John; McCarty, Louis Philippe (1906). The Statistician and Economist: Volume 23. p. 249
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8160-6577-6.
- ^ [1] Papers Past (website)
- ^ Mary Boyd (1968). "The Military Administration of Western Samoa, 1914-1919" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of History. 2 (2): 163. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ "Western Samoa – A Continuing Disappointment". II(10) Pacific Islands Monthly. 19 May 1932. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ "Pig-Headed New Zealand and Stubborn Samoa". III(3) Pacific Islands Monthly. 19 October 1932. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage (19 July 2010). "Towards independence - NZ in Samoa". nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ Mata'afa, friend to all, who led Samoa 'long and loyally' Pacific Islands Monthly, July 1975, p7
- ^ "Western Samoa SMOOTH PROGRESS TO INDEPENDENCE". The Press. 30 December 1961. p. 10. Retrieved 28 September 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ISBN 9780112905899.
- ^ Constitution Amendment Act (No. 2) 1997 (No. 15)
- ^ a b c d Migration happens: reasons, effects and opportunities of Migration, Katarina Ferro, Margot Wallner and Richard Bedford, 2006. p. 72
- ^ "Samoa set to appoint first female prime minister". Reuters. 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Pacific island swears in its first female PM in a tent after she is locked out of Parliament". 24 May 2021.
- ^ Ligaiula, Pita. "Tuimalealiifano reappointed as Samoa Head of State | PINA".
- ^ [2] slate.com, The Philippines Skipped A Day
- Eustis, Nelson. 1979. ISBN 0-9595609-0-4
Further reading
- Kennedy, P. M. "Bismarck's Imperialism: The Case of Samoa, 1880-1890." Historical Journal 15, no. 2 (1972): 261–83. online.
- Kennedy, Paul M. The Samoan Tangle: A Study in Anglo-German-American Relations 1878–1900 (University of Queensland Press, 2013).
- Ryden, George Herbert. The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa (Yale University Press, 1928).
External links
- [3] Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before, George Turner (1884), an eText available from Project Gutenberg