Abstract
Kruse describes the symbiosis between the Sāmoan land tenure system, fa’amātai, and fa’asāmoa, keystones of Sāmoan culture. Kruse describes Sāmoan society prior to the coming of the papālagi, elucidates the centrality of communal land tenure under the traditional political structure to support the chiefly system and its distribution of resources and communal lands. Kruse conducts original quantitative collection of archival data to examine the mātai registration system in comparison to the land tenure holdings in American Sāmoa. The chapter studies the legal and political history of American Sāmoa, situating the economic and geopolitical significance of Pago Pago’s harbor.
This Sāmoan phrase means to “have a vision while on a journey.”
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- 1.
Pago Pago harbor’s full seaway depth is 40 feet and cargo pier depth is 53 feet.
- 2.
US Department of the Interior highlights the federal definitional differences between a US possession and territory; “territory” is defined as an unincorporated US insular area, of which there are currently 13, three in the Caribbean (Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands) and ten in the Pacific (American Sāmoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Wake Atoll), and “possession” is equivalent to “territory.” Although it still appears in federal statutes and regulations, “possession” is no longer current colloquial usage.
- 3.
Papālagi is used within the context of Sāmoan history, arriving of white foreigners.
- 4.
There are differences between Sāmoa and American Sāmoa within the fa’asāmoa customs due to topography, population, political affiliations, and other foreign-introduced elements that have changed the lifestyle of its people within a place and space.
- 5.
See Chap. 4 for plantation-cash cropping introduced by the US Navy.
- 6.
There have only been three agricultural census conducted for American Sāmoa: first, 1998; second, 2003; third, 2008; the 2013 Census was canceled due to the unavailability of financial assistance from USDA-NASS. In 2008 all agricultural farming, whether commercial resale or home consumption valued at $49.3 million.
- 7.
Sa’o is defined as a senior mātai title holder (out of several in a lineage).
- 8.
This may change in the near future for American Sāmoa. A bill currently being drafted would eliminate the distinction of a suli moni. The new legislation would place more emphasis on tautua (service), knowledge of genealogy, and so on. Another bill in the Fono seeks to remove the one-half Sāmoan blood requirement for a mātai title claimant and adds a requirement that a claimant must “possess a hereditary right to the title” (remove hereditary right as a point for the High Court when determining candidate for a mātai title). This bill seeks to address the inequality of gender-based favoring of male descendants, limiting the right to mātai title to bloodline and endorsement of family.
- 9.
Original empirical research of all registered mātai titles in the Office of the Territorial Registrar between January 2, 1969 and 2013. Mātai titles were tabulated based upon the Office of the Territorial Registrar’s determination as a registered mātai title in situations of death, resignation, or high court cases (Meeting with Territorial Registrar, October 10, 2014).
- 10.
Western Sāmoa (prior to sovereign independence) Chief Justice Marsack and President of the Land and Titles Court stated that the pule rests with the successor in title not to heirs of body.
- 11.
See Chap. 2.
- 12.
The first Chief Justice in Sāmoa under the Treaty of Berlin was a Swedish citizen.
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Memea Kruse, LN. (2018). Sāmoa and Traditional Land Tenure. In: The Pacific Insular Case of American Sāmoa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69971-4_2
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