Politics of Samoa takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic state whereby the Prime Minister of Samoa is the head of government. Existing alongside the country's Western-styled political system is the fa'amatai chiefly system of socio-political governance and organisation, central to understanding Samoa's political system.
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. Tagaloa Lagi dwelt in space and made the Heavens the sky, the land, the seas, the fresh water, the trees and the people. Samoans believed Tagaloa created nine heavens. Tagaloa's role as paramount deity in the Samoa pantheon bears similarities to the position of Ta'aroa in Tahiti and Io Matua Kore in New Zealand.
The Manuʻa Islands, or the Manuʻa tele, in the Samoan Islands, consists of three main islands: Taʻū, Ofu and Olosega. The latter two are separated only by the shallow, 137-meter-wide Āsaga Strait, and are now connected by a bridge over the strait. The islands are located some 110 kilometers east of Tutuila and are a part of American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Their combined area is 56 square kilometers, and they have a total population of 1,400. Taʻu is the largest of these islands, with an area of 44 km2 (17 sq mi), and it has the highest point of the Manuʻa, at 931 meters. Politically, the islands form the Manuʻa District, one of the three administrative divisions of American Samoa.
The Tuʻi Tonga Empire, or Tongan Empire, are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony in Oceania which began around 950 CE, reaching its peak during the period 1200–1500.
The Tuʻi Tonga is a line of Tongan kings, which originated in the tenth century with the mythical ʻAhoʻeitu, and withdrew from political power in the fifteenth century by yielding to the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua. The title ended with the death of the last Tuʻi Tonga, Sanualio Fatafehi Laufilitonga, in 1865, who bequeathed the ancient title and its mana to his nephew, Fatafehi Tu'i Pelehake, who was the Tu'i Faleua, or Lord of the Second House. Tu'i Pelehake surrendered the title and its privileges to his father-in-law, King George Tupou I, who united its power and prestige with that of the Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tu'i Vava'u, and Tu'i Ha'apai titles to establish the modern-day institution of the Tongan Crown. Though the title is no longer conferred, the ancient line remains unbroken and is represented by the noble title of Kalaniuvalu.
Ātua is an ancient political district of Samoa, consisting of most of the eastern section of Upolu and the island Tutuila. Within Samoa’s traditional polity, Ātua is ruled by the Tui Ātua together with the group of six senior orators of Lufilufi and 13 senior matai from throughout Ātua, comprising the Fale Ātua. The fono (meeting) of Atua's rulers takes place in Lufilufi on the great malae of Lalogafu'afu'a.
The islands of Samoa were originally inhabited by humans as early as 850 BC. After being invaded by European explorers in the 18th century, by the 20th and 21st century, the islands were incorporated into Samoa and American Samoa.
Mālietoa is a state dynasty and one of the four paramount chiefly titles of Samoa. It is the titular head of one of the two great royal families of Samoa: Sā Malietoa. Literally translated as "great warrior", the title's origin comes from the final words of the Tongan warriors as they were fleeing on the beach to their boats, "Malie To`a, Malo e tau...".
The fire knife is a traditional Samoan cultural implement that is used in ceremonial dances. It was originally composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing dance while twirling the knife and doing other acrobatic stunts. The towels are set afire during the dances, hence the name.
Aleamotuʻa was the 18th Tu'i Kanokupolu of Tonga, the third lineage of Tongan Kings with the political and military power who ruled in support of the Tu'i Tonga.
Pili line was a royal house in ancient Hawaii that ruled over the island of Hawaiʻi with deep roots in the history of Samoa and possibly beyond further to the west, Ao-Po, in Pulotu, the Samoan Underworld. It was founded on unknown date by King Pilikaʻaiea (Pili), who either was born in or came from either Upolu, Samoa or Uporu, Tahiti, but came to Hawaii and established his own dynasty of kings (Aliʻi). The overall arc of his career describes a brilliant young chief from foreign lands who was eager to share his abundant knowledge of advanced technology with distant frontier rustics. Some stories relate how his ambition got the better of him and damaged his relationships with his subjects. These stories cast him as a libidinous, restless and petty tyrant ever on the move searching for new conquests.
The title Tui Manuʻa was the title of the ruler or paramount chief of the Manuʻa Islands in present-day American Samoa.
Edward Stanley Kellogg was a United States Navy Captain who served as the governor of American Samoa. Kellogg graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1892 and joined the Naval Engineer Corps. He served as an assistant engineer on numerous ships and participated in the Spanish–American War. He retired in 1920, and became governor three years later, making him only one of two Naval Governors of American Samoa to hold the office following retirement from the service. As Governor, Kellogg asserted the authority of the United States over the tribal chiefs of the islands. He removed the title of Tu'i Manu'a from Chris Young, claiming it implied king-like authority over the people of American Samoa. He also removed Chief Tui Manu'a from power, resulting in widespread protest among the islands' people. Kellogg died at the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
ʻUvea is one of the three official chiefdoms of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna in Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean.
Tui Manu'a Matelita, born Margaret Young, and also known as Makelita, Matelika or Lika was the Tui Manu'a of Manu'a, a group of islands in the eastern part of the Samoan Islands, from 1891 to 1895. During her tenure, she served largely a ceremonial role at her residence on Ta'ū where she received British writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Matelita never married because she would not marry any of the eligible native chieftains and no other men were regarded as having the proper rank to marry her. She died of illness in 1895, although later reports claimed she died by a more violent means. She was buried in the Tui Manu'a Graves Monument.
Samoa–Tonga relations are the bilateral relations between the Independent State of Samoa and the Kingdom of Tonga. They also interact in multilateral relations, with both of them belonging to the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Tui Manu'a Graves Monument is a funerary marker and grave site on the island Ta'u, the largest island of the Manu'a group in American Samoa. It is located northwest of the junction of Ta'u Village and Ta'u Island Roads on the west side of the island. It consists of a stone platform, about 3 feet (0.91 m) in height, that is roughly rectangular in shape with a projection at one end. Three graves are marked by square sections of smoothed stones, while a fourth is marked by a marble column. A possible fifth grave, unmarked, is in the projection. It is the burial site of several tu'i, or kings, of Manu'a, including Tui Manu'a Matelita and Tui Manu'a Elisala, the Samoan leader whose signature granted the United States hegemony over the islands.
Taliutafa Christopher Leiesilika Young, also known as Christopher Taliutafa Young, Chris Young or Kilisi Young was the last claimant to the traditional title Tui Manu'a of Manu'a, a group of islands in the eastern part of the Samoan Islands. He was deposed from this title and exiled by American Governor Edward Stanley Kellogg because the idea of monarchy was incompatible with the Constitution of the United States.