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Mau movement in American Samoa

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The Mau movement (Samoan: O le Mau), also called the Samoan Cause[1] or the Samoan League[2], was an anti-colonial independence movement in American Samoa, established in late 1919 or early 1920 to challenge the U.S. Navy's authority.[3]

The movement was launched by Mauga Moi Moi, the highest ranking chief in Pago Pago, after it was discovered that U.S officials had misappropriated public funds. A boycott of copra, a critical revenue source of the U.S. Navy, was initiated.[4][5]

The movement was declared over in 1935, after the death of Mauga Moi Moi.[6]

Origins

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Opposition to U.S. rule in Samoa predated 1920. After the eastern islands came under U.S. authority, Samoans faced mistreatment towards chiefs and women and were paid less than U.S. naval personnel.[7]

In 1902, Tutuilans objected to a copra tax. Governor Uriel Sebree responded by imprisoning three local leaders and removing a Samoan judge who had complained to the U.S. Navy, and described Samoans as "grown-up children who love form and ceremony."[8]

By 1904, chiefs from the Western and Eastern Districts held assemblies calling for the tax to be reduced and for an accounting of its use, and travelled together between Pago Pago and Leone to protest.[8]

Governor Warren Terhune, in office from June 1919 to November 1920, faced widespread disapproval, and his administration and policies significantly contributed to the emergence of the Mau movement.[9] A.M. Noble, an official in the Terhune administration, oversaw racially discriminatory policies in American Samoa during the 1920s. Samoans referred to him and two others in the administration as the "three white mice."[10]

Key figures

[edit]

Some key figures of the Mau movement in American Samoa were:[11]

Aims

[edit]

The aims of the Mau movement included:[27]

  • Exposing financial exploitation.[28]
  • Restoring legislative authority to Samoan chiefs.[29]
  • Abolishing labor without compensation.[30]
  • Ending U.S. Navy rule and establishing a civilian government.[31][32]
  • Promoting cooperative governance between Samoans and Americans.[33]
  • Securing the release of imprisoned chiefs (the “Faleniu conspirators”).[34]
  • Repealing contentious laws, including those banning interracial marriages and malagas (organized inter-village visits).[35]
  • Challenging the U.S. Navy's copra monopoly.[36]
  • Organizing a copra boycott, effectively disabling the revenue-dependent U.S. naval administration.[37]
  • Opposing the revocation of chiefly titles.[38]
  • Questioning the legitimacy of U.S. Navy authority in Samoa.[39]
  • Ending perceived American exploitation of Samoans.[40]
  • Resisting the deportation and exile of Mau leader Samuel Sailele Ripley.[41]
  • Safeguarding Faʻa Sāmoa — including chiefly (matai) titles and ceremonial protocols — from external interference.
  • Advocating for equal rights for both Samoans and Americans.[42]
  • Seeking unification of the Samoan Islands.[43]
  • Engaging in civil disobedience. In 1927, the Mau movement intensified its efforts by sending Governor Stephen Victor Graham a letter announcing that its members would no longer pay taxes until a civilian government—an outcome they strongly supported—was put in place.[44][45] A number of matais were arrested for tax evasion.[46]

U.S. response

[edit]

U.S. authorities responded to the Mau movement by enacting coercive measures and arresting certain Samoan leaders.[47]

The Navy administration arrested Mau supporters, including Samuel Tulele Galea'i,[48] Lieutenant Commander Creed Boucher,[49] and 100 protesters in Pago Pago in 1922.[50] Governor Waldo A. Evans charged seventeen men, called the "Faleniu conspirators," with conspiracy and rebellion.[51] Several Mau advocates, including Samuel Sailele Ripley, Madge A. Ripley, Arthur A. Greene, Gretchen Falke Greene, and Boucher, were deported from American Samoa.[citation needed]

Travel between Tutuila and Upolu was restricted to prevent coordination with the Western Samoa Mau. The 1903 Malaga Regulation barred groups of more than eight from traveling between the islands without authorization.[52]

In 1922, Governor E. T. Pollock sent a landing force of U.S. Marines from the USS Ontario to suppress a protest in Pago Pago.[53] Governor Henry Francis Bryan banned malagas (organized travel between villages). Governor Warren Terhune sought to prohibit fono (councils)[54], replaced Mauga Moi Moi and Sātele Itulā as district governors, and blamed the unrest on a Honolulu newspaper.[55] The Navy accused the editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin of inciting protests and spreading misinformation.[56] The Naval Administration also imposed martial law[57] and used armed Fita Fita guards to suppress dissent among chiefs.[58]

In 1930, the United States sent a committee to American Samoa that included Hawai'i residents who had earlier participated in the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani. The committee's report heavily supported the U.S position and the movement gradually lost momentum.[59][60][61]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Shaffer, Robert J. (2000). American Samoa: 100 Years Under the United States Flag. Island Heritage. Page 148. ISBN 978-0-89610-339-9.
  2. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 251. ISSN 0030-8684.
  3. ↑ Droessler, Holger (2022). Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa. Harvard University Press. Page 200. ISBN 978-0-674-26333-8.
  4. ↑ Droessler, Holger (2022). Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa. Harvard University Press. Page 199. ISBN 978-0-674-26333-8.
  5. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa - History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration  (1st ed.). Page 140. United States Naval Institute. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  6. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 255. ISSN 0030-8684.
  7. ↑ Lal, Brij V. and Kate Fortune (2000). The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. University of Hawaiʻi Press. Page 101. ISBN 978-0-8248-2265-1.
  8. 1 2 Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Pages 228-229. ISSN 0030-8684.
  9. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2). ISSN 0030-8684.
  10. ↑ Kennedy, Joseph (2009). The Tropical Frontier: America’s South Sea Colony. University of Guam Press. ISBN 9780980033151.
  11. ↑ Campbell, I. C. “Resistance and Colonial Government: A Comparative Study of Samoa.” The Journal of Pacific History 40, no. 1 (2005): p. 45–69. JSTOR 25169729.
  12. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 255. ISSN 0030-8684.
  13. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa - History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration (1st ed.). Page 140. United States Naval Institute. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  14. ↑ Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 81. ISBN 982-9036-02-2.
  15. ↑ Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 186. ISBN 982-9036-02-2.
  16. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa: A History of American Samoa and its United States Naval Administration. United States Naval Institute. Page 209. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  17. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa: A History of American Samoa and its United States Naval Administration. United States Naval Institute. Page 202. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  18. ↑ Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 172. ISBN 982-9036-02-2.
  19. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa - History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration (1st ed.). Page 228. United States Naval Institute. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  20. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2). ISSN 0030-8684.
  21. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2). ISSN 0030-8684.
  22. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa - History Of American Samoa And Its United States Naval Administration (1st ed.). Page 203. United States Naval Institute. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  23. ↑ Droessler, Holger (2022). Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa. Harvard University Press. Page 200. ISBN 978-0-674-26333-8.
  24. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 236. ISSN 0030-8684.
  25. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa: A History of American Samoa and its United States Naval Administration. United States Naval Institute. Page 199. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  26. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 238. ISSN 0030-8684.
  27. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2). ISSN 0030-8684.
  28. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 233. ISSN 0030-8684.
  29. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 233. ISSN 0030-8684.
  30. ↑ Droessler, Holger (2022). Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa. Harvard University Press. Pages 200-201. ISBN 978-0-674-26333-8.
  31. ↑ Field, Michael (1991). Mau: Samoa’s Struggle for Freedom. Polynesian Press. Page 105. ISBN 978-0-908597-07-9.
  32. ↑ Sunia, Fofo I.F. (2009). A History of American Samoa. Amerika Samoa Humanities Council. Page 204. ISBN 978-1-57306-299-2.
  33. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Pages 242-245. ISSN 0030-8684.
  34. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 245. ISSN 0030-8684.
  35. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Pages 242-245. ISSN 0030-8684.
  36. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Pages 239-240. ISSN 0030-8684.
  37. ↑ Droessler, Holger (2022). Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa. Harvard University Press. Page 199. ISBN 978-0-674-26333-8.
  38. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 244. ISSN 0030-8684.
  39. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Pages 239-240. ISSN 0030-8684.
  40. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Pages 239-240. ISSN 0030-8684.
  41. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa: A History of American Samoa and its United States Naval Administration. United States Naval Institute. Page 202. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  42. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 236. ISSN 0030-8684.
  43. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 251. ISSN 0030-8684.
  44. ↑ Field, Michael (1991). Mau: Samoa’s Struggle for Freedom. Polynesian Press. Page 105. ISBN 978-0-908597-07-9.
  45. ↑ Sunia, Fofo I.F. (2009). A History of American Samoa. Amerika Samoa Humanities Council. Page 204. ISBN 978-1-57306-299-2.
  46. ↑ Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 81. ISBN 982-9036-02-2.
  47. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2). ISSN 0030-8684.
  48. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 251. ISSN 0030-8684.
  49. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 238. ISSN 0030-8684.
  50. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 245. ISSN 0030-8684.
  51. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 241. ISSN 0030-8684.
  52. ↑ Gray, John Alexander Clinton (1960). Amerika Samoa: A History of American Samoa and its United States Naval Administration. United States Naval Institute. Page 154. ISBN 978-0-87021-074-7.
  53. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 245. ISSN 0030-8684.
  54. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 233. ISSN 0030-8684.
  55. ↑ Chapell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920–1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): Page 235. ISSN 0030-8684.
  56. ↑ Chappell, David A. (2000). "The Forgotten Mau: Anti-Navy Protest in American Samoa, 1920-1935". Pacific Historical Review. 69 (2): p. 236. ISSN 0030-8684.
  57. ↑ Wei, Deborah (1998). Resistance in Paradise: Rethinking 100 Years of U.S. Involvement in the Caribbean and the Pacific. American Friends Service Committee. Page 91. ISBN 978-0-910082-33-4.
  58. ↑ Armstrong, Karen (2008). “American Exceptionalism in American Samoa. Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society, 33(2), page 57. ISSN 0355-3930.
  59. ↑ Minahan, James (2010). The complete guide to national symbols and emblems. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Press. Page 10. ISBN 978-0-313-34497-8.
  60. ↑ Campbell, I. C. “Chiefs, Agitators and the Navy: The Mau in American Samoa, 1920—29.” The Journal of Pacific History 44, no. 1 (2009): 41–60. JSTOR 40346687.
  61. ↑ West, Francis James (1961). Political Advancement in the South Pacific: A Comparative Study of Colonial Practice in Fiji, Tahiti, and American Samoa. Oxford University Press. Page 135. ISBN 9780598463326.
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