Tu'i Manu'a

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Tuimanua Elisala

The title Tui Manua is considered the oldest chiefly title of the Samoa Islands and Polynesia. Tuimanua Elisala (c.1899) was the last Tuimanua titleholder. He was the grandson of Tuimanua Alalamua whose genealogy descended from the Sa Tagaloa.

The title is derived from the Manua Islands, three islands in the eastern part of the US Territory of American Samoa, which according to the oral traditions of Samoa and archaeological evidence were the first islands settled in Polynesia. Although by the 19th century, the influence of Manua was mostly a memory, the chant Tuimanua e, Lou alii e ("Tuimanua my Lord"), is still chanted throughout Samoa on great occasions.

Last titleholder

Tuimanua Elisala was the last Tuimanua titleholder. He was the grandson of Tuimanua Alalamua, a descendant of the Sa Tagaloa. Elisala attended the London Missionary Society seminary in Malua on Upolu and became the Congregationalist minister in Fitiuta. When the Faletolu (fono or meetinghouse of Tau) came to Elisala asking him to become the next Tuimanua, he refused because of his ministry, until the U.S. and Germany divided Samoa in 1899.

Subsequently, President William McKinley appointed a Naval Governor for American Samoa. The first US Navy Commandant hired an Australian lawyer to serve as administrator over American Samoa. The Australian Judge became Secretary of Native Affairs, Judge of the High Court, Secretary to the Governor, Tax Collector, and the government in Pago Pago.

Cession of Manu'a

The Commandant and Naval Judge obtained a Deed of Cession of Tutuila almost immediately from Mauga and the other high chiefs of Tutuila. However the Faletolu (fono of Manua) and the Tuimanua refused to sign a Deed of Cession of Manu'a. Monopolizing the copra industry, the American Samoa Naval Secretary (who later was convicted by the US Navy of stealing the profits involved) eventually forced Tuimanua Elisala to sign the Deed of Cession so that he could have access to its copra income. During this time a series of trials, called "The Trial of the Ipu", took place in Pago Pago, Tau, and onboard a US gunboat, the USS Abarenda. By subjecting Manua and Samoan ceremonial law to a US Naval court, these trials effectively asserted U.S. sovereignty of the Tui Manua.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Arguably a myth about the Tui Manua Elisala is that he said there should be no Tui Manua after him (Office of the Governor, 2004), although this is certainly not the tradition in Samoa. He died a few years after signing the Deed of Cession.

Sources

Barker, Joanne. 2005. "The Passive Resistance of Samoans to US and Other Colonialisms", article in "Sovereignty Matters" [link], University of Nebraska Press.
Office of the Governor. 2004. Manu‘a ma Amerika. A brief historical documentary. Manu‘a Centennial. 16 July 1904. 16 July 2004. Office of the Governor, American Samoa Government. 20 p.

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