The Making of Modern Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration in the History of Western Samoa

by Malama Meleisea

Since independence in January 1962 several constitutional court cases have exposed the dilemma which the Western Samoa Government is facing balancing fa'a' Samo (Samoan customs and traditions) with Western legal systems of authority. This book traces the clash between Samoan and Western notions of government and law from the 1830s to the 1980s emphasizing the hitherto neglected interpretation of events from a Samoan perspective. As a critical reinterpretation of the literature on Western Samoa, drawing on oral sources and material from the archives of the Land and Titles Court of Western Samoa, the book provides important new insights into pre-colonial Samoa, the German and New Zealand colonial regimes, racial issues and the contemporary political problems of the independent State of Western Samoa.

Paperback

Published January 1, 1987