Tui Manu'a

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Tui Manuʻa Empire
Tui Manu'a Empire Map.png
CapitalFitiuta, Manu'a, American Samoa
Official languagesSamoan
Recognised regional languages
Samoan Mythology
Tu'i Manu'a 
Historical eraPre-Tongan
Today part ofSamoa
American Samoa
Wallis and Futuna
Cook Islands
French Polynesia
Tui Manu'a Elisala was the last title holder
Tui Manu'a Matelita was the Tui Manuʻa from 1891 to 1895.

The title Tui Manuʻa was the title of the ruler or paramount chief of the Manu'a islands Group in present-day American Samoa.

The Tuʻi Manuʻa Confederacy, or Samoan Empire, are descriptions sometimes given to Samoan expansionism and projected hegemony in Oceania which began with the founding of the Tui Manu'a Title, Traditional oral literature of Samoa and Manu'a talks of a widespread Polynesian network or confederacy (or "empire")[1][2][3]


The Tui Manu'a is one of the oldest titles in Samoa. According to Samoan and Tongan oral histories, the first Tui Manu'a was a direct descendant of the Samoan supreme god, Tagaloa. In Samoan lore, the islands of Manu'a (Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u) are always the first lands to be created or drawn from the sea; consequently the Tui Manu'a is the first human ruler mentioned. This "senior" ranking of the Tui Manu'a title continues to be esteemed and acknowledged by Samoans despite the fact that the title itself has not been occupied since the American takeover in the early 20th century.[4]

The Tui Manu'a Empire[edit]

Traditional oral literature of Samoa and Tonga speaks of a widespread Polynesian network or confederacy (or "empire") that was prehistorically ruled by the successive Tui Manu'a dynasties. Manu'an genealogies and religious oral literature also suggest that the Tui Manu'a had long been one of the most prestigious and powerful paramounts of the Pacific and the first pre-eminent ruler of all Samoa. Oral history suggests that the Tui Manu'a kings governed a confederacy of far-flung islands which included Fiji, Tonga[1][2][3] as well as smaller western Pacific chiefdoms and Polynesian outliers such as Uvea, Futuna, Tokelau, and Tuvalu. Commerce and exchange routes between the western Polynesian societies is well documented and it is speculated that the Tui Manu'a dynasty grew through its success in obtaining control over the oceanic trade of currency goods such as finely woven ceremonial mats, whale ivory "tabua", obsidian and basalt tools, chiefly red feathers, and seashells reserved for royalty (such as polished nautilus and the egg cowry).

Decline and Isolation[edit]

Eventually, the maritime empire began to decline and a new empire rose from the South.[5] In 950 AD, the first Tu'i Tonga 'Aho'eitu started to expand his rule outside of Tonga. Samoa's Savaii, Upolu and Tutuila islands were to eventually succumb to Tongan rule, and would remain part of the empire for almost 400 years. However, as the ancestral homeland of the Tu'i Tonga dynasty and the abode of deities such as Tagaloa 'Eitumatupu'a, Tonga Fusifonua, and Tavatavaimanuka, the Manu'a islands of Samoa were considered sacred by the early Tongan kingsand and thus were never occupied by the Tongans, allowing for it to remain under Tui Manu'a rule.[6]

By the time of the tenth Tu’i Tonga Momo, and his successor, Tuʻitātui, the Tu'i Tonga's empire had grown to include much of the former domains of the Tui Fiti and Tui Manu'a. The expulsion of the Tongans in the 13th century from neighbouring Upolu and Savaii would not lead to the islands returning to Tui Manu'a but to the rise of a new dominant polity in the western isles: the Malietoa, whose feats in liberating Samoa from the Tongan occupants led to the establishment of a new political order in Upolu and Savaii which remained unchallenged for nearly 300 years. Although the Tui Manu'a would never again regain rulership of the surrounding islands, it is permanently held in high esteem as the progenitor of the great Samoan and Tongan lineages.[7]

Colonization and the "Abolition" of the Tui Manu'a title[edit]

The Manu'a islands were grouped with Tutuila and Aunu'u as the United States possession now called American Samoa. The presidency of the United States, and the military authorities of the US Navy, supplanted the native administrative role of the Tui Manu'a, through the arrests of chiefs of the Tui Manu'a and two trials of the Tui Manu'a, one on an American warship off the coast of Ta'u, called the "Trial of the Ipu".[8] On 6 July 1904 Tui Manu'a Elisala officially ceded the islands of Manu'a to the United States through the signing of the Treaty of Cession of Manu'a. He was relegated the office of Governor of Manu'a for the term of life and the understanding that the Tui Manu'a title would follow him to the grave. He died on 2 July 1909.

After a fifteen-year break, the office was revived in 1924 when Chris Young, a member of the Anoalo clan of the Tui Manu'a family and the brother of Tui Manu'a Matelita who reigned between 1890 and 1895, was named Tui Manu'a by the general assembly of the Faletolu and Anoalo. American officials were worried that the Manu'ans were restoring a "king" who would cause trouble for the administration. Governor Edward Stanley Kellogg opposed the bestowal and had the new Tui Manu'a brought to Tutuila where he was prevented from exercising the powers of his office. The Governor did not recognise the title on the basis that a monarchy was incompatible within the framework of the Constitution of the United States, stating that the previous Tui Manu'a had pledged under duress to be the last person to hold the title.

The descendants of Tui Manu'a are numerous.

List of Tui Manuʻa[edit]

  1. Satiailemoa
  2. Tele (brother of Satiailemoa)
  3. Maui Tagote
  4. Maugaotele
  5. Folasa or Taeotagaloa
  6. Faʻaeanuʻu I or Faʻatutupunuʻu
  7. Saoʻioʻiomanu (Saʻo or eldest son of Faʻaeanuʻu I)
  8. Saopuʻu (second son of Faʻaeanuʻu I)
  9. Saoloa (third son of Faʻaeanuʻu I)
  10. Tuʻufesoa (fourth son of Faʻaeanuʻu I)
  11. Letupua (fifth son of Faʻaeanuʻu I)
  12. Saofolau (sixth son of Faʻaeanuʻu I)
  13. Saoluaga
  14. Lelologatele (eldest son of Saofolau)
  15. Aliʻimatua (eldest son of Lelologatele)
  16. Aliʻitama (second son of Lelologatele)
  17. Tui Oligo (grandson or son of Aliʻitama's daughter)
  18. Faʻaeanuʻu II (eldest son of Tui Oligo)
  19. Puipuipo (second son of Tui Oligo)
  20. Siliʻaivao (third son of Tui Oligo)
  21. Tuimanufili (daughter of Faʻaeanuʻu II)
  22. Faʻatoʻalia Manu-o-le-faletolu (eldest son of Tuimanufili)
  23. Segisegi (son of Faʻatoʻalia)
  24. Siliave (daughter of Faʻatoʻalia)
  25. Tui-o-Pomelea (son of Siliave)
  26. Tui-o-Lite (or Tui Aitu) (son of Tui-o-Pomelea)
  27. Toʻalepai (son of Tui-o-Lite)
  28. Seuea (daughter of Toʻalepai)
  29. Salofi (brother of Seuea)
  30. Levaomana (son of Salofi)
  31. Taliutafapule (son of Salofi and brother of Levaomana)
  32. Taʻalolomana Muaatoa
  33. Tupalo
  34. Seiuli
  35. Uʻuolelaoa (killed in a war with Fitiuta)
  36. Fagaese
  37. Tauveve
  38. Visala
  39. Alalamua
  40. Matelita or Makelita (1872–1895), r. 1891–1895
  41. Elisala or Elisara (died 1909), r. 1899–1909[9]
  42. Chris (Kilisi) Taliutafa Young (1924)[10]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b Calder, Alex; Lamb, Jonathan; Orr, Bridget (1999). Voyages and Beaches: Pacific Encounters, 1769–1840. University of Hawaii Press. p. 82. ISBN 9780824820398.
  2. ^ a b "Journal of the Polynesian Society: An Experiment In Tongan History, By E. E. V. Collocott, P 166-184".
  3. ^ a b Teiufaifeau Brown. "Unit 27 Samoas Political History" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Tupou 2". Samoa History. 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  5. ^ Kaʻili, Tēvita O. (7 August 2018). Marking indigeneity : the Tongan art of sociospatial relations. ISBN 978-0-8165-3867-6. OCLC 1050113841.
  6. ^ "Pacific Islands". Encyclopedia of Christianity Online. doi:10.1163/2211-2685_eco_p.2. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  7. ^ Asofou, So'o (2008). Democracy and custom in Samoa : an uneasy alliance. IPS Publications, University of the South Pacific. ISBN 978-982-02-0390-7. OCLC 836910717.
  8. ^ "Passive Resistance of Samoans to U.S. Colonialism" essay (Published in "Sovereignty Matters: Locations of Contestation and Possibility in Indigenous Struggles for Self-Determination" Editor Joanne Barker, 2006). University of Nebraska Press. December 2005. ISBN 9780803251984.
  9. ^ Ben, Cahoon, ed. (2000). "American Samoa". Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  10. ^ Isaia 1999, pp. 257–258.


  • Isaia, Malopaʻupo (1999). Coming of Age in American Anthropology: Margaret Mead and Paradise. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-845-1.
  • McMullin, Dan Taulapapa. 2005. "The Passive Resistance of Samoans to US and Other Colonialisms", article in "Sovereignty Matters" [1], 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.
  • Samoa News [2]
  • Linnekin, Hunt, Lang & McCormick (University of Hawaii Pacific Islands Cooperative Botanic Studies Institute)[3]