Sāmoa’s Gethsemane (1930)

This chapter explores the immediate aftermath of the Black Saturday Massacre through the experiences of Ta’isi. Though New Zealand forces tried to stop the Mau through exiling Ta’isi and then the killing Tupua Tamasese (which may have been intended or not) the Mau continued to disrupt New Zealand’s rule. The Women’s Mau, in which Rosabel played a prominent role, also came to the fore in 1930. Administrator Allen enraged these women, Ta’isi and Sāmoans generally, when he wrote in the annual report to the League of Nations that these women were of ‘light moral character’. The crisis of the Great Depression began to impact Sāmoa and for Ta’isi personally; his enforced absence from Sāmoa began to bite into his business operations. This chapter explores the New Zealand’s part in continuing attempts to publically damage Ta’isi’s status amongst Sāmoans. It also explores the impact on Ta’isi and the Mau with the death of Sir Māui Pōmare, who had been Samoa’s staunchest supporter.

“If There is any Justice at All” (1928)

This chapter reveals for the first time the behind the scenes workings of the Permanent Mandates Commission (PMC) and the level of access George Spafford Richardson and Sir James Parr, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to London and League representative, had to members of the PMC in unofficial meetings. This is contrasted with the PMC’s refusal to allow Ta’isi to formally present the Sāmoan case. The chapter outlines the result of the hearings that were a resounding victory for the New Zealand government and condemnation of Ta’isi. It sets out Ta’isi’s response to this and other details from his personal life, such as his car accident near Rugby in the U. K. that injured himself, his driver and daughter Viopapa considerably. For the latter, her injuries would have serious repercussions. Meanwhile in Sāmoa, the administration finally succeeded in arresting Tupua Tamasese Lea’lofi and exiled him to New Zealand over Christmas 1928, a move that boosted the Mau cause in New Zealand.

Slander, Abuse, and Calumny (1929)

As Ta’isi’s efforts to have his exile revoked had failed, he began settling into life in Auckland though he believed the merits of his case would soon prevail and he would be permitted to return home. The chapter reveals his family’s experiences of living in Auckland from late 1928, particularly his experience with a landlady who would launch legal proceedings against him in a legal suit replete with racist ideas about Sāmoans as well as the pervasive campaign of disgrace the government was waging against him. As well as this exploration of the social worlds Ta’isi was forced to inhabit from 1928, this chapter looks at the implications for the 1929 report into the Sāmoan administration (the VPB Report) that found many of the Mau complaints were in fact valid. The chapter also follows the fate of Tupua Tamasese Lea’lofi who was released from prison in June 1929 and his subsequent return to Sāmoa. The chapter concludes with Ta’isi’s preoccupations at the end of 1929 that centered on his slander case against the New Zealand Herald, and his sending a lawyer to Apia to gather evidence; a move that would end tragically.

“He is Not a Samoan” (1927)

This chapter examines the ongoing fallout from the rise of the Mau in Sāmoa and New Zealand. One major development was the founding of the Mau newspaper, the Samoa Guardian in 1927 and how this publication was intended to be mouthpiece for the movement and combat the extensive conservative press coverage that supported the government. It also focuses upon the debates in the New Zealand parliament that entwined the Sāmoan present with the Māori past, especially as it connected the non-violent community of Parihaka with the Sāmoan Mau. It also outlines the main parliamentary actors, especially Labour Leader Harry Holland and Sir Māui Pōmare, both who impacted this history in considerable ways. These debates articulated many ideas about British Empire, its past and how it could operate in the new conditions of the 1920s. The discussion also centered on the history of exile and how it had been used in numerous contexts. The chapter also delves into the little known but highly significant confidential parliamentary inquiry – the Joint Samoan Petition Inquiry Committee – which held in camera hearings where Ta’isi was virtually the sole witness. This inquiry preceded a Royal Commission to be held in Sāmoa and the chapter shows how the petition inquiry was a ploy to keep Ta’isi and his legal team out of Sāmoa so they could have little influence on the more public royal commission that was orchestrated by General Richardson.

The Storm (1926–1927)

After the second public meeting of late 1926 was stopped by Administrator Richardson, the Mau was officially launched in March 1927. A petition was drawn up and sent to the New Zealand parliament triggering two inquiries into New Zealand’s administration that would be held in 1927 and it would generate considerable debate in the New Zealand parliament about Sāmoa policy. The chapter explains the differing explanations proffered by Richardson for the Mau that ranged from anger at prohibition legislation, a German plot, and Ta’isi’s supposed desire to economically exploit Sāmoan copra growers. As the question of copra and economic exploitation becomes such a central plank of New Zealand’s campaign against Ta’isi, this chapter delves into features of this industry as well as discussing how both sides began using the press for their own purposes.

The “Troublesome Garden of Eden” (1920–1923)

In 1921, Sāmoa’s status shifted to a League of Nations Mandate under New Zealand’s ‘sacred trust’, a circumstance that significantly altered Sāmoan perceptions of its New Zealand rulers. This chapter examines Ta’isi’s relationships with administrator Colonel Robert Tate and how New Zealand shifted its governing style according to the new international conditions. In particular, it traces how ideas about race and governance operated and how these impacted Ta’isi during the time of the first Mau movement that erupted in the aftermath of the influenza epidemic and that plagued Tate’s administration throughout. As well as outlining the shifting conditions in the mandate, this chapter also examines Ta’isi’s private world that became centered at his new house of Tuaefu that became an iconic element of Ta’isi’s place in Sāmoa. We see into his library and the social world he created and how in the fraught racial conditions in the mandate, these social worlds were highly politicized from the perspective of New Zealand authorities.

Kaiser or King?

This chapter explores the family history of Ta’isi, the course of his marriage, the birth of his six children to Rosabel and the bringing into his family unit of his first born daughter, Lucy. It tracks the economic rise of Ta’isi as a businessman in the Sāmoan Islands and the prominent role he took to as an interlocutor with German administrators about the running of German Samoa. It then tracks the seismic effects of World War One and its aftermath on Sāmoa. World War One brought an abrupt end to German rule that was replaced by a New Zealand military occupation in 1914. The effects of the Great War were both enormously beneficial to Ta’isi as a businessman, but it also brought the devastating aftermath of the 1918 influenza epidemic that killed over 20% of Samoa’s population, including Ta’isi’s mother, sister, brother, sister-in-law and his beloved only son. This chapter traces these events and their effects on Ta’isi, showing how they led him into an activist role within Sāmoa.

Breaking Mr. Nelson in the Great Depression (1931–1932)

After the Black Saturday massacre and the limited repercussions for the New Zealand government as a result, the government stepped up its assault on Ta’isi who was outside the reach of new draconian laws in Sāmoa that criminalized almost every aspect of life and cultural practice. Rather than pursue Ta’isi, they pursued his firm that was put on trial for aiding and abetting a seditious organization. The chapter investigates the course of events around this trial and the impact it had on Ta’isi and his company that was already suffering enormously due to the Great Depression. It also explores attempts to prevent Ta’isi’s return to Sāmoa, the threat of a repetition of the Black Saturday massacre if he did return and the drastic impact this situation had on his family.

Before the Storm (1926)

Examining the chain of events of 1926, this chapter sets the scene for the dramatic shift in the political situation that took place in late 1926. It tracks the friendly relations between Richardson and Ta’isi whilst Ta’isi was absent from Sāmoa for many months in 1926, spending an extended period in Sydney being treated for an unspecified illness. It also outlines the political ferment in Sydney at this time around race and empire that Ta’isi would have been exposed to and how this connected with reports Ta’isi was receiving in Sydney of Richardson’s increasingly authoritarian governing style. It concludes with Richardson’s effusive speech welcoming Ta’isi back to Sāmoa, Richardson’s secret communications with a New Zealand official where he learnt that Ta’isi had raised concerns about his governing style with the New Zealand prime minister and the public meetings in late 1926 where three Sāmoan communities – Europeans, afakasis, Sāmoans – came together to politically organize. These meetings, chaired by Ta’isi, would become watershed moments.

Sāmoa Evermore (1935–1944)

This chapter begins by tracking the change of fortune for Ta’isi once the political landscape in New Zealand shifted when the first Labour government was elected in late 1935 and Michael Savage became prime minister. As a result, Ta’isi was allowed to return home in 1936 where he again received an immense welcome but this time administration officials and three of the highest chiefs also joined the welcoming party. Despite the euphoria upon his return, old problems surfaced as war-horses of the Samoan administration continued to hold their positions and wield extraordinary powers. This gave rise to the “New Mau” in 1938 where Ta’isi once again took an activist role. The chapter charts the drastically altered circumstances when war erupted. This time of war was also the time of Ta’isi’s increasingly poor health. The chapter offers an intimate view of his final years that ended with his death in February 1944.