History Research Projec

Rosemary Sulifoa
Major IA 3
Form 6

1/09/2022
Table of Contents
Topic 2
Hypothesis/Focus Question
Sub-Hypothesis/Sub-Questions
Methodology 3
Log Book 4
Introduction 5
Sub-Question 1
 Image: Wife of a chief

Body 6
Sub-Question 2
 Women Mau
 Image: Women’s Mau

 Women Matai
Body Continue 7
 Image: Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa

 Women Empowerment
Conclusion 8
Sub-Question 3
Pictures 9
 Image: The 4 leaders of the Women’s Mau
 Image: O.F Nelson and wife, Rosabel Nelson
 Image: Fa’amusami Faunuina
 Image: SWAG
 Image: SWAG Logo
 Image: SWAG President, Shelley Burich
 Image: WIBDI Virgin Coconut Oil

 Image: WIBDI Logo

Bibliography 10
Evaluations 11

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Topic:
The roles of women in the development of Samoa since the 1980s

Hypothesis/ Focus Question:

 What were the women’s role in the development of Samoa throughout
the years? How did they contribute to the change in Samoa’s
development?

Sub-Hypothesis/ Sub-Questions:
1. What were the women’s role during ancient Samoa?
2. What were the women’s roles during the 1900 until the 21st century?
3. How did the women’s contribution bring change to Samoa’s
development?

2
Methodology
The information for this report project was mostly obtained through secondary sources. This would
include the images, pdf files and websites that contain the much needed information essential to this
report on the chosen topic. While collection the information, I was able to conduct a hypothesis or focus
question that is to be used in the construction of this project. The sub-hypothesis or questions were
created after the hypothesis in order to form a structure that is needed to allocate each information. As
the information was finally arranged and edited, the research project finally came to a conclusion that was
satisfactory.

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Log Book

Log Book Entry (11th July – 31st August)

Date Event
th
11 July Internal Assignment topics were distributed by the
teacher.
12th July We received the outline needed for the major task.

14th July Decided on which topic to begin research on.

15th July Began researching and collecting information.

1st August Created a draft for the IA.

1st August Started IA.

29th August Completed IA.

31st August Handed in IA to teacher to read and to give any

corrections.

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 Introduction
Sub-Question 1: What were the women’s role during ancient Samoa?
Historically, Samoa has had a tradition of female chiefs as traditional leaders who
has had a major role in the development of Samoan society. These women had a
very important and high role in Samoan society. This can be seen in Nafanua and
Queen Salamasina. Nafanua, according to myth, was a war goddess and female
warrior who ruled some constituencies. Queen Salamasina was Samoa’s first
tafa’ifā1 who was the holder of the 4 paramount chiefly titles and has being in
sovereign control of the nation for more than 40 years. Unlike the western culture,
Samoan culture marked women to aspire towards very high positions. Samoan
myths and legends documented that matriarchal leadership existed prior to
colonization and Christianity.
With the arrival of the missionaries, matriarchal leadership was gradually
suppressed by male leadership. The first was by the Christian missionaries in 1830
and later by colonial powers after the world wars. After Samoa became
independence in 1962, leadership of positions in families, churches, government
Figure 1: Wife of a chief and organization have being predominantly males. Women have encountered
inequality in striving for leadership positions that are firmly rooted in family leader’s predominant
preference for men. Religious beliefs have also impacted women’s role in development where the
emphasis is on the father as a leader of the family and women as peaceful activists.
Women’s roles also changed when the colonial government encouraged the women committees to
introduce European ideologies, health and sanitation laws. They were directly involved with the
government health teams and the administration. They were efficient and were important assets to the
colonial administrations. The women’s committee continued to help the government and NGO 2 to
implement programs and to inform the villages on different issues. The strength of the modern women
was attributed to the traditional roles of the Samoan women.
The matai3 in a family is neither male nor female but the trustee of the aiga 4 heritage and land. Women
elected to be matai are selected by the extended family. She assumes the responsibility of seeing that the
family heritage is utilized properly and allocated fairly. She also has the duty of protecting the land as
well as the standing of the matai title. The missionary and colonial eras saw changes in the social systems
and many diminished status of Samoan women. The leadership authority that had been equivalent to the
chiefs and orators dissolved as a result of women’s lesser rank.
The fa’alupega5 has indicated that the prestigious standing of the Samoan women is highly honored,
stable and respected. Samoan females succeeded the roles of taulasea 6, ositaulaga7, pae ma le ’āuli8 and

1
Holder of four paramount chiefly titles
2
Non-governmental organizations
3
Chief
4
Family
5
A ceremonial salutation which consists of courtesy titles
6
Traditional healer
7
A person who leads in worship
8
Peace maker

5
fai’oa9. These fundamental leadership roles in Samoan females are now ceremonial, resulting in either
diminished or the cessation of leadership privileges

Body
Sub-Question 2: What were the women’s roles during the 1900 until the 21st century?

In modern times, after the 1962 independence, women in Samoa have had very little role in society but
times have changed slowly and women have begun to have more of a role in the different parts of society.
Women’s Mau
During the Mau Movement10 of the 1930s, women also had a
major role in moving towards independence. The Women’s Mau
was a group who asserted power where they were able to form
their own Mau. When the men of the Mau were sent to prison,
the responsibility fell on the women to guide and lead the
people. These women played an important role in raising funds
for the Mau and assumed the prominent role of Mau protestors
in the absence of the men.
The Women’s Mau emerged days after the men retreated into
hiding to avoid persecution which enabled open political Mau Figure 2: The Women’s Mau
activities to continue. The women held meetings in Vaimoso
and Lepea, marched in processions, drafted anti-governmental petitions and raised funds to support the
Mau newspaper in New Zealand. The Women’s Mau was led by 4 leading ladies; Ala Tamasese, the
widow of Tamasese Lealofi II, Rosabel Nelson, wife of O.F Nelson, Paisami Tuimalealiifano, wife of
Tuimaleali’ifano and Fa’amusami Faunuina, wife of the first Prime Minister, Faumuina Fiame.
These women’s actions and voices were powerful and persuasive in the fight towards a Samoa free from
oppressive rules. The discovery of personal letters, petition of protests towards the colonial administration
and the Prime Minister of New Zealand suggests that the actions of the Women’s Mau had great influence
on Samoa. Their determination shown to regain sovereign control was stronger than the colonial
administration threats and religious leaders influence. The Women’s Mau was a movement of traditional
power that was underestimated by historians and the New Zealand administration. They were active from
the beginning and had a major role in fundraising. They wore the Mau uniform, held meetings and were
active in all of the movements except for protests. When the men were driven away, the women continued
their responsibilities which included protests against the administration.
Women Matai
From a 2011 census, out of 16,797 people holding matai titles, 9% were women and in 2014,
5.5% of village based matai’s were women. According to UN Women, women made up
close to 36% of total matai. From the Centre for Samoan Studies 2015 statistics, out of 240
traditional villages, 41 did not allow women to hold matai titles and in addition 34 villages
did not allow resident female matai’s to participate in village council meetings. This has
created a hinder towards women’s opportunities to become national leaders. Women in
Samoa has had very little representation in parliament. At the 2016 general election, only 5
9
Health maker
10
A non-violent movement that began during colonial rule until the beginning of the 20th century. Its purpose was
to make Samoa an independent nation.

6
of 50 parliamentary seats were occupied by women. 4 women were respective winners and one was
appointed as a result of the 10% allocation for women representatives in response to Goal 3 of the
Millennium Development Goals and Beyond 2015. This gender quota in 2013 was introduced to increase
women’s participation in parliament.
The majority who hold matai titles are men but on some occasions the unmarried women can have them
as well. Fiame Naomi Mataafa is an example. She was a prominent member of HRPP 11 but has recently
become the leader of the FAST12 party. Fiame is a well-respected political leader who rose in Cabinet,
became the first deputy prime minister during the 2016 election and is the current and first prime minister
of Samoa since the 2021 election. Samoa has had a long history of women’s roles in society especially in
leadership such as being a paramount chief or a pro-independence leader. In recent years, Figure 3: Current Prime
women have taken more roles as parliamentarians, ministers, CEOs 13 and ACEOs14. Minister, Fiame Naomi
Nowadays, there is an increase in women’s role in politics but the amount of female Mata’afa
representation in government is still low.
Women Empowerment
Women in Samoa have always had a role in Agriculture. They were and still are food producers, growing
cash crops for income, taking care of families and as well as running an agricultural business. But
although women have had a significant role agriculture and rural livelihoods in Samoa, they lack the
representation at the decision making level and as well as the management and governance of natural
resources. Women’s roles in Agriculture can be seen in the two groups, SWAG 15 and WIBDI16.
SWAG is a non-governmental organization that supports women who are passionate in agriculture and
are empowered through policy, programming and organizational strengthening. It is an organization that
has being recognized as an important private sector partner that helps MAF 17 promote the interest of
women growers by creating platforms and opportunities in order to share their experience, knowledge and
challenges. They have raised the visibility of women farmers and has seen an increase in women
engaging in farming since Covid-19. The women have now become the main household organizer,
primary caregivers and as well as a full-time farmer. Shelley Burich is the president of SWAG. She is
Samoa’s only and leading vanilla farmer and exporter. She has a vision to develop SWAG further into a
trusted and respected organization for the members and stakeholders within Samoa.
WIBDI is another non-profit organization that is led by women. It works with 1,000 farming families in
Samoa. They have reached globally where they supply locally produced and processed organic virgin
coconut oil to global cosmetic companies such as, Body Shop. They also export a range of high value
locally sourced products globally including other Pacific nations such as specialty tea, coffee, cocoa
blocks and dried banana. WIBDI also has a domestic market where they supply produce and fruits within
Samoa. They educate and mentor young farmers, particularly women in agriculture and develop night
markets for farmers.

Conclusion

11
Human Rights Protection Party
12
Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi
13
Chief Executive Officer
14
Assistant Chief Executive Officer
15
Samoa Women’s Association of Growers
16
Women in Business Development Incorporated
17
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

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Sub-Question 3: How did the women’s contribution bring change to Samoa’s development?

Women’s roles in Samoa has greatly changed, from ancient times to the 1900s and finally to the present
day. While researching I found that women in Samoa have struggled to be where they are at. Whether it is
becoming a member of parliament or a business woman, each and every women have fought for their
place to be part of Samoa’s development.
From Ancient times, women have had a major role in society as can be seen from the goddess Nafanua
and Queen Salamasina. Although the stories are old, they hold a deeper meaning of the power and the
role that women have had in Samoan in the olden days.
Entering the 1800s and 1900s, women’s roles were changed by the missionaries and colonizers. Each
women became the peace keeper of the home instead of a proud and powerful leader and warrior as was
mentioned many times in oral history. There were events that has shown women in the light of being
warriors. An example is during the Mau Movement. When the men fled into hiding, the women continued
the Mau and because of this, the Mau did not die as some would have thought it would. They continued to
fight for their freedom without the men and in the end, their efforts created an independent Samoa.
In present day, women as matai’s and in parliament is at a slow rate. As of present, there are only 10% of
women who has a seat in parliament and only 9% of women are matai. From these small number of
women in politics and leadership, it is understandable how there is not an increase of women in
parliament. In recent years there has being an increase of women as CEOs and ACEOs in ministries,
which is a big achievement.
Women have also had an important role in business. As can be seen in SWAG and WIBDI, these two
non-profit groups have created many opportunities for women to build a career where they would depend
on the land in order to provide for them and their families. This provides an opportunity where women
would add more to the development within Samoa. With women participating in the production and
exporting of products and goods within the domestic or global markets of Samoa, so many opportunities
would be created for women. This will empower women and their roles in the development of Samoa
would increase to create an even better Samoa.
To conclude, women’s roles in the development has change through time. From the ancient time, to the
Mau movement, the 1980s to the 1990s and the present Samoa, we can see that women has more of a
struggle in being part of the development instead of being the role. This would be because of the change
in many cultural practices because of the colonizing era, where women had major roles which became
nothing more than ceremonial titles. Although these changes were brought about, more changes are
coming in the future with women participating in many more roles in the development of Samoan society,
economy and culture.

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 Pictures

Figure 4: The leaders of the Women’s Mau; Mrs.

Tuimaliifano, Mrs. Tamasese, Mrs. Nelson and Figure 5: O.F Nelson and wife, Rosabel Figure 6: Fa’amusami Faunuina
Mrs. Faumuina Nelson

Figure 8: SWAG Logo

Figure 7: SWAG Figure 9: SWAG President, Shelley Burich

Figure 10: WIBDI Virgin Figure 11: WIBDI Logo

Coconut Oill

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Bibliography
 https://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/news-events/all-stories/womens-leadership-gender-quotas-and-constitutional-
crisis-samoa
 https://www.cta.int/en/gender/article/women-led-agribusiness-in-samoa-reaches-global-markets-
sid070a725d0-2d29-4a8f-9f23-d3710bf47e3e
 https://www.samoagovt.ws/2021/03/celebrating-women-in-leadership-from-the-agriculture-and-fisheries-
sector/
 https://borgenproject.org/category/samoa/#:~:text=Nicknamed%20the%20%E2%80%9CCradle%20of
%20Polynesia,Samoa's%20first%20female%20Prime%20Minister.
 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0966369X.2021.1873744
 http://journal.samoanstudies.ws/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vol7_no.3_1-Women-Culture-and-Political-
Participation-in-Samoa.pdf
 https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/57c9ec90-f8e2-4c69-b457-
812737507ef4/content
 https://journal.samoanstudies.ws/storage/2021/10/JSS_Vol11_No2_2021-The-Future-of-Womens-
Leadership-in-Samoa.pdf

Images
 https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/remembering-the-women-of-the-mau-movement-in-samoa/
 https://www.facebook.com/MinistryofAgricultureandFisheries/posts/3935830153147325
 https://islandsbusiness.com/2021/pacific-person-of-the-year-fiame-naomi-mataafas-long-line-of-firsts/
 https://www.facebook.com/SamoaWomensAssociationGrowers/posts/1341163512970487?locale=ne_NP
 https://www.facebook.com/SamoaWomensAssociationGrowers/
 https://www.facebook.com/WIBDI/
 https://www.cta.int/en/gender/article/women-led-agribusiness-in-samoa-reaches-global-markets-
sid070a725d0-2d29-4a8f-9f23-d3710bf47e3e
 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/494340496567728789/
 https://m.facebook.com/460537094030463/photos/taisi-ofnelson-and-his-wife-rosabel-nee-moors-
auckland-1911credit-sir-george-gre/1558920777525417/
 https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22827944?search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject
%5D=National+Organisation+of+Western+Samoa&search%5Bpath%5D=photos&search%5Btext
%5D=samoa

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Evaluations
Learned lesson
What I have learned throughout this research was that the topic chosen has many complexity that needs
thorough and deeper understanding. There should be an importance put into research and how the
information is to be structured.
Change Aspect
During my research, there was not very much information that mentioned the role of women in the
development of Samoa but more of their struggle to be part of the development. Because of this, creating
this report project was a difficult task as there was a limited number of information and data to be found
for this chosen topic. Although there was various online sites that had information, each and every one of
these sites have always mentioned the struggle of each and every women to create the modern
opportunities that we have today or a continuous struggle for women to be part of an ongoing
development of Samoa.

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