05/18/2023
BLOOD NATIVES OF AMERICAN SAMOA ON THE VERGE OF DISPLACEMENT
There is a serious displacement of blood natives of American Samoa that is transparently more visual now than ever. Why is this a concern? One must understand a little bit of history to fully assess the question. Blood natives of American Samoa are those who “clearly” and “directly” trace their bloodlines to the forefathers who signed the Deed the Cession in 1900 with the US and to those “matais” of each respective village in American Samoa. The signing of the Deed of Cession resulted in American Samoa being part of the United States as a Territory. Thankfully the forefathers of American Samoa had the foresight to include the preservation of the “matai and land tenure systems” in the agreement. These systems were in place even before the signing of the Deed of Cession occurred. There is a Samoan proverb: Samoa Islands are predestined with defined lands, oceans, and people. To translate in Samoan, “O Samoa o le atunu’u tofi, e le se atunu’u taliola.” It is in this respect that the Natives of American Samoa are presumably “beneficiaries” of the Deed of Cession. Since the Deed of Cession and more so the developing stages or the nature of the US and American Samoa’s relationship, both Samoan islands now have different political and economic interests. American Samoa, having been under the US is subject to the laws of the United States. Meanwhile, Western Samoa is an independent island country. One of the hot topics in American Samoa now is “whether American Samoa should adopt the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.” American Samoans have repeatedly opposed the proposition to adopt the birthright citizenship clause which arguably will annihilate the “matai and land tenure systems” of American Samoa. These two systems are what kept American Samoa afloat for many years. One reason for the opposition against adopting birthright citizenship is that it will replace the “matai and land tenure systems” with the “influence of money” in that whoever has the most currency will “control.” In such a system, natives of American Samoa are gravely disadvantaged. The natives of American Samoa may not have realized it or have not emphasized it enough but the “land and the matai” systems are powerful leverages against money influence at any given moment. One perfect example of why this system of “money” is detrimental to the people of American Samoa is the case of businessman “Laulii.” Laulii has used the influence of money with reckless disregard for the “land and matai systems” of American Samoa. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come if the “power” is in the wrong hands. At least with our “land and matai tenure systems” we have the leverage to negotiate or control.
Further, when you adopt the “birthright citizenship clause” of the 14th Amendment, it opens up the door to cases of “discrimination” of such on “real estate or land, or whatever commodity” ancestors had passed down from generations to future generations of their families. For instance, in Guam, a family was sued for alleged discrimination on a property intended by their ancestors only for their people “Chamorro” relatives. That was the fear the ancestors of American Samoa had when they signed the Deed of Cession but again, they had the foresight to include the preservation of the “matai and land tenure systems.” A reminder of such concern happened during a recent visit by Daniel Aga of the American Samoa Political Status to the Georgetown University School of Law. During the visit, Law Professor Campbell asked “how it was that there was such wide and unified opposition” from the Legislature, via Senate Resolution No. 37-3 — and elected territorial leaders — against special interests like the “Equally American” group and lawyers for the plaintiffs who sought to have automatic U.S citizenship by birth — referring to the Fitisemanu citizenship case. To which, Dr. Aga replied, “We believe it to be a moral, ethical, and constitutional imperative for Samoan lands and culture to be protected from an indiscriminate constitutional interpretation that would apply the US Constitution in its entirety and with complete uniformity and without regard for American Samoa’s specific history and unique indigenous land tenure system of the native Samoan people.” What will happen when there will be no more people like Daniel Aga to defend our “matai and land tenure systems.” This issue will continue to be at the forefront for American Samoa and it seems the pressure to adopt the birthright citizenship clause is becoming more apparent. It is also under serious attack because of the influence of social media on the future generation of blood natives of American Samoa.
There is a new wave of influence or perhaps one that has been developing over the years that has now evidently surfaced in which Natives of American Samoans are on the verge of displacement. Whether it is intentional or coincidental, one is free to decipher. Three main areas help to sustain American Samoa and its native people and they are: (1) financial; (2) medical and (3) legal entities. Native American Samoans are severely under-represented in all fields. Again, is it a coincidence or intentional? Well, let’s see it’s been 123 years since American Samoa became a “Territory” and the only Medical Doctor educated in the United States who is a native of American Samoa from Manu’a that is working at LBJ is Iotamo Saleapaga. The majority are “outsiders.” There have been a lot of complaints about the level of care the LBJ Center provides. In the financial industry, it’s pretty obvious that it has been a struggle for many years to sustain a reliable financial industry. Currently, American Samoa has no operating bank that is FDIC-approved. As for the legal field, American Samoa has an American Samoa Bar Association. However, “blood natives of American Samoans” are outnumbered and have been since its existence. Then you look at those being “weaponized” to fill in those areas. The majority are not blood natives of American Samoa. Although Western Samoa and American Samoans are respectfully the same, blood natives of American Samoa are considered “beneficiaries” of the Deed of Cessions because it serves to protect their rights to “Matai and Land Tenure Systems.” Likewise, Western Samoa has its own systems that benefit its own constituents or people. These two countries have the utmost respect for each other not to interfere or influence in such a way as to disrupt the “will” of each country. One good example is the attorney Charles Alai’ima representing the plaintiffs in the Birthright Citizenship case in the United States. Charles is from Samoa but his roots are in Western Samoa so he could care less about American Samoa adopting the birthright citizenship clause because the “matai and land tenure systems of American Samoa” does not apply to him.
The point is to pay close attention to those being “weaponized” or given job or school opportunities. There is an ulterior motive behind every distraction or opportunity given. The point of weaponizing a person or groups of people, a race, etc. is to overpower the influence of the opposition. It is kind of like denying numerous Native Hawaiians admission to law school because then it affects previous Treaties signed by Native Hawaiians. It is best to keep them “in the dark.” But admitting a certain number on a quota of 1 or maybe 2 Native Hawaiians would not do any harm. That number is controllable. The law is the backbone of every country. Blood natives of American Samoa are direly under-represented in the legal professions. For those AS natives being “weaponized” as say being a Judge or Attorney, there seems to always be an element to “control” in how they operate whether it be a law student from the mainland serving as a “Court Clerk” who does the legal research for the Judge or a Clerk of the Court scheduling of a case.
The operating term is “Control” and the “matai and land tenure systems” get in the way of controlling. The ones being “weaponized’ is done so with the purpose in mind to annihilate or disrupt the “matai and land tenure system.” There is a current case with the High Court of American Samoa that involves a Public Defender named Michael White being alleged of wrongfully terminating the employment of a native of American Samoa. The case is going on for three years without any credible evidence to support the reason for termination. The case initially started at the Office of the Administrative Law Judge Marie Ala’ilima, sister of Charles Ala’ilima who is pushing the “birthright citizenship” issue in American Samoa. The attorney for the ALJ at the High Court is Lornalei Meredity, a Samoan who has roots in Western Samoa. The plaintiff or petitioner in the case is a native of American Samoa. The ASG has sent the entire team of Attorneys against the petitioner and they are relentless in trying to “control” the plaintiff. Stay tuned for details of the case in due time that will reveal shocking insights.
