History and migration
Who are the Samoans?
Samoans are the original inhabitants of the
Samoa Islands, which lie north of New Zealand between latitude 13° and 15°
south. The two large islands are Upolu and Savai‘i, and the only other inhabited
islands are Manono and Apolima. About 80 km south-east is Tutuila, the principal
island of the smaller territory of American Samoa.
The birth of a nation
There are many explanations for the
name Samoa. One is that when the earth’s centre ? known as ‘moa’ ? was
born, Salevao, the god of the cliffs, brought water to wash the new
child. He made water ‘sa’ (holy) to the child and all that grew on the
earth.
Archaeological and linguistic evidence
suggests that Samoa, Fiji and Tonga may be the original homelands of the
Polynesians. It was from these islands that, some 2,000 years ago, Polynesians
settled the rest of the South Pacific, eventually reaching New Zealand.
Contact with outsiders
Over the centuries Samoans exchanged news,
trade and marriage partners with neighbouring Pacific peoples (mainly Fijians
and Tongans). The first European to sight the islands was a Dutchman, Jacob
Roggeveen, in 1722. Later, the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville
called Samoa’s islands ‘the Navigator Islands’.
In 1830 the Reverend John Williams landed in
Savai‘i, bringing the Christian gospel. This was the beginning of the change
from the ‘time of darkness’ to the ‘time of light’, as most of the population
converted to Congregationalism. A ‘Samoanised’ form of Christianity now exists
in the EFKS (Ekalesia Fa‘apotopotoga Kerisiano o Samoa), also known as the
Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, or CCCS. This form of Christianity is
also found in the Samoan components of the Pacific Islanders’ Presbyterian
Church. For many Samoans, Christianity and fa‘asamoa (Samoan culture) are
inextricably interwoven.
New Zealand contact
In 1899 possession of Samoa was divided
between Germany (Western Samoa) and the United States (Eastern Samoa). At the
outbreak of the First World War in 1914, New Zealand occupied Western Samoa and
administered the islands until 1962, under a mandate from the League of Nations.
In 1918 the New Zealand trading ship
Talune
docked in Apia, carrying
people infected with Spanish influenza. This led to a devastating and avoidable
outbreak of the disease which killed about 8,000 Samoans ? over 20% of the
population.
Samoan independence
During the first part of the 20th century,
growing Samoan discontent with the New Zealand administration led to an
independence movement called the Mau, which was non-violent. However, on 28
December 1929, nine Samoans, including the high-ranking chief Tupua Tamasese,
were shot dead by New Zealand military police, during a peaceful demonstration.
In 1962, Samoa became the first Pacific
nation to regain independence, and a Treaty of Friendship was signed with New
Zealand.
New Zealand’s apology to Samoa
In June 2002 New Zealand Prime
Minister Helen Clark formally apologised to Samoa for three actions
taken by the New Zealand administration between 1918 and 1929: allowing
the ship
Talune
, carrying passengers with influenza, to dock in
Apia, which resulted in the deaths of 1 in 5 Samoans; shooting
non-violent protestors in December 1929; and banishing Samoan leaders
and stripping them of their chiefly titles.
Migration to New Zealand
Although Samoans have travelled to New
Zealand since the early 1900s, it was not until the 1950s that they migrated in
large numbers. As New Zealand’s industry and the service sector expanded over
the next 30 years, the search for labour was extended to territories and former
territories in the Pacific. Many Samoans moved to New Zealand for greater
opportunities and a better education for their children.
Overstayers
Entry was not unrestricted. From 1964, the
government issued three-month visas, and from 1967 it set annual quotas for
immigrants. As long as the demand for labour was strong, the regulations were
not enforced. But when the New Zealand economy declined after 1973, this
flexibility ended. Dawn raids on the homes of alleged overstayers began in 1974.
Politicians blamed Pacific Islanders for overloading social services, and they
shaped a negative stereotype of Pacific Islanders.
Although many Samoans and Tongans were
guilty of overstaying their visas, the focus on these two ethnic groups was
unacceptable to many. They pointed out that the greatest influx of temporary
migrants in these years was from the United Kingdom and Australia. For older
Pacific Islanders, the traumatic dawn raids remain bitter memories.
The Polynesian Panthers emerged in the 1970s
to support Pacific peoples in New Zealand. They informed people of their legal
rights, ran homework centres for school children, visited inmates at Auckland’s
P?remoremo prison, put on concerts, and supported M?ori protests.
Continuing migration
Despite the tough immigration laws, Samoans
continued to enter New Zealand. Between 1971 and 1981 the number of Samoan-born
residents doubled, reaching 24,141. In 1982 the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act
granted citizenship to Samoan-born New Zealanders. After that, new quotas for
entry were set. Since 2002 the quota has allowed 1,100 Samoans to be granted
residence each year.
In 2006, 131,103 people of Samoan ethnicity
were living in New Zealand ? about half of all those with Pacific ethnicity. A clear majority of Samoans were now born in New Zealand; those born in Samoa
numbered 50,649.