Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Who Will be the Next Mālietoa? Will there be Another Mālietoa?

2013; Routledge; Volume: 48; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00223344.2013.858435

1469-9605

Morgan Tuimalealiifano,

Island Studies and Pacific Affairs

The appointment of successors to paramount chiefly titles in Sāmoa is typically a slow and troubled process. This is instanced by the failure, at the time of writing, for a successor to be appointed to the Mālietoa title, last held by Mālietoa Tanumafili II, who passed away in 2007. The task of choosing a successor to any title ideally rests with the family, though increasingly the Land and Titles Court is being pressed to make the final settlement. In contemporary circumstances, the difficulties of appointing a successor to a paramount title are illustrated in the travails of the ‘Āiga Sā Mālietoā, or extended Mālietoā family, which has struggled to agree on either a candidate or a process. Unless the rules governing succession are reviewed and the Land and Titles Court is modernised and equipped to play a more proactive role, ancient family titles in Sāmoa may be destined for abeyance. Much hinges on the issue of chiefly succession, which has wide ramifications for Sāmoan society and development, and resonates more widely in the Pacific.