Tuimalealiʻifano

This article is about the Samoan chiefly title. For people named Tuimalealiʻifano or Tuimalealiifano, see Tuimalealiʻifano (name).

Tuimalealiʻifano is one of the four paramount chiefly titles of Samoa, known as the tama a ʻāiga. Samoa's other three paramount chiefs are Malietoa, Mataʻafa and Tupua Tamasese. The seat of the Tuimalealiʻifano title is at Falelatai in the Aʻana district.

Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana I with Robert Louis Stevenson at Vailima, Samoa, between 1889 and 1894

The current title-holder is Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II, who has held the title since 1977^[1] and currently serves as the head of state of Samoa (O le Ao o le Malo).^[2][3]

Origins

The title is the most recent of the tama a ʻāiga, originating in the mid-nineteenth century with Tuiaana Sualauvi, a nephew of Malietoa Fitisemanu I. Sualauvi was appointed Tui Aʻana in 1848.^[4]: 78 By the early 1860s he had also been appointed to the pāpā titles of Gatoaitele and Vaetamasoalii.^[5]: 51 In 1869, he obtained the support of Fuataga and Tafua of Aleipata and Moeono and Tusa of Falefa and Lufilufi and was appointed Tui Ātua, briefly ascending to the position of Tupu Tafaʻifa.^[5]: 55 His reign would only last a year until his death on 25 August 1870. After Sualauvi's death, his youngest son Faʻaoloiʻi succeeded,^[5]: 55 and was referred to by the name Tuimalealiʻifano, a contraction of Tui, from Tuitaʻalili, and Lealiʻifano, whose origins are disputed.^[4]: 106

Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana I lived until 1937, surviving the civil war and colonial rule by Germany and New Zealand.^[6] Following his death the title was disputed, and in 1949 the Land and Titles Court of Samoa ruled that it belonged to the descendants of Tuiaana Sualauvi.^[4]: 110 The title was again contested following the death of Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II.^[1]

Holders

• Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana I (1871–1937)
• Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana II (Siʻuaʻana's eldest son, held title for nine months)
• Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II (1952–1974) (son of Siʻuaʻana I)
• Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II (1977–present)

References

1. "Royal titles, a sore point". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 48, no. 10. 1 October 1977. p. 11-12. Retrieved 7 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "New head of state for Samoa". Radio NZ. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
3. "Tuimaleali'ifano Va'aleto'a Sualauvi II, is Samoa's fourth Head of State". Samoa Observer. 5 July 2017. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
4. Ato'ese M. Tuimaleali'ifano (1997). Aganu'u Ma Agaifanua Fa'a Samoa: A history and process of a tama'aiga (PDF) (PhD). University of the South Pacific. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
5. Morgan Tuimaleali'ifano (2006). O Tama a ʻāiga: The Politics of Succession to Sāmoa's Paramount Titles. Fiji: University of the South Pacific. ISBN 9789820203778.
6. "LAST LINK WITH OLD SAMOA: Death of 90-years-old High Chief Tuimalealiifano". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. VIII, no. 4. 25 November 1937. p. 60-61. Retrieved 7 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.