Samoan unification

Samoan Islands;  Samoa in the west and  American Samoa in the east.

The unification (or re-unification) of Samoa (or Western Samoa), an independent state, and American Samoa, a US territory, both parts of the Samoan Islands which share ethnicity and culture, has been raised since the first half of the 20th century, following division of the territories by the Great powers (see Tripartite Convention). In 1919, Western Samoa desired to unite with American Samoa, as already stated in Paris.[1] However it was instead incorporated as the Western Samoa Trust Territory under British administration from 1920–1946 and New Zealand administration from then until 1962. The Inter-Samoan Consultative Committee was established in 1955, to promote cooperation between the two.[2] Richard Barrett Lowe, governor of American Samoa (1953–56), stated that it was decided that reunification with Western Samoa was not to be discussed at the Committee.[3] In 1969, a political commission in American Samoa rejected the unification with independent Samoa.[4]

Sentiment for and against unification exist in varying degrees.[5] Some Western Samoan political leaders have argued for Western Samoa to become an American Trust Territory, or for a future reunification with Eastern Samoa.[6] Although American Samoans have a strong Samoan national identity, there is no large movement towards independence or Samoan reunification in American Samoa.[7] American Samoa protested Western Samoa's name change to "Samoa" in 1997 due to implying Western Samoan authority over the Samoan Islands.[8]

See also

References

  1. Hermann Hiery (January 1995). The Neglected War: The German South Pacific and the Influence of World War I. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 194–. ISBN 978-0-8248-1668-1.
  2. Lowe 1967, p. 243.
  3. Lowe 1967, p. 55.
  4. James Stuart Olson; Robert Shadle (1991). Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-0-313-26257-9.
  5. Katarina Ferro; Margot Wallner; Richard Bedford (31 December 2006). Migration happens: reasons, effects and opportunities of migration in the South Pacific. Lit. ISBN 978-3-8258-6998-4. There exist varying degrees of sentiment for and against unification, as the independent state of Samoa fears an uncontrolled americanization while American Samoa fears the burden of an economically poorer country with a population majority outweighting those of the American Samoans significantly.
  6. Malama Meleisea (1987). Lagaga: A Short History of Western Samoa. editorips@usp.ac.fj. pp. 148–. ISBN 978-982-02-0029-6.
  7. Joanne Barker (1 December 2005). Sovereignty Matters: Locations of Contestation and Possibility in Indigenous Struggles for Self-determination. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 109–. ISBN 0-8032-5198-X.
  8. James Minahan (30 May 2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World A-Z [4 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 565–. ISBN 978-0-313-07696-1.

Sources

External links

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