the Samoan people. Only a little less important were several other families, whose leaders have from time to time emerged as national figures. Below them, were a great number of matai, with varying degrees of standing. Some were entitled to recognition as leaders in their districts; others had an important voice in the affairs of their villages, while the holders of a great many minor titles had influence mainly within their own family groups. This account represents the situation only in a very elementary way. For reasons of space, I have made no mention of the differences in status and functions between the two classes of matai titles, those of chiefs and orators; nor have I touched on the considerable differences between district and district. These matters do not, however, materially affect the argument of this article. Administratively, the basic unit in Samoa was the “village” community (which might, in fact, consist of several separate hamlets or a single settlement). The village was controlled by a fono (or council) of the local matai. They made decisions on matters of common concern, arranged for village works to be undertaken, received visitors, and punished offenders. Most importantly, they protected the proper balance between the various family groups constituting the village. Thus, a matai who was seeking to increase his own influence and that of his family by actions of a presumptuous or aggressive character, would be severely dealt with…generally by the temporary exclusion of the family from participation in village affairs. Similarly, any individual who harmed the status of a matai…for example, by openly flirting with his wife…would be punished with special severity. Apart from the matai, the other principal groups in the village (untitled men, wives of matai, unmarried women, etc.) had their own organisations, which were concerned both with purely social activities and with the performance of the common duties they owed to the village as a whole. Above the village level, Samoan society was organised on similar lines, but functions were, in fact, more limited. For example, the fono of a district would be concerned with alliances in times of war and with matters such as disputes between the holders of major district titles. Indeed, both in regard to individual matai and to councils, the higher one went the more one became concerned with matters of status and ceremonial and the less with those of administration. The individual matai, for example, had a more or less unfettered control of the affairs of his own family. In the village fono, if his title were of adequate standing, there were many things he could get done, but he had to be more careful to observe the conventions. At the district level, the important title meant more in terms of formal recognition of status than in those of actual authority. And, at the highest level of all, when there was a tafa'ifa (or king) in Samoa…which was rarely…his position had to be defined in terms of supreme status alone. This social and political system was suited to the conditions in which it had grown up. For centuries, after the defeat of the Tongan invaders of an earlier period, Samoa was not threatened from outside. Internally, there were no forces at work to produce profound social change. The high degree of decentralisation of control was, thus, appropriate; and the preoccupation of Samoan leaders with the maintenance of a delicate balance in matters of family and district prestige was conducive to the preservation of order. But, with the arrival of Europeans in Samoa in the nineteenth century, the political needs of the country were greatly changed.

CHANGES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Missionaries and traders came to Samoa from about 1830 onwards. Whaling vessels began to anchor in Apia harbour, to give their crews a rest and to obtain supplies. Later, settlers came in search of land on which to establish plantations. The Governments of Britain, the United States, Germany and France, sent their naval vessels to Samoa from time to time, to support the claims of their nationals who were living there; and the first three of these Powers established permanent consulates at Apia. All these changes affected Samoan society. Individual Samoans gained influence by ways unknown to tradition: by holding office in a mission (as pastor, catechist, or deacon); by ability to speak the English language; or through the possession of money. High chiefs promoted the interests of their title and their family with the backing of European supporters. At the same time, the political structure of the country began to be modified, so that it could deal with the new demands that were made upon it. A central Government was formed to control relations between Samoans and Europeans and to represent Samoa in negotiations with consuls and naval officers. For a variety of reasons, those changes did not take place smoothly. The Samoan Government, in particular, was never fully effective; and political control in Western Samoa passed first to Germany in 1900 and then in 1914 to New Zealand. But these nineteenth century developments began a process of change which has in more recent years, enabled a new generation of Samoan leaders to emerge, with both the knowledge and the prestige required to tackle successfully the problems of the twentieth century. (to be continued)