Samoan Custom Versus

The Law!

Prom Our Own Correspondent APIA, March 1 SKIN and hair flew recently when Samoan custom clashed with the Law. Several village chiefs and officials were ultimately brought before the High Court in Apia.

It appears that the Ali’i and Faipule (chiefs and officials), of the village of Sapapali’i in Savaii had decided to build a large Samoan house in the village for the Hon. Tanu Malietoa, one of the three paramount chiefs of Samoa, In the absence of the owner, a man named Mose, they ordered some poumuli trees cut down for the building.

When Mose returned and found his trees cut, he strongly objected and quarelled with the builder and another of the chiefs. The Ali’i and Faipule considered this a severe breach of village laws and village discipline, and at a meeting they resolved that one of the old traditional ways of punishment was warranted: either to tie him up like a pig and place him on the village malae (common); or to kill him; or to take

all his movable property such as pigs and fowls as a fine for his offence.

They decided on the last punishment and forcibly took all his pigs and fowls, which were consumed by the whole village.

In the view of the village chiefs this settled the case, but Mose did not take all this lying down. He went to the Court in Apia and the whole matter was subsequently threshed out in Court.

The Court, under Chief Judge C. C.

Marsack, found that the action of the village chiefs constituted a flouting of the existing laws, and the village was fined and ordered to make restitution to Mose for his pigs and fowls.