Before the Storm (1926)

Examining the chain of events of 1926, this chapter sets the scene for the dramatic shift in the political situation that took place in late 1926. It tracks the friendly relations between Richardson and Ta’isi whilst Ta’isi was absent from Sāmoa for many months in 1926, spending an extended period in Sydney being treated for an unspecified illness. It also outlines the political ferment in Sydney at this time around race and empire that Ta’isi would have been exposed to and how this connected with reports Ta’isi was receiving in Sydney of Richardson’s increasingly authoritarian governing style. It concludes with Richardson’s effusive speech welcoming Ta’isi back to Sāmoa, Richardson’s secret communications with a New Zealand official where he learnt that Ta’isi had raised concerns about his governing style with the New Zealand prime minister and the public meetings in late 1926 where three Sāmoan communities – Europeans, afakasis, Sāmoans – came together to politically organize. These meetings, chaired by Ta’isi, would become watershed moments.