Slander, Abuse, and Calumny (1929)

As Ta’isi’s efforts to have his exile revoked had failed, he began settling into life in Auckland though he believed the merits of his case would soon prevail and he would be permitted to return home. The chapter reveals his family’s experiences of living in Auckland from late 1928, particularly his experience with a landlady who would launch legal proceedings against him in a legal suit replete with racist ideas about Sāmoans as well as the pervasive campaign of disgrace the government was waging against him. As well as this exploration of the social worlds Ta’isi was forced to inhabit from 1928, this chapter looks at the implications for the 1929 report into the Sāmoan administration (the VPB Report) that found many of the Mau complaints were in fact valid. The chapter also follows the fate of Tupua Tamasese Lea’lofi who was released from prison in June 1929 and his subsequent return to Sāmoa. The chapter concludes with Ta’isi’s preoccupations at the end of 1929 that centered on his slander case against the New Zealand Herald, and his sending a lawyer to Apia to gather evidence; a move that would end tragically.