“He is Not a Samoan” (1927)

This chapter examines the ongoing fallout from the rise of the Mau in Sāmoa and New Zealand. One major development was the founding of the Mau newspaper, the Samoa Guardian in 1927 and how this publication was intended to be mouthpiece for the movement and combat the extensive conservative press coverage that supported the government. It also focuses upon the debates in the New Zealand parliament that entwined the Sāmoan present with the Māori past, especially as it connected the non-violent community of Parihaka with the Sāmoan Mau. It also outlines the main parliamentary actors, especially Labour Leader Harry Holland and Sir Māui Pōmare, both who impacted this history in considerable ways. These debates articulated many ideas about British Empire, its past and how it could operate in the new conditions of the 1920s. The discussion also centered on the history of exile and how it had been used in numerous contexts. The chapter also delves into the little known but highly significant confidential parliamentary inquiry – the Joint Samoan Petition Inquiry Committee – which held in camera hearings where Ta’isi was virtually the sole witness. This inquiry preceded a Royal Commission to be held in Sāmoa and the chapter shows how the petition inquiry was a ploy to keep Ta’isi and his legal team out of Sāmoa so they could have little influence on the more public royal commission that was orchestrated by General Richardson.