Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The meeting intended to bring Manu‘a chiefs and residents together to address the Atu‘u land trusteeship has been moved to the second Saturday of September after just five matai arrived at the Office of Samoan Affairs last Friday, prompting officials to postpone the discussion.

Of the five matai who attended, three were Manu‘a’s senators — Ma‘o Fa‘auma Gogo, Tuialu‘ulu‘u Vaimili Tuialu‘ulu‘u, and Misaalefua Hudson — who recommended that the meeting be rescheduled. 

Manu‘a District Governor Poumele Apisa Galea‘i, who chaired the session, agreed to the postponement but informed them he would be traveling to New Zealand on Monday for a medical checkup and would not return until early September.

In an exclusive interview, Poumele said the meeting must include the To‘oto‘o — Manu‘a’s orators who make decisions on behalf of their extended families. 

“The To‘oto‘o and senior matai should be present so it will be a meeting of substance and not one where we just talk, and then nothing happens,” he said. “High Talking Chiefs Malemo and Vaitautolu should have been here today to discuss this issue and bring it to some kind of conclusion.”

He stressed that trustee authorization is the central issue that must be addressed and finalized when the meeting reconvenes for the issue to even move forward.

The initial meeting earlier this month, attended by about 40 Manu'a chiefs and residents, ended with an agreement to reconvene last Friday, August 14, 2026, bringing Manu‘a leadership together in hopes of reaching a consensus on how the Atu‘u trust should be administered going forward — and how lease revenues should be safeguarded for the rightful beneficiaries.

However, only five matai attended.

The Manu‘a District Governor commended the Zoning Board for bringing the issue to the forefront. He said individuals have been signing as the Lessor and collecting lease payments for land that PC Mauga Moimoi conveyed for all the people of Manu‘a under the 1911 trust.

“It’s supposed to be a residential area, but over the years it has been leased out to businesses,” Poumele said. “There shouldn’t be any businesses established there unless authorized by Tufele, who was the Trustee and also the Manu‘a District Governor at the time.”

He noted that the Tufele title has been vacant since Tufele Li‘amatua passed away, and most of the matai and residents who attended the initial meeting agreed that the District Governor should assume the trustee role in the interim. Poumele added that he is also a descendant of the Tufele family through his mother.

Poumele emphasized that serving as Trustee on behalf of an entire community carries responsibilities and obligations to act in the best interest of the people. In this case, he said, lease revenues from the Atu‘u trust land should benefit all Manu‘a residents as stated in the 1911 indenture — not a select few.

“There is so much we can do for the people of Manu‘a using this trust money,” he said, “like establishing scholarships for Manu‘a’s sons and daughters, creating a credit union to help families develop their homes and livelihoods, and funding healthcare services for our elderly.”

Poumele said he has received numerous requests from elderly residents in Manu‘a asking for a dentist to be sent to the island, noting their complaints about having to travel all the way to Tutuila and then wait for hours at LBJ Hospital before receiving any service.

It was agreed that the next meeting should be held on a Saturday, when more people are free to attend, rather than on a weekday.

As a result, it has been scheduled for the second Saturday of September — on the 12th — at the Office of Samoan Affairs.

BACKGROUND

As reported in June by Samoa News, the long‑standing question of who is legally entitled to receive lease payments for land in Atu‘u currently occupied by foreign‑owned businesses resurfaced during a meeting of the American Samoa Zoning Board that month.

The Board reviewed several applications for commercial land lease variances bearing signatures of individuals other than the designated Trust Administrator. Board members questioned whether such private leasing aligns with the 1911 indenture that placed the land “in trust, for the use and benefit of the People of Manu‘a.” 

They argued that the 1911 indenture — a formal, legally binding agreement executed by Paramount Chief Mauga Moimoi, his wife Fa‘apio, and then Manu‘a District Governor Tufele of Si‘ufaga — clearly designates Tufele “as Trustee for the People of Manu‘a.” The indenture conveys the land known as Atu‘u to the trustee and “his successors and assigns forever…IN TRUST, for the USE and BENEFIT of the People of Manu‘a,” establishing that the trustee’s authority overrides any individual’s claim to lease the land.

This prompted Zoning Board member Taesali Sam Matagi — who also chairs the American Samoa Land Commission — to call the initial meeting with the assistance of Secretary of Samoan Affairs Fai‘ivae A. Godinet.

“It was an eye‑opening experience for many Manu‘a residents who did not know the specific terms of the 1911 indenture or the communal rights it established,” Taesali told Samoa News. 

He added that the lack of awareness may not have been accidental. “I suspect the people who were benefiting from lease payments knew,” he said, “but didn’t want to disclose those details. Others may have known but didn’t want to rock the boat because of family ties, or they were receiving some sort of compensation on the side.”