American Samoans maintaining the current “status quo” when it comes to its political relationship with the United States was among the issues covered in American Samoa’s presentation at the United Nations Decolonization Committee’s Caribbean Seminar hosted by St. Vincent and the Grenadines from May 16-18.

Executive Director of the ASG Office of Political Status, Constitution and Federal Relations, Tapaau Dr. Daniel Aga made American Samoa’s perspective presentation on behalf of Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga, who has been keen in the past three years in making sure that the community fully understands, among other things, the territory’s political relationship with the U.S.

Tapaau’s four-part American Samoa perspective presentation starts with the question “Are We a Colony?” A shorter six-page presentation was publicly released by the Decolonization Committee on its website last week Thursday and was the subject of a Samoa News story last Friday covering part of the “Colony” issue as well as part-two of the presentation “Relationship with the Administering Power” — referring to the United States.

However, a more detailed 16-page amended presentation by Tapaau, is expected to be publicly released soon by the Decolonization Committee on its website.

STATUS QUO

As part of his presentation on the question “Are We a Colony?” Tapaau explained the reasons why American Samoa opted to maintain the “status quo”, according to the amended presentation, which provides numerous footnotes to further clarify American Samoa’s perspective.

He says that since the Political Status Study in 1970 and the second in 2006-2007 the people of American Samoa have selected to maintain the status quo. “One of the most important reasons for staying with the status quo lies in the substantial economic benefits made possible by our affiliation with the US,” he explained. “No one wants to risk the economic advantages available to families and the community.”

Among the examples of economic benefits cited in a footnote are — Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid, Student Financial Aid for higher education, local Retirement fund, and Social Service programs like Food Stamps and School Lunch Program as well as assistance through the US Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“We see and admire the political independence of island nations close to us such as Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga,” Tapaau observed. “But while the importance of political independence is paramount, it is the overall development of political, economic, and social sectors that our people observe and consider.”

Another footnote in the presentation, states that in 2010 the median household income in American Samoa was $23,892. In the same year, about 57.8% of all persons or 54.4% of families were below the national poverty level. “In spite of the contrast with federal levels, American Samoans who have visited neighboring island countries comment on a much wider gap between the elites and the rest of society, whereas in American Samoa, the basic needs of a higher percentage of families are better served.”

Tapaau asked, “Why else this propensity to keep the status quo?” He noted that comparison data suggests that compared to independent island countries, non-self-governing territories have, for example, lower infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy rates.”

“This sense of well-being correlates favorably with our US relationship,” he said, adding that the “desire not to upset the equilibrium may simply be a matter of personal and government priorities.”

Instead of investing energy in trying to change political status, Tapaau notes that “there is more concern”:

•     with maintaining a solid enough employment rate to keep the economy from shrinking,

•     being sensitive to raising taxes while raising government revenues,

•     raising federal Medicaid caps to provide affordable healthcare,

•     making jobs available for returning college graduates to prevent brain drain,

•     hiring more qualified teachers to help decrease remedial college placement scores,

•     the global impact of climate change policies at the national level that can damage our fragile ecosystem,

•     geographic isolation and the need to change the federal cabotage law, and

•     federal minimum wage policies and their impact on the fish canneries.

Other concerns include “road repair costs, public safety, and the alarming increase in illegal drug traffic, the critical need to repair a 50-year water system and provide safe drinking water, decreasing land for agriculture and building food security, the increasing rate of non-communicable diseases, and many other personal needs and public services aimed at giving our people ‘Good Government’.”

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Tapaau points out that, “One constitutional right key to ‘our survival as an indigenous people’ is outlined in the territory’s Constitution making it the policy of the government “… to protect persons of Samoan ancestry against alienation of their lands and the destruction of the Samoan way of life and language….”

“By constitutional design, our traditional leaders are ensured a voice in each branch of government,” he explained. “We are the only US territory that maintains local control of immigration.”

He also shared with seminar participants that the indigenous land tenure system remains intact, with 90% of lands owned as communal family lands protected by local laws. Furthermore, close to 90% of the population is Samoan.

He explained that the protection of the Samoan way of life is rooted in the two “Deeds of Cession” - the 1900 Deed for Tutuila and Aunu’u, and the 1904 Deed of Manu’a, with the United States.

“In these two documents, the Samoan people ceded sovereignty of our islands to the US but required the protection of the Samoan way of life,” he said, and noted a Honolulu federal court ruling this year “re-confirmed the vitality of the Deeds”.

He said the federal court concluded that American Samoans’ right to use their “property” to protect and continue their cultural and customary fishing practices is reserved by implication in the Deeds of Cession.

The federal court ruling referred to by Tapaau, is the result of a lawsuit filed last year by the Territory of American Samoa, through the ASG, against the US National Marine Fisheries Service, and other federal defendants, for its 2016 Rule reducing from 50 to 20 miles the Large Vessel Prohibited Area in territorial waters reserved for the local ‘alia fleet.

Samoa News will report on other issues in the presentation in future editions.