[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 86 (Monday, June 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMEMORATING THE SAMOAN EXILES

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                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 1, 2015

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, on June 20 a group of seventy-two Samoans 
who were exiled from their home to my home, the Northern Mariana 
Islands, will receive the ceremonial farewell they were never given--
one hundred years late.
  Allow me to add the story of their exile to the Congressional Record, 
where it may be held in trust and remembered. And let me acknowledge 
the work of historian Scott Russell in assembling these details.
  In May 1909, the seventy-two Samoans, 10 chiefs, their families and 
servants were exiled to the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands by 
the governor of German Samoa Wilhelm Solf. These chiefs were involved 
in a movement known as the Mau a Pule (the opinion of Pule) which 
sought to reinstate traditional Samoan practices abolished by the 
German colonial regime in the late nineteenth century. The leader of 
the movement was Lauaki Namulau'ulu, an orator of high standing from 
Safotulafai, one of the most senior villages in Savai'i. Lauaki and his 
followers, however, failed to secure support from other factions in 
Samoa and they were subsequently exiled to distant Saipan by Governor 
Solf.
  The Samoans established themselves on Saipan just south of the 
village of Tanapag. They built eleven fale, the distinctive round 
Samoan residential house, one each for the ten chiefs and one for the 
Samoan pastor and his family who accompanied the chiefs in exile. The 
German administration provided each family with tools, seeds and 
livestock. Water was brought in by bamboo piping from nearby Saddok 
Agaton and the people of Tanapag gave their new neighbors assistance. 
It is reported that the Samoans acclimated well since Saipan's 
environment was very similar to that of their homeland. The Samoans 
remained on Saipan until June 1915 when they were repatriated home by 
the Japanese military administration that had been on the island since 
October 1914.
  The story of these political exiles was almost lost in time. No 
significant body of oral history regarding the Samoans survives in the 
Marianas. Local recollections about the Samoan presence are limited to 
a couple short magazine articles dating to the late 1960s. And the 
German, Japanese, and New Zealand/British government records associated 
with this event have not been readily available.
  In the late 1990s, however, the Division of Historic Preservation of 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands did acquire an account 
written by the youngest exiled chief, Iiga Pisa. Pisa's account, 
written in 1942, provides some details about exile life on Saipan but 
its main focus is Pisa's own remarkable voyage from Saipan to Guam in a 
small Samoan paddling canoe. Pisa was an ambitious youth and had spent 
his time on Saipan learning the German language with the aim of 
obtaining employment in the colonial government in Samoa after 
returning home. World War I, however, ended his plans when English-
speaking New Zealanders replaced Germans as colonial administrators in 
what is now Independent Samoa.
  Pisa decided that rather than return to his home unprepared, he would 
paddle his way to American-controlled Guam where he hoped to learn 
English. Without informing the elder chiefs, Pisa secretly departed 
Saipan at night in a borrowed Samoan paddling canoe. After reaching 
Rota in the Northern Marianas, where he was provided food and shelter 
by the Alcalde, Pisa continued on to Guam where he came ashore at 
Ritidian. After convincing the American military governor of his 
identity, he was given a job in the Navy printing office. Pisa quickly 
learned English and requested to be returned home in 1919. He then had 
a successful career in the local government. He was the only exiled 
chief to survive the influenza epidemic that claimed millions of lives 
worldwide in 1918. Today, Pisa is still remembered in Samoa for his 
daring voyage to Guam.
  This month all of this remarkable piece of Pacific history will be 
remembered in a series of events arranged by the Northern Marianas 
Humanities Council. Dignitaries, scholars, and keepers of the islands' 
oral history will convene from Samoa, New Zealand, and the Mariana 
Islands. The culmination will be a farewell ceremony conducted in 
accordance with the precepts of Samoan culture.
  In commemoration of this event and in remembrance of those Samoans, 
who were exiled for their political beliefs, I submit this brief 
history.

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