| Government Type: | Monarchy |
| Title Leader: | Tu'i Manu'a |
| Religion: | Samoan mythology |
| Conventional Long Name: | Tui Manuʻa Confederacy |
| Common Name: | Tui Manuʻa |
| Era: | Pre-Tagaloa |
| Event Start: | The Tui Manu'a Title was established during the "puhi te" era |
| Event End: | Treaty of Cession of Manu'a |
| Official Languages: | Samoan |
| Regional Languages: | Fijian Futunan Niuean Uvean Tuvaluan Tokelauan Cook Islands Māori i-Kiribati Tahitian Rotuman Pukapukan |
| Today: | Samoa Fiji American Samoa Niue Wallis and Futuna Tuvalu Tokelau Cook Islands Kiribati Rotuma French Polynesia |
| Capital: | Fitiuta |
| Alt Flag2: | Flag of Manu'a Islands |
The title Tui Manuʻa was the title of the ruler or paramount chief of the Manuʻa Islands in present-day American Samoa.
The Tuʻi Manuʻa Confederacy, or Samoan Empire, are descriptions sometimes given to Samoan expansionism and projected hegemony in Oceania which began with the founding of the Tui Manu'a Title, Traditional oral literature of Samoa and Manu'a talks of a widespread Polynesian network or confederacy (or "empire").[1] [2] [3]
The Tui Manu'a is the oldest title of Ancient Samoa. Tui Manu’a conquered nearby islands such as Fiji, Cook Island, Tuvalu, and Tonga for centuries. According to Samoan and Tongan oral histories, the first Tui Manu'a was a direct descendant of the Samoan supreme god, Tagaloa. In Samoan lore, the islands of Manu'a (Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u) are always the first lands to be created or drawn from the sea; consequently the Tui Manu'a is the first human ruler mentioned. This "senior" ranking of the Tui Manu'a title continues to be esteemed and acknowledged by Samoans despite the fact that the title itself has not been occupied since the American takeover in the early 20th century.[4]
Traditional oral literature of Samoa and Tonga speaks of a widespread Polynesian network or confederacy (or "empire") that was prehistorically ruled by the successive Tui Manu'a dynasties. Manu'an genealogies and religious oral literature also suggest that the Tui Manu'a had long been one of the most prestigious and powerful paramounts of the Pacific and the first pre-eminent ruler of all Samoa. Oral history suggests that the Tui Manu'a kings governed a confederacy of far-flung islands which included Fiji, Tonga as well as smaller western Pacific chiefdoms and Polynesian outliers such as Uvea, Futuna, Tokelau, and Tuvalu. Commerce and exchange routes between the western Polynesian societies is well documented and it is speculated that the Tui Manu'a dynasty grew through its success in obtaining control over the oceanic trade of currency goods such as finely woven ceremonial mats, whale ivory "tabua", obsidian and basalt tools, chiefly red feathers, and seashells reserved for royalty (such as polished nautilus and the egg cowry).
Eventually, the maritime empire began to decline and a new empire rose from the South.[5] In 950 AD, the first Tu'i Tonga 'Aho'eitu started to expand his rule outside of Tonga. Samoa's Savaii, Upolu and Tutuila islands were to eventually succumb to Tongan rule, and would remain part of the empire for almost 400 years. However, as the ancestral homeland of the Tu'i Tonga dynasty and the abode of deities such as Tagaloa 'Eitumatupu'a, Tonga Fusifonua, and Tavatavaimanuka, the Manu'a islands of Samoa were considered sacred by the early Tongan kings and thus were never occupied by the Tongans, allowing for it to remain under Tui Manu'a rule.[6]
By the time of the tenth Tu’i Tonga Momo, and his successor, Tuʻitātui, the Tu'i Tonga's empire had grown to include much of the former domains of the Tui Fiti and Tui Manu'a. The expulsion of the Tongans in the 13th century from neighbouring Upolu and Savaii would not lead to the islands returning to Tui Manu'a but to the rise of a new dominant polity in the western isles: the Malietoa, whose feats in liberating Samoa from the Tongan occupants led to the establishment of a new political order in Upolu and Savaii which remained unchallenged for nearly 300 years. Although the Tui Manu'a would never again regain rulership of the surrounding islands, it is permanently held in high esteem as the progenitor of the great Samoan and Tongan lineages.[7]
The Manu'a islands were grouped with Tutuila and Aunu'u as the United States possession now called American Samoa. The presidency of the United States, and the military authorities of the US Navy, supplanted the native administrative role of the Tui Manu'a, through the arrests of chiefs of the Tui Manu'a and two trials of the Tui Manu'a, one on an American warship off the coast of Ta'u, called the "Trial of the Ipu".[8] On 6 July 1904 Tui Manu'a Elisala officially ceded the islands of Manu'a to the United States through the signing of the Treaty of Cession of Manu'a. He was relegated the office of Governor of Manu'a for the term of life and the understanding that the Tui Manu'a title would follow him to the grave. He died on 2 July 1909.
After a fifteen-year break, the office was revived in 1924 when Chris Young, a member of the Anoalo clan of the Tui Manu'a family and the brother of Tui Manu'a Matelita who reigned between 1890 and 1895, was named Tui Manu'a by the general assembly of the Faletolu and Anoalo. American officials were worried that the Manu'ans were restoring a "king" who would cause trouble for the administration. Governor Edward Stanley Kellogg opposed the bestowal and had the new Tui Manu'a brought to Tutuila where he was prevented from exercising the powers of his office. The Governor did not recognise the title on the basis that a monarchy was incompatible within the framework of the Constitution of the United States, stating that the previous Tui Manu'a had pledged under duress to be the last person to hold the title.
The descendants of Tui Manu'a are numerous.