Tuimaleali'ifano Fa'aoloi'i Si'ua'ana I (~1854[1] — 14 October 1937)[2] was a Samoan paramount chief, and the first holder of the Tuimaleali'ifano title. He was one of the leaders of the Mau movement.
Fa'aoloi'i was the youngest son of Tuiaana Sualauvi.[3] He was raised in Afega, but recalled to Falelatai on the death of his father to take up his chiefly title.[3] In 1889 he was made Kovana Aana (district governor) by the Samoan government.[2] In the 1890s he became a friend of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson.[2] [4] He served as a ta'imua under the German colonial administration, and in 1915 was made a fautua (native advisor) under the New Zealand administration.[1] [5]
In late 1926 Tuimaleali'ifano attended a meeting with Olaf Frederick Nelson and other independence activists at the home of Samuel Meredith to plan the response to an inquiry into Samoan grievances.[6] This led to the formation of the citizens committee, which became the Mau. When he attended a public meeting of the committee, he was suspended as fautua by New Zealand administrator George Spafford Richardson.[6] In August 1927 following the sitting of a commission of inquiry into Samoa he resigned as fautua due to dissatisfaction with the administration.[7] He subsequently became one of the Maus principal leaders, alongside Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.[8] He was one of the leaders of the procession on Black Saturday,[9] [6] and attempted to hold back the crowd when the shooting started.[6] He was injured, with a slight wound to the arm,[10] and spent several weeks hiding in the hills with other members of the Mau.[1] He was subsequently arrested and was charged with wearing a Mau lavalava.[11] In March 1930 he was convicted of sedition and fined £3.[12] In April 1930 he was again arrested for wearing Mau uniform and jailed for three months.[13]
In January 1937 he celebrated his "100th birthday"[14] because "he may not live to see it".[3] He died later that year.[2]