Tui Manu'a Matelita

She was born on 31 December 1872.[1][2] Her parents were Arthur Paʻu Young and of Amipelia. Her father's heritage was half-Samoan and half-white; her grandfather was either a British or American surnamed Young and her grandmother was a Samoan woman of Fasito'o (located in the western Samoan Islands). On her mother's side, Matelita was a descendant of Tui Manu'a Taliutafa Tupolo, son of Tui Manu'a Moaatoa, of the anoalo class, the lineal descendants of the Tui Manu'a line.[3][4][5]

The family resided in the main two villages of 'o Lumā and Sī'ufaga, on Ta'ū, the main island of the Manu'a group, where her father was a trader. The family lived in a two-story stone house in the center of the two villages near the Protestant Christian church.[6]

Map of the Manu'a islands

After the death of Tui Manu'a Alalamua, the paramount title was left vacant and disputed. An election took place in the faletolu, the council which traditionally decided on the next Tui Manu'a. The two candidates were Matelita and Taofi, a son of Tui Manu'a Tauveve. The anoalo led by Arthur Paʻu Young weighed in in favor of Matelita. The decision was not accepted initially by the main line of the Tui Manu'a, but Taofi conceded to Matelita and she became the new paramount chief of the group, ascending to the title on 1 July 1891.[7] She was crowned in a traditional ceremony consisting of feasting, offering of food, kava drinking in the days before and after 13 July 1891.[8]

During her tenure, she primarily filled a ceremonial role and resided on the main island of Ta'ū. In 1895, she gave a speech consecrating a new church. Contemporary and posthumous European and American accounts of her life portray her as a mere figurehead and as a white queen of the South Seas. Matelita never married because she would not marry any of the eligible native chieftains and no other men were regarded as having the proper rank to marry her.[9][10]

Matelita fell ill in September 1895 and died peacefully in her sleep, after the illness, on 29 October 1895.[1][2][12] Later sources claimed she died after a kerosene lamp overturned causing her mosquito net to catch fire while she slept.[13][14] This is not supported by contemporary sources of the Protestant missionaries which stated she died of illness.[1][2] Elisala was elected as her successor to the title Tui Manu'a in 1899.[15] After Elisala's death, the title was abolished by the United States, which had earlier incorporated the islands as a part of American Samoa. Matelita's brother Chris Taliutafa Young unsuccessfully attempted to claim the Tui Manu'a in 1924.[5][16][17]

Monument To The Late Queen of Manua, 1896

After her death, she was buried next to some of the preceding Tui Manu'a title holders and eventually her successor Elisala after his death. A marble monument was built over her final resting place. The 6–7 ft (1.8–2.1 m) tombstone, which is the most visible monument in the royal burial ground that is delineated by a stone enclosure, consisted of a round column on a square base. The inscriptions on the base memorializes, in both the English and Samoan language, the life of the Tui Manu'a including the words: These are my last words to you all, "May you live in peace".[14][18] This grave site known as the Tui Manu'a Graves Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.[14]

American anthropologist Margaret Mead, who conducted research in Samoa between 1925 and 1926, was given the name Makelita by locals in her memory. During a local marriage ceremony, Mead also wore a dress woven by the late queen.[13]

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