The Status of Customary Law in Western Samoa

Abstract

1. Western Samoa Western Samoa is today an independent nation and member of the commonwealth located in the centre of the South Pacific about 1,000 miles south of the equator. Some 151,500 peopleThe Official Report of the Census of 1971 has not yet been published. There figures are from the "Preliminary Announcement" of the Government Statistician (1971) and the previous Census (1966) live principally on the two large volcanic islands of Upolu and Savai'i. The population which is 89% Samoan, 10% part Samoan and 1% European and other, lives in 300 villages distributed mainly around the coastlines and in the 50 villages comprising the urban area of the capital, Apia. High mobility between village and town impedes any meaningful assessment of the degree of urbanisation. Although statistically 30,000 heads can be counted in Apia, it is difficult to say what lower figure represents the genuine town as opposed to village dwellers. There are two land tenure systems, 80% of the land being held according to the customs and usages of the Samoan people and the balance comprising freehold land land held in fee simple pursuant to registered title and public land vested free of title in the State. Samoans are a branch of the Polynesian race who have inhabited their islands for over two thousand years during which time they have developed a sophisticated socio-political system. The homogenous character of Samoan society, almost total freedom from poverty, the absence of strong central Government, whether colonial or post-colonial, and the peculiar strength of its social culture have enabled this system to survive the onslaught of “western” ideas and practices, to a large extent unaffected by 130 years of contact.