‘E lima usuga a lenei tupu; ‘o ana ulua’i usuga e lua ‘o Savai’i. ‘0 lona alo-tama ulumatua ‘o Nofoasāefā, na ‘avea ma Tui Ā’ana, ma mulimuliane na ‘avea fo’i ma Tui Atua, ‘ae sā tagata-valeina i Savai’i talu lona sāuā. ‘0 le Tamase- se ‘o ial nei (Aloali’i ma Tupua), ‘o se suli tonu mai ā Nofoasāefā. ‘0 Ta’isi le uso tū’ofe’o Nofoa, na ‘avea ma tua’ā o Sisavai’i, le tinā o le Mālietoa ‘o iai nei, Mālietoa Tanumafili. ‘0 le mea lea, ‘o ia i lona tinā, ‘o se aloali’i; ‘a ‘o Tupua, ‘o se sul i tonu mai ā Tupu Tupua. ‘0 Nofoasāefā ma Ta’isi ‘o lo ‘o lagomau i Falelātal i le talafātai i toga-sisifo o ‘Upolu.

Mai a Toloapatina, le alo-tama’ita’ 1 o Galumalemana i lona faletua lona lua, ‘e gafa mai ai le ‘Alipia ‘o iai nei; ma Mālia lona tin5, ‘o le uso o Kalala, le tinā o Tufele Fa’ato’ia o Manu’a.

‘0 le faletua lona tolu o Galumalemana ‘o ‘Iliganoa, ‘o le alo-tama’ita’i o To’omata i Solosolo. ‘0 lo lā’ua alo-tama e to’atasi ‘o Tūpolesava (po ‘o Tūpo- lesava’a), ‘e laulloa tele i lona fa’apu’upu’uga, Tūpō. I la lā’ua taua ma lona uso taufeagai, ‘o le’ā tātou ātili 1 le fa’amatalaga ‘o i lalo. ‘0 le usuga lona fā a Galumalemana na maua ai lona alo-tama ‘o Tualamasala^ ‘e lauiloa fo’i 1 le suafa Tupua. ‘0 le Tupua lenei na ‘au’au fa atasi ma Tupo 1 lana fouvalega, pei ‘ona ‘o le’ā tatou va’ai nei ‘i ai.

‘0 lona lima, ma ‘o le usuga mulimuli fo’i lea a le tupu, ‘o le tama’ita’i ta’uta’ua tele lea ‘o Sauimalae. ‘0 ia ‘ o le alo-tama’ita’1 o TuimaleaH’ifano roa Tultogama’atoe o le ‘ā1ga ta’uta’ua o Salevālasi. ‘0 ni suli mai lenei fa’a- tasiga, ‘o Taeoali’i, Letelemalanuola, ma I’amafana.

‘E le ‘o alo ‘uma ia o Galumalemana ‘ua tā^ua i ‘inei, ‘e iai ni isi e to’a- ono pe sili atu fo’i;peita’i,’o lātou ia ‘ua tā’ua e sili lo lātou ta’uta’ua, ma
‘o ni isi o lātou e tatau lava ona fa’ailoa, ‘auā sā ‘auai i ni vāega tāua o le talafa’asolopito.Sā ‘umi tausaga o le nofoa’igā-tupu a Galumalemana, ma ‘o lo ‘o manatua pea e ui ‘ina ‘ua mavae ni tupulaga se ono. Sā leai ni taua tāua sā tutupu i aso o lona solfua, ‘ae na alia’e vave ni fa’alavelave‘ina ‘ua āoa-le-1agi. ‘0 lona tu’ugamau sā foa (vane) i le papa ma ufitia ‘1 se lapa (‘amu po ‘o puga), ‘o lo ‘o vā’aia pea i Faleolo, Sātapuala, le ‘āiga o Tuimaleali’ifano ma To’alepai.

Civil war breaks out between Savai’i and Upolu when the king appoints his unborn child as successor and his son Nofoa objects.

When all the different branches of his family and the Tumua had come, the king said, “Lufilufi and Leulumoega, Afega and Safata, and you my children, please pay careful attention to these my last words to you all:

Those are all my beloved children, but hark, Tumua, the child that is still in the womb of that lady, Sauimalae, I herewith appoint”.

Here the king was suddenly interrupted by Nofoasaefa. While his father was speaking, Nofoa, his eldest son, had carefully listened to every word, but as soon as he became aware of the King’s intention, he felt deeply offended and grimly resolved to defend his rights. He said, “Sir, stop. Have pity on us and die without making a will. But leave it to the Tumua and us to work out our destiny. Die peacefully and we shall see to it that both our family and the government will be well cared for, because we are able to.

Here, Nofoasaefa in his turn was interrupted and called to order by the Tumua. He was told to keep quiet and be patient so as to allow the King to finish his last will without further molestation. Thereupon, Galumalemana quietly repeated his last words and then continued:

“Tumua, the child that is still in the womb of that lady, Sauimalae, I herewith appoint to become your chief and lord. It is my earnest desire that he be my successor. But you, my sons, don’t be disappointed, for all of you shall be greatly honoured as Aloalii. Whatever you resolved upon together, that shall be law. Take care of Samoa, just as the Tumua shall take care of you”.

The honorific appellation of “aloalii” was destined to become one of the proudest prerogatives of a high chief. As Galumalemana had five wives, the descendants of this king are numerous, and when united their influence is very considerable. Any decision arrived at by a convention of aloalii is bound to be considered, even by the mighty Tumua. In fact, one may say that in Samoa no one has a chance of being recognized as king by all parties unless he is an aloalii.

Galumalemana died only a few days later. He never knew of the trouble and bloodshed caused by his unusual last will. His body was deposited with all the honour, due to his royal rank, in a grave especially hewn in the rock and covered with a large coral slab at Faleolo, Satapuala.

In former times, the greatest respect was paid to the last will of a high chief and the one designated to succeed him, be he even only an adopted son, was generally approved by the family or the faleupolu. The deference shown to the last will of a king was even greater, and the Tumua usually yielded to and carried out his last wish. ‘This sanction of the tumua was, however, essential, as the ao and papa, i.e. the high titles were in their gift and not in that of the respective families.

Being ambitious and greatly urged on by his clan, each of the half-brothers objected to the decision of their late father and tried to attain his aim by intrigue or, if that did not work, by force of arms. No wonder then, that the demise of almost every king was followed by long and often bloody wars of succession.

The history of Nofoasaefa furnishes us with another instance of dissatisfaction and war caused by the last will of his father Galumalemana. Nofoasaefa had tried to object to the last will, but he had been silenced by the influential Tumua, yet the fact that the appointed successor was not yet born, made it easier for him to pursue his claim.

We do not reiterate the political events and realignments which led to another cycle of wars of succession, but skip to the conclusion of Brother Fred Henry:

“This act of the King meant a break in the old time-honored custom to select a king from the Tupua line. No wonder then, the king’s decision was strongly resented and opposed by both the Tumua and his own son. In fact, the last will of the King plunged Upolu and Savaii, which had enjoyed peace for the last 10 or 15 years, into endless and bloody civil wars that lasted some 30 years until Vaiinupo succeeded in obtaining the four titles requisite for kingship.” (page 192).