Mau movement in American Samoa

The Mau movement in American Samoa or American Samoa Mau (Samoan: O le Mau), was an anti-colonial movement and an independence movement formed in American Sāmoa in the 1920s, which was suppressed by the United States. Established in late 1919 or early 1920, it aimed to challenge the overreach of the U.S. Navy's authority.

The Mau movement has also been known in American Sāmoa by several other names, including The Committee of Samoan Chiefs, The Samoan Movement, The Samoan Cause, The Samoan League, and The Committee of the Samoan League.

After revelations surfaced that U.S. officials had misappropriated public funds, prominent Samoan figures — supported by those who opposed the U.S. Navy's influence — mounted the widespread protest known as the Mau movement. They initiated a boycott of copra, a critical revenue source, effectively crippling the U.S. naval administration. In 1920, copra production dropped to half its 1919 level — a decline attributed to the boycott, which brought copra cutting, roadwork, and most commercial activities to a standstill.

Launched under the guidance of Mauga Moi Moi, the highest-ranking chief in Pago Pago, the movement took shape through his influential leadership. When Samuel Sailele Ripley returned to Leone in July 1920, he became the leader of the Mau movement. Following Mauga Moi Moi's death in 1935, Governor Otto Dowling asserted that the Mau movement had come to an end.

The movement originally took shape in Pago Pago, then evolved and moved its headquarters from Pago Pago to Leone, and eventually settled in Nuʻuuli. The leadership of the movement changed over time, featuring prominent figures such as Mauga Moi Moi from Pago Pago, Samuel Sailele Ripley from Leone, Magalei Siāsulu from Faleniu, and Chris Taliutafa Young, a descendant of Tui Manuʻa Matelita. Most of its followers were based in the Western District on Tutuila Island.

In the end, the Mau movement in American Sāmoa turned out to be less violent and extensive than the Mau movement in Western Sāmoa.