Today in History

1929 'Black Saturday' - NZ police open fire in Apia

It became known to Samoans as ‘Black Saturday’ – the day that New Zealand military police fired on a Mau demonstration in Apia, killing 11 Samoans, including the independence leader Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.

New Zealand occupied the German colony of Samoa in August 1914. After the war New Zealand was granted a mandate by the League of Nations to administer the territory. Discontent with the New Zealand administrators grew and a Samoan independence movement – the Mau – gathered momentum.

Much of this discontent was due to the handling of the 1918 flu epidemic, which killed as many as 8500 people – one-fifth of the population. Responsibility for the failure to quarantine the Talune when it arrived in Apia from Auckland in November was laid firmly at the feet of the New Zealand Administrator, Colonel Robert Logan. To make matters worse, Logan refused an offer of assistance from the governor of neighbouring American Samoa, where quarantine measures had prevented any flu deaths. This added to the ill-feeling towards Logan and the New Zealand administration.

In addition, the New Zealand Administrators consistently undermined traditional Samoan social structures and in general failed to understand or respect Samoan culture. This patronising attitude gave the Mau added impetus.

Stephen Allen became the new Administrator of Western Samoa in May 1928. He had served with distinction in the First World War and believed a firm hand was needed to stop mounting civil disobedience. With his administration under pressure from an increasingly assertive Mau, he was determined to make a stand, despite the concerns of his superiors in Wellington. When it was revealed that the Mau planned a procession for 28 December 1929 he decided to take the opportunity to arrest a wanted person. It was this action that resulted in the procession turning violent. Eleven Samoans were shot and killed, including the high chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III, and at least 30 were wounded. One policeman, Constable William Abraham, was beaten to death in the melee that broke out after the shooting began.

As many as 1500 Mau supporters disappeared into the bush. The New Zealand government declared the movement seditious. In January 1930 a cruiser was sent to Apia and New Zealand seamen and marines joined the police in searching the islands for Mau supporters. While this search was largely unsuccessful, Allen's policy of firmness seemed justified when the Mau came out of the bush in March and agreed to disperse. A year later Allen claimed that the movement appeared to be dead.

Western Samoa finally gained its independence in 1962. Tupua Tamasese Meaole, son of Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III, became co-head of state with Malietoa Tanumafili II. Some closure regarding this phase of Samoan history occurred in 2002 when Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand, apologised for wrongs committed during New Zealand rule.

Image: Chief Tupua Tamesese lies in state (Te Ara)