Mataʻafa

[1][2] It is one of two such titles originating from the Atua district at the east end of Upolu island (the other being Tupua Tamasese of Falefa & Salani) and has its historical seat in the village of Amaile.

[3] Prominent holders of the title include Matāʻafa Iosefo of Falefa, one of the three rival candidates for the kingship of Samoa during the early colonial period,[4] Mataʻafa Faumuina Fiame Mulinuʻu I (died 1948) of Lepea and Lotofaga, who became leader of Samoa's pro-independence Mau movement after Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III's assassination; and his son Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II (1921–1975), the first Prime Minister of Samoa.

The lineage branches off in later years with the title's ancestor Luafalemana, the son of King Tupua Fuiavailili and Punipuao, daughter of Alaiʻasā of Falefa.

[6] By joining the daughter of Luafalemana with Tuimavave, the Tui Ātua line arrives at a harmonious junction between the two great families of Atua, ʻAiga Sā Levālasi (custodian of the Matāʻafa title) and ʻAiga Sā Fenunuivao (custodian of the Tupua Tamasese title).

After subsequent appeals before the Lands & Titles Court, the title returned to Faʻasuamaleʻaui's line upon the death of former Prime Minister Fiame Matāʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II, when it was bestowed on Matāʻafa Puela Faʻasuamaleʻaui Patu who held it until his death in 1997.

Group (seated, wearing white) with Wilhelm Solf , New Zealand parliamentarian Charles H. Mills and paramount chief Matāʻafa Iosefo during a visit by Mills to Samoa, 1903.