The Imaginary Samoan that lives in the Colonial Mind

In this talk Kealani Cook will discuss aspects of the Samoan Mau movement in the context of his research examining non-violent civil disobedience movements across Oceania. In the late 1920s through the 1930s, the Mau movement challenged and at times negated the ability of the New Zealand colonial administration to rule over Sāmoa. This presentation examines some of the internal documentation which colonial administrators used to shape and perpetuate imaginary visions of the Samoan people. These “Imaginary Samoans” served to justify the administration’s presence and repressive actions while denying the strength and legitimacy of the Mau movement. Policies shaped around these imaginary Samoans rather than real ones led to a persistent inability to comprehend the Mau and the persistent failure of attempts to end the Mau.

About the speaker

Kealani Cook is Associate Professor in the Humanities Division, University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu, Kapolei, and author of Return to Kahiki: Native Hawaiians in Oceania (Cambridge University Press, 2018). In 2024 he was the recipient of a Travel Grant from the Friends of the Turnbull Library, His research project is a comparative history examining non-violent civil disobedience movements across Oceania. He plans to write a book bringing together four such movements: the Parihaka campaign of peaceful resistance, the Samoan Mau movement, the Maʻasina Ruru movement, and Operation Homecoming at Kwajalein Atoll.