KJ Apa is now an official Samoan chief. During a traditional ceremony in his village of Moata’a, the 25-year-old Riverdale star bestowed the Samoan chiefly title Matai on Thursday (1 September).

As Samoa prepares for its elections on 29 August, we look back at the nation's prime ministers and the legacies they have ...

But not all residents of this 55,000-person cluster of Pacific islands are behind the push for birthright citizenship, which has been hotly contested since well before the current case. Many American ...

Despite sizable populations now — 220,000 in Western Samoa, 65,000 in American Samoa — they still look like paradise, and they aren’t overrun with tourists.

Importantly, the matai administer family property including customary land. About 81 percent of Samoa’s land is under customary ownership, with only 4 percent freehold and the rest public lands.

Misa cited one aspect of Samoan culture, its “Matai” system, which is a “chief system based on communal responsibilities,” as a difference that required Samoan democracy to differ from the Western ...

In Samoa, matai, or chiefs of villages, hold huge significance, and are exclusively eligible to stand for parliament. But titles aren’t simply inherited.

In Samoa, that can add up to a lot of pigeons: The country has 18,000 matai. Church leaders, too, often receive pigeon as gifts, or even request it as a favorite food.

On Aug. 31, 2022, the “Riverdale” star was officially granted the matai—or chief—title Savae during a ceremony held at the traditional grounds Laoa o Tamapua in Moata’a by the chiefs of ...

As Samoa prepares for its elections on 29 August, we look back at the nation's prime ministers and the legacies they have ...