Page "Politics of American Samoa" Paragraph 1

There is also the traditional village politics of the Samoa Islands, the " faamatai " and the " faasamoa ", which continues in American Samoa and in independent Samoa, and which interacts across these current boundaries.

The Fa ' asamoa is the language and customs, and the Fa ' amatai the protocols of the " fono " ( council ) and the chiefly system.

The Fa ' amatai and the Fono take place at all levels of the Samoan body politic, from the family, to the village, to the region, to national matters.

The " matai " ( chiefs ) are elected by consensus within the fono of the extended family and village ( s ) concerned.

The matai and the fono ( which is itself made of matai ) decide on distribution of family exchanges and tenancy of communal lands.

The majority of lands in American Samoa and independent Samoa are communal.

A matai can represent a small family group or a great extended family that reaches across islands, and to both American Samoa and independent Samoa.