Sātele Tapumanaia, son of Queen Salamāsina, born in the 16th century, is thought to be the first holder of the chiefly "''Sātele''" title (alternately spelt as Lesātele or Tapusātele) of the village of
Sālani in the
Faleālili subdistrict of
Ātua,'
Upolu
Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approximate ...
.
The popular legend is that Tapumanaia was abducted by High Orators Talo and Tofuiofo'ia of Salani, Faleālili to establish a high chief for their village. However, other historians believe that the queen permitted her son to be raised by people of Faleālili in order to help strengthen alliances and for other political purposes.
Tapumanaia's leadership and lineage would lend to the title's migration and establishment of branches throughout the
Sāmoan islands in the following villages:
Sātele of
Alao,
Tutuila
Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisbane, A ...
Sātele of Sālani, Upolu
Sātele of
Salesatele, Upolu
Sātele of
Sataua Sataua is a village on the island of Savai'i in Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); ...
,
Savai'i
Sātele of
Vailoatai, Tutuila
[Krämer, A. (2000). The Samoa Islands: An Outline of a Monograph with Particular Consideration of German Samoa. Constitution, pedigrees and traditions--. United States: University of Hawaii Press., Page 448]
In Sāmoan culture, people can be related either through blood or through title. As such, all who carry the Sātele name today can trace their roots to its original titleholder, Tapumanaia, le alo o Salamāsina.
References
Samoan chiefs
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