Samoa will commemorate as a nation, the 100th anniversary of one of the darkest times in it’s history, with a public holiday tomorrow.
The Spanish Influenza epidemic referred to as “fa’ama’i oti” (illness of death) decimated an estimated 8,500 Samoans, about 22 percent of the entire population.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi told media that this will be a day for the remembrance of the dead by the living.
“It will be a day of prayers and a day for people to reflect on the importance of prioritizing health services,” he said.
Not prioritizing the protection of the health of the people at the time by the New Zealand administration is widely considered the main reason so many lives were lost.
A special service will be held at the site of the Vaimoso mass grave tomorrow.
It is planned that a security fence to identify the mass grave will be built around the site and will be funded by the governments of New Zealand and Samoa.
The Vaimoso site is one of many mass graves around the country but most are not readily identifiable because they were never properly identified at the time.
A commission of inquiry appointed by New Zealand to look into the circumstances and causes of the epidemic reported that American Samoa had entirely escaped the ravages of influenza, and it appears, from their report, that from November 20th, to avoid the risk of introduction from Apia, the United States Governor at Pago Pago imposed on all ships arriving at this port five days absolute quarantine before discharging or taking on board any mail or cargo.
The commission also found that the New Zealand Administrator overseeing Samoa at the time Colonel Robert Logan, did not accept an offer of assistance from the Governor of American Samoa that may have reduced the heavy death toll.
