Tago v. Faleulu
Tago v. Faleulu
Opinion of the Court
OPINION AND ORDER OF DISMISSAL
Tago filed his petition seeking the eviction of Faleulu from a part of the land Vaipito in Pago Pago. In 1947 Vaipito was decreed by this Court, in the case of Tago Loe et al. v. Sami and Faafeu Mauga, No. 33-1947 (H.C. of Am. S.) to “be registered as the individual property of Sami Mauga and Faafeu Mauga, subject to the license of Tago Loe to continue to use and occupy that part of Vaipito which he is now using and occupying, during the remainder of his natural life unless such license be sooner terminated by agreement or otherwise according to law.” Vaipito was so registered. Prior to the hearing of this case the Court viewed the land involved in the presence of the parties.
It appeared in the 1947 case that Mauga Moimoi had owned Vaipito as his individual property and that he had given permission to Tago Loe to occupy and use a part of it in return for service in accordance with Samoan customs ; that Tago Loe had gone on the land and put in plantations and put up houses in reliance upon the permission; that later Mauga Moimoi gave Vaipito to Sami and Faafeu who were his daughters adopted in the Samoan way. He had no blood children of his own.
Faleulu is the blood son of Leatiota, the blood brother of plaintiff Tago who was the Tago Loe in the 1947 case. Tago is Faleulu’s matai.
In our opinion the weight of evidence proves that Faleulu’s blood father helped Tago put in the plantations on the land from which he seeks to evict Faleulu and that Faleulu himself began working on the plantations there when he was still a boy; that he worked with Tago and his blood father, Leatiota; that sometime before the war Tago, as Faleulu’s matai, authorized Faleulu to live on the land
We have already said that Tago is Faleulu’s matai. We believe from the evidence that when Faleulu moved with
We think the disagreement over the cutting of the lone coconut tree and moving the house, in view of Faleulu’s most generous service to Tago, is not a ground on which a matai has a right to evict his son from premises assigned by the matai to his son. If every matai in American Samoa could have his family members evicted from premises assigned to them because of little disagreements such as have appeared in this case, it would be a bad situation indeed and young men would have no place to live.
We are going to dismiss Tago’s petition in this case not only because Tago and Faleulu are father and son in Samoan customs but also because Faleulu has faithfully rendered service to his matai. However, Faleulu should understand that he should continue to render such service in accordance with Samoan customs; also it should be clearly understood that Tago has the right to procure food from the plantations on the premises involved. Under the decree in the above case of Tago Loe et al. v. Sami and Faafeu, No. 33-1947 (H.C. of Am. S.) the right of Tago to occupy
ORDER
In accordance with the foregoing opinion it is ORDERED that the petition of Tago filed in this case be and the same is hereby dismissed.
Costs in the sum of $25.00 are hereby assessed against Tago, the same to be paid within 30 days.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.