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thumb|right|300px|Meeting at Falefa c.1923 - 1928. At the center rear is New Zealander Major General George S. Richardson, Administrator of Samoa between 1923 and 1928. thumb|View of Falefa Valley from Le Mafa Pass.|300px Falefā is located on the north eastern coast of Upolu island in Samoa. It was the ancient capital during the ('government') of (King) Fonoti after defeating his kin Vaafusuaga Toleafoa and Samalaulu for control of Samoa. King Fonoti chose to rule from his new seat in Falefa, an honour remembered in its faalupega (Charter and Salutations) to this day.

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Place details

Locality
Saletele
Region
Ātua
Country
Sāmoa
Population
1,346
Timezone
Pacific/Apia

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

61US AQIModerate
PM2.5
16.1 µg/m³
PM10
27.4 µg/m³
As of 2026-08-12 18:00 · Open-Meteo

~43 min read

Encyclopedic overview

33 sections
Contents
  • History and culture
  • Establishment of Falefa
  • Continued Growth and Establishment of new villages
  • Salamasina kidnapping plot
  • War and the establishment of Falefa as the seat of King Fonoti
  • {{okina}}Aiga Sā Fenunuivao and their {{lang|sm|Tama a {{okina}}aiga}}, Tupua (later known as 'Tupua Tamasese')
  • The Aloali{{okina}}i: Luafalemana.
  • Politics and governance
  • The Village Fono: Falefā, Falelima and the Falefitu
  • Selection of Falefa's two senior leaders: Leutele and Moeono
  • Folklore
  • Lautivunia: The Tu{{okina}}i Tonga and Tui Atua Leutelelei{{okina}}ite
  • The ravages of war: {{okina}}Iuli Potini calls for peace
  • Independence: Moe{{okina}}ono and The Mau Movement
  • Title contention and controversies
  • Disputes over the ''Tupua Tamasese'' title
  • The second dispute
  • Resolution
  • Line of succession
  • Tama-a-{{okina}}Āiga: Tupua Tamasese
  • Aloali{{okina}}i: Luafalemana
  • Tamāli{{okina}}i: Leutele
  • Tulafale-Ali{{okina}}i (Matua): Moe{{okina}}ono
  • Tulafale-Ali{{okina}}i (Matua): {{okina}}Iuli
  • Population
  • Fa{{okina}}alupega: charter and salutations
  • Important names and places in Falefa
  • Malae-Fono
  • Maota o Alii
  • Laoa
  • Sa{{okina}}otama{{okina}}ita{{okina}}i
  • See also
  • References

thumb|right|300px|Meeting at Falefa c.1923 - 1928. At the center rear is New Zealander Major General George S. Richardson, Administrator of Samoa between 1923 and 1928. thumb|View of Falefa Valley from Le Mafa Pass.|300px Falefā is located on the north eastern coast of Upolu island in Samoa. It was the ancient capital during the ('government') of (King) Fonoti after defeating his kin Vaafusuaga Toleafoa and Samalaulu for control of Samoa. King Fonoti chose to rule from his new seat in Falefa, an honour remembered in its faalupega (Charter and Salutations) to this day.

Falefa is headed by the descendants of its two founders - Moeono Falealoga (''tulafale-alii or 'matua) and Leutele Leutogatui (matua-alii''), the sons of Tui Atua Lemuaiteleloloa and his wife, Leateafaiga.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Falefa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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