Fiame Naomi Mata'afa: Samoa's first female deputy prime minister

Abstract

In March 2016, Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa was the first woman appointed to the position of deputy prime minister of Samoa. Following in the tradition of Pacific Islands Portraits, we provide a short life history of Fiamē, including her lineage, education and political career. Drawing on a mixture of oral history interviews and newspapers, we explore key themes central to Pacific politics, including gender, but also, title, political parties, the role of the international community, and modernization. Our contribution is significant because while the region has a rich tradition of life history writing, the main subjects of this literature are Melanesian men. In writing about a Polynesian woman leader, we address both geographic and gender imbalances.