National Park of American Samoa: Our Final National Park

My wife Leesa and I have just visited our 63rd — and final — U.S. national park: American Samoa. American Samoa is in the South Pacific, 2500 miles from Hawaii and 4800 miles from Los Angeles. Like Hawaii, the Samoan island chain is volcanic in origin, and the scenery consists of steep, rain forest covered slopes plunging into the ocean.

Because of its remoteness, it is the sixth least visited national park — only about 40,000 visitors per year. Most of those arrive on South Pacific cruises sailing into the stunning Pago Pago harbor for the day. The rest are “park chasers” like Leesa and me, who fly in for a few days from Hawaii. For many of the park chasers, American Samoa is the last park, and the ranger in the visitor center — located on the second floor of a commercial building in Pago Pago — happily (and without any verification!) prints out a certificate stating that you’ve visited all 63 parks.

American Samoa is also one of the smaller national parks — only 14 square miles of land and coral reefs spread over three islands. The main island, Tutuila, contains about six of those square miles (four on land and two offshore). There are a handful of flights each week on small propellor planes to the other two islands, but they have little tourist infrastructure and thus only the hardiest of park chasers make the effort (we didn’t). And truthfully, Tutuila has limited tourist infrastructure as well. Neither of the two hotels on the island is attractive. The seaside hotel was constructed in the 1960s and does not appear to have been renovated since. The more modern hotel is in a light industrial zone near the airport

Apart from a couple of very challenging hikes, the Tutuila unit of the park can easily be explored in a day. The rest of Tutuila is also worth visiting: the rugged shoreline and the Samoan villages with their colorful churches and open air “fales” where families gather.

Although we enjoyed our time in American Samoa, and of course are thrilled that we completed our national park quest, I keep asking myself why the National Park of American Samoa is a U.S. national park. In other words, why is American Samoa still a U.S. territory; and does it really make sense to designate part of this territory as a full-fledged national park?

First, a bit of history. The Samoans have lived in the island chain for 3000 years. In the era of colonization in late 19th century, as Europe and the United States were carving up the world, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States all became interested in Pago Pago’s deepwater harbor as a coaling station for their navies. War was averted when the three powers signed the Tripartite Convention of 1899, under which the U.S. received the eastern part of the archipelago, including Pago Pago on Tutuila with its natural harbor; Germany received the Western islands of the Samoan chain; and Britain received Tonga, part of the Solomon Islands, and some of West Africa. The United States then signed a “voluntary” Treaty of Cession with the Samoan chiefs of Tutuila. The treaty transferred sovereignty to the United States, but preserved the Samoan land ownership system as well as indigenous leadership over villages.

The U.S. Navy proceeded to build a large installation in Pago Pago, and the naval commandants acted as governors of the territory. The naval station proved essential to maintaining supply lines to New Zealand and Australia during World War II. After World War II, the navy reduced its presence, and control of the islands shifted to the Department of the Interior in 1951. American Samoa adopted its own constitution, which the Secretary of Interior ratified in 1967.

The American Samoan government has a significant degree of autonomy, subject to the rarely exercised veto by the Secretary of Interior. American Samoans are considered American nationals and have American passports, but the legislature has opposed birthright U.S. citizenship out of fear that it could compromise the collective land ownership system. The traditional system of land ownership and indigenous village leadership recognized in the 1900 Treaty of Cession continues in force.

American Samoa has a non-voting delegate in the U.S. Congress. In 1984, the delegate proposed a bill establishing a national park in American Samoa to protect the habitat of flying foxes (fruit bats). The legal complication was that the U.S. government did not own the land proposed for the park, and under the Treaty of Cession, could not buy the land. The Treaty provides that the land belonged to the villages, and prohibits them from selling it to non-Samoans. To solve this conundrum, the National Park Service entered into a 50-year lease with the local village councils. The lease will expire in 2043.

Should a national park be maintained on this vestige of U.S. colonialism? There is, of course, a national park in the U.S. Virgin Islands. But the differences between American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands are elucidating.

Again, a bit of history. The indigenous Taino tribes inhabiting what became Virgin Islands experienced a catastrophic population collapse during the course of colonization by the Danish during the seventeenth century. The Danes then brought enslaved Africans to work in their sugar plantations. The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917. The U.S. feared that the neutral Denmark would be conquered by Germany during World War I, and that Germany then would be well positioned to interfere with traffic through the Panama Canal. The U.S. Navy administered the islands until 1931. In the 1950s, Congress passed a law establishing a degree of home rule, which it subsequently expanded. The national park was established on land donated by philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller.

Although both the Virgin Islands and American Samoa are territories of the United States, American Samoa is inhabited and governed by its indigenous population that has maintained its language, culture and political and economic structure. American Samoa is much further from the mainland or the nearest state than the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the National Park Service does not own any of the land occupied by the National Park of American Samoa.

To be sure, the local population benefits economically from the tourism brought by the park; it appears that the park operates in a manner respectful of Samoan culture; and undoubtedly the park designation has helped preserve a delicate natural ecosystem. Nonetheless, it seems presumptuous — even imperialistic — for us to treat this park as part of “America’s best idea.”