On an emotional visit to Samoa, King Charles was honored with a high chief title by the Chief of Moata’a Village Tofaeono Iupati Fuatai, who implored the monarch to “take a small part of Samoa away” with him. The chief expressed his respect for the King and praised his lifelong efforts to bring attention to climate change.
The island nation of Samoa faces significant threats from the effects of global warming, including tropical cyclones, storm surges, floods, and intense droughts. Chief Fuatai emphasized that bestowing Charles with this title was a tribute to the traditions of the village ancestors, saying: “When you are given a title like this, it is a big honor. We hope that the King takes a small part of Samoa away with him. Once he has the title of Tui-Taumeasina we also become part of him and he will be connected to our people and our lands forever.”
He added, “In the old days we believed in the conferring of a title as a mark of respect to one another and that is what we are doing today. When you confer such a title from the heart, we become bonded as one.”
Dressed casually in a bush jacket adorned with trim created by the Samoan school of fine art, Charles and Queen Camilla were bestowed with traditional garlandsa floral leiand proceeded to take their places at the head of the village hall.
As part of the welcoming ceremony, Charles was given a cup. In a gesture of respect, he poured a portion onto the ground before holding it with both hands and declaring: “May God bless this ‘ava,'” reports the Mirror.
Chief Fuatai shared that the local community had eagerly prepared for the royal visit, with elders and youngsters from the nearby school joining forces to ready the village hall. He expressed: “The whole community have very much been looking forward to the royal visit. It is the opportunity of a lifetime and in the old days when we talked about the Queen and now a British King, it seemed a land so far away and now he is here. We are very lucky and fortunate because a lot of people even in your country would not get to see the King up close and now he has been welcomed into our community, it is very special to have him as a guest to our village.”
Local MP Lenata’i Victor Tamapua played a role in the ceremony, expressing gratitude to the royals for their visit to Samoa.
He announced the presentation of a finely woven straw mat to the King, symbolizing authority. The Queen beamed as she received a vibrant hand-woven mat, its colors reflecting those of the Union Jack and the Samoan national flag.
The greeting “Talofa,” or hello, was displayed above the message “Welcome to Moataa, Your Majesty Queen Camilla,” Chief Tamapua stated: “Being in your presence makes us feel as royals as well. Thank you very much.”
Climate change is a significant concern for communities throughout Samoa, particularly in Moata’a village, which was selected to host the royals after suffering severe flooding in 2018. The flood damage underscored the vulnerability of coastal communities, especially in Small Island Developing States, to the increasingly extreme and frequent weather hazards seen across the Commonwealth due to climate change.
In response, the village council created a Community Integrated Management Plan and decided to establish a mangrove conservation area. The chief stated: “The King is the perfect advocate for us as a nation. Climate change is real, it is now and we must urge the world to acknowledge how perilous it is for nations such as ours. King Charles has the clout, he has the power to work wonders especially for small countries like Samoa.”
He expressed hope that the visit would lead to organizations assisting their efforts to sustain their environment and resist the impacts of climate change.
Emphasizing the crucial role of youth in the fight against climate change, the chief said: “We are very grateful that our young people are very conscious of this problem. They are all doing their part, collecting the rubbish, auditing changes in the environment, it is all vital to our survival.”
“But the generation that we are, we owe our children and so we need to do our part as well. We are grateful for the King to come to our community and help us spread the message in this way.”