Sapapalii is a village near the southeast coast of Savaii island in Samoa. It is the village where John Williams, the first missionary to bring Christianity to Samoa, landed in 1830., Lagaga: a short history of Western Samoa By Malama Meleisea & Penelope Schoeffel Meleisea Sapapali'i is in the Fa'asaleleaga political district and has a population of 896.
Sapapalii became the second Malietoa base in the district in 1750 when Malietoa Tia married a woman from the village. Their son Malietoa Fitisemanu was the father of Malietoa Vaiinupo who received Williams in 1830. Democracy and custom in Sāmoa: an uneasy alliance by Asofou Soʻo, p.33. Retrieved 2 November 2009
Sapapalii is north of Salelologa ferry terminal and township.
Archaeology
In the 1970s, Gregory Jackmond carried out archaeological surveys inland from Sapapali'i. Jackmond, a Peace Corps in Samoa, surveyed a 20 hectare area with extensive pre-historic settlements. Jackmond later carried out field work at Palauli on the south east coast where the Pulemelei Mound is situated. Samoan Village Patterns: Four Examples by Jesse D. Jennings, Richard Holmer and Gregory Jackmond, University of Utah, Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 91, No. 1, 1982. Retrieved 6 November 2009
References