Mataʻafa Lealaisalanoa Muliufi (died 29 February 1936) was a Western Samoan high chief and politician. He held the Tama-a-Aiga title of Mataʻafa from 1915 until his death.
Biography Muliufi was born into the Mataʻafa family.Death of High Chief Mataafa, O.B.E. Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1936, p30 He attended a Catholic Seminary on Wallis with the intention of becoming a priest, but later abandoned the idea. He added Salanoa to his name when he became one of the ranking chiefs of Falefa, Lealaisalanoa. In 1915 he succeeded to the title of Mataʻafa after the death of Mataʻafa Tupuola Iose.Penelope Schoeffel (2016) The work of the dead in Samoa: Rank, status and property Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 125, pp149–170
After his uncle Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana was removed from the post of Fautua (advisor to the Governor) in 1927 due to him sympathising with the Mau movement, Muliufi was selected as his replacement.Morgan A. Tuimalealiʻifano (2006) O Tama a ʻāiga: The Politics of Succession to Sāmoa's Paramount Titles, USP, p33 Two years later he was appointed to the Legislative Council as one of the two nominated Samoans.Lauofo Meti (2002) Samoa: The Making of the Constitution, National University of Samoa, p20
He was appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1935 King's Birthday and Silver Jubilee Honours, and was invested in February 1936,Investiture in Samoa Press, 24 February 1936 but died a few weeks later after a long illness. He was buried at Mulinuʻu in the burial ground housing the royal tombs of the Tama-a-Aiga, Samoa's highest chiefs.
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