Women’s Mau; ‘dangerous person to have’

Invincible Strangers 55 Chapter 25.1

As the men sought sanctuary in the jungle, a Women’s Mau was formed, led by Alaisala Tamasese, Ta’isi’s estranged wife Filoi Sāmoana Ta’isi (Rosabel Nelson) and her sister Priscilla Muench, Faumuina’s wife Fa’amusami Faumuina and Paisami Tuimaleali’ifano, wife of the old chief. Filoi in a letter to Ta’isi said they had over 8,000 members. They accused Allen of a ‘grave dereliction of duty’ by failing to prosecute police over Aso Pogisa. They said the force had consisted of ‘untrained … and irresponsible young men’ who could not be trusted with firearms. They had provoked events and instead of the police force used to protect life, it ‘became an uncontrolled, irresponsible and independent number of units firing and killing and wounding as they pleased and without any reasonable apprehension of the life of any policeman being in danger.’ The Women’s Mau said the policemen at the station shooting the Mau did not know that Abraham had been killed. They said that the police station had not been under attack. Tupua Tamasese had been the closest person to the station who was killed. It was impossible to believe that 23 armed policemen in the station at the time would have escaped casualties if they had been under attack.

The leaders of the Women's Mau; Paisami Tuimaleali’ifano, Alaisala Tamasese, Filoi Sāmoana Ta’isi and Fa’amusami Faumuina. Photo NZ National Library.