Tui Manu'a Matelita

Tui Manu'a Matelita, born Margaret Young, and also known as Makelita, Matelika or Lika (December 31, 1872 – October 29, 1895) was the Tui Manu'a (paramount chief or queen) from 1891 to 1895. She ruled over Manu'a, a group of islands in the eastern part of the Samoan Islands (present day American Samoa).

She was born on December 31, 1872. Her parents were Arthur Paʻu Young and of Amipelia. Her father's heritage was half-Samoan and half-white; her grandfather was either a British or American surnamed Young and her grandmother was a Samoan woman of Fasito'o (located in the western Samoan Islands). On her mother's side, Matelita was a descendant of Tui Manu'a Taliutafa Tupolo, son of Tui Manu'a Moaatoa, of the anoalo class, the lineal descendants of the Tui Manu'a line.

The family resided in the main two villages of 'o Lumā and Sī'ufaga, on Ta‘ū, the main island of the Manu'a group, where her father was a trader. The family lived in a two-story stone house in the center of the two villages near the Protestant Christian church.

After the death of Tui Manu'a Alalamua, the paramount title was left vacant and disputed. An election took place in the faletolu, the council which traditionally decided on the next Tui Manu'a. The two candidates were Matelita and Taofi, a son of Tui Manu'a Tauveve. The anoalo led by Arthur Paʻu Young weighed in in favor of Matelita. The decision was not accepted initially by the main line of the Tui Manu'a, but Taofi conceded to Matelita and she became the new paramount chief of the group, ascending to the title on July 1, 1891. She was crowned in a traditional ceremony consisting of feasting, offering of food, kava drinking in the days before and after July 13, 1891.

During her tenure, she primarily filled a ceremonial role and resided on the main island of Ta‘ū. In 1895, she gave a speech consecrating a new church. Contemporary and posthumous European and American accounts of her life portray her as a helpless figurehead and as a white queen of the South Seas. Matelita never married because she would not marry any of the eligible native chieftains and no other men were regarded as having the proper rank to marry her.

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