The American Samoan chiefs who signed the Deeds of Cession did not see a conflict between U.S. citizenship and the preservation of their land and culture. They were right about not having this concern. 

Recent opposition to legal recognition of U.S. citizenship by some officials in American Samoa repeats unsupported arguments made by the U.S. Navy in the 1940s that U.S. citizenship would risk threatening local laws and practices protecting Fa’a Samoa. Recognition of citizenship is unrelated to questions about the constitutionality of these laws and practices.

The example of the Northern Mariana Islands makes this clear. People born in the Northern Mariana Islands are automatically recognized as U.S. citizens. Yet, federal courts have upheld their ability to restrict the sale of land to those of “Northern Mariana Descent.” Thus, someone without any ancestral ties to the Northern Marianas who moves there is unable to buy land, just as someone without any ancestral ties to American Samoa who moves there is unable to buy land.

Some point to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or Guam as examples where the United States and others have taken control over significant tracts of land. But the federal government took much of that land before people in those territories were recognized as citizens and were still labeled “non-citizen” U.S. nationals. Further, the basis for U.S. land takings today is not U.S. citizenship but U.S. sovereignty. The federal government’s view is they have broad powers to take land, whether or not people in a U.S. territory are recognized as citizens or nationals. Recognizing people as full U.S. citizens rather than “non-citizen” U.S. nationals would not expand the power of the federal government or others over land in American Samoa.

Ultimately, the continued denial of citizenship in American Samoa does nothing to protect its land or culture, while exposing American Samoans to potential criminal prosecution in Alaska and other states. American Samoans living in the States are also denied job opportunities, certain state and federal benefits, and are often treated worse than even foreign nationals who are green card holders. 

Read more about all this in a legal brief filed by the Samoan Federation of America here or watch Fa’a Samoa, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination in American Samoa: Past and Present in our Building Understanding series.