To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:-

Whereas, the Islands of the Samoan Group lying east of Longitude 171 degrees west of Greenwich were, on the 16th day of February, 1900, by arrangement between the Governments of Germany, Great Britain, and the United States of America, placed under the protection of the Government of the United States of America;

And Whereas, on the 17th day of April, in the year 1900, the Islands of Tutuila and Aunu'u, being portion of said Islands of the Samoan Group lying east of Longitude 171 degrees west of Greenwich, were, by the chiefs and rulers of Tutuila and Aunu'u, ceded to and placed under the sovereignty and protection of the United States of America, and the government of said Islands was thereupon assumed by said United States;

And Whereas, in administering said government, the Islands hereinafter described, known as the Manu'a Islands, being the remainder of said islands of the Samoan Group lying east of Longitude 171 degrees west of Greenwich, have been under the protection of the United States of America, and controlled and governed in conjunction with the islands of Tutuila and Aunu'u;

And Whereas, at the request of Tuimanu'a, the King of Manu'a, and his chiefs, the United States Flag was, on the 15th day of June, 1900, raised on the Islands of Tau, of the Manu'a Group, for the purpose of granting protection to the people of the Manu'a Islands;

And Whereas, Tuimanu'a and his chiefs, being content and satisfied with the justice, fairness, and wisdom of the government as hitherto administered by the several Commandants of the United States Naval Station, Tutuila, and the officials appointed to act with the Commandant, are desirous of placing the Islands of Manu'a hereinafter described under the full and complete sovereignty of the United States of America to enable said Islands, with Tutuila and Aunu'u, to become a part of the territory of said United States;

Now Know Ye:-

(1) That we, Elisara Tuimanu'a and the Chief whose names are hereunder subscribed. in consideration of the premises hereinbefore recited, have ceded, and, by, These Presents Do Cede, unto the Government of the United States of America, All Those, The Islands of the Manu'a Group, being the whole of eastern portion of the Samoan Islands lying east of Longitude 171 degrees west of Greenwich and known as Tau, Olosega, Ofu, and Rose Islands, and all other, the waters and property and adjacent thereto, together with all sovereign rights thereunto belonging and possessed by us.

To Hold the said ceded territory unto the government of the United States of America, to erect the same into a territory or district of the said Government.

(2) It is intended and claimed by these Presents that there shall be no discrimination in the sufferages and political privileges between the present residents of said islands and citizens of the United States dwelling therein, and the rights of the Chiefs in each village and of all people concerning their property according to their customs shall be respected.

Done at the place of Faleula in Tau, in triplicate, in both the Samoan and English languages, on this 14th day of July, in the year 1904, A.D.

I Hereby Certify that on this 16th day of July, in the year 1904, before me, Edwin W. Gurr, Judge of the District Court of Tutuila, personally appeared Tuimanu'a, the Governor of Manu'a; Tufele, County Chief of Fitiuta; Misa, County Chief of Ofu; Tuiolosega, County Chief of Olosega; Asoau, County Chief of Faleasao; and Logoai, District Clerk of Manu'a; personally known to me to be the Tuimanu'a, high chiefs, and representatives of the people of the Islands of Manu'a, who, each for himself, acknowledged that he executed the attached Instrument of Cession, and affixed his seal thereto, freely and voluntarily, for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.

In Testimony Whereof I have caused the seal of the court to be affixed this 16th day of July in the year 1904.

/s/E.W. Gurr
District Judge of Tutuila

ACCEPTANCE OF CESSIONS

The Judge Advocate General of the Navy in 1921, referring to the above cessions, said: "These cessions were accepted by the President of the United States, and full information with respect thereto was communicated to Congress and the action of the Chief Executive relative thereto adopted and approved in a number of separate statutory enactments." (File 3931-1429.36, Dec. 23, 1921), LRNA, Supp. 25.