Between 2002 and 2008, published and unpublished texts have been gathered, scanned (original Laperouse’s letters…), translated in English (when original was in French: thanks to Deborah Pope), photocopied (original and translation) and bound in a thick A4 volume. 4 Copies have been produced and given to the Head of State of Samoa, the National Archives, the National University of Samoa, and the Institute of Samoan Studies in American Samoa.
The ceremony was held in October 2008, in Apia, at the National University of Samoa Fale Tele, at His Highness the Head of State Residence, and at the Consul of France Residence in Apia. Some photographs of this event are presented in the top right corner of the welcome page of this web site.
A research based on these documents, analysing the history of first and early encounters between Samoans and all European visitors, has been published and is freely accessible on-line:
The entire content of the A4 volume of the original documents and their translation in English (the large blue colour book held by H.H the Head of State in one of the photographs), of which only 4 printed copies are in existence for the moment,is now (December 2017) available here for download, with several addenda. The introductory chapter (written in both English and French) gives a summary view of the purpose and the content: give access to all available documentation relevant to first and early European visits in Samoa (all French until 1838, all non French until 1824). Each subgroup of files is introduced by its own table of contents with explanations. The next step will be to gather and make available documentation from 1824 to the mid-19th century.
