Vaisala is a small village on the northwest coast of Savai'i island in Samoa. The village lies within the political district of Vaisigano.[1] The village's population is 465.[2]
It is located close to the coast in the northwestern corner of the island. To the west are the neighbouring villages of Auala and Asau.[3]
A significant family from Vaisala is the Va'ai family. Va'ai Kolone, a matai, was a Member of Parliament of the Vaisala area who became a Prime Minister of Samoa twice in the 1980s. A progressive leader, he was also the founder the Human Rights Protection Party which has since been the dominant party in Samoan politics and currently in power. Va'ai Kolone's father, a government clerk in the German administration of Samoa during colonialism, foresaw the importance of education and sent his own sons to boarding schools in the capital Apia.[4]
The Vaisala Hotel situated at a white sandy beach is one of the largest hotels at the west end of Savai'i.[5]
In 2009, the village council of chiefs banished their Member of Parliament for the Vaisigano No. 1 district, Va’ai Solia Papu Va’ai, over a domestic dispute. He was allowed to return a few months later following a presentation of gifts and reconciliation with the chiefs.[6] In 2007, the same Member of Parliament had survived being shot by a gunman while attending a meeting in the village of Falealupo.[7]
^Davidson, Prof. J.W. (December 1957). Leadership in Western Samoa. Te Ao Hou quarterly. Maori Affairs Department, New Zealand Government. p. 17. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
Samoa
