Transcript
A large number of respected speakers from New Zealand and abroad gave depth into each of the three key issues on the agenda.
The conference in turn allowed for attendees to openly debate and share their thoughts.
An indigenous academic, Maua Faleauto, attended the conference because of his interest in customary land rights, which he has written about for 13 years.
The legislation allows the use of the Torrens system of land registration which requires the registration of public land, freehold land and customary land leases.
Mr Faleauto says having a land registration system where the government is the keeper of all land and title records does not fit with traditional Samoan land rights.
"I was shocked when I read the newspaper one day to see they were bringing the Torrens System to Samoa because I knew the Torrens System was all about breaking up customary land." 0:09
Samoa's former Head of State Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi was the keynote speaker and Mr Faleauto challenged him, saying he had betrayed Samoa by signing the Land Title Registration Act in 2008.
According to Article 109, the Amendment of Constitution, Tupua was required to get a referendum of approval from the people of Samoa before signing the bill.
Mr Faleauto says Tupua eventually opened up about his involvement at the conference.
"As the Head of State he had been pressured to sign into force the Land Title Registration Act, which he had been assured that it would not affect the customary rights of our people by alienation. However, he has now said that he realises that he was tricked and that in fact the act should be repealed."
Tupua gave the conference keynote address on traditional leadership in Samoa, including the fact that only chiefs or matai can become MPs.
A conference committee member, Doctor Tamasailau Suaali'i-Sauni, says the topic allows people to critique the system.
"What the relationship is between a lot of the tenants associated with the fa'amatai and the tenants associated with western democratic parliamentary systems because that plays a significant role in better understanding the workings of our systems in the islands. Many of the people in New Zealand who are Samoan also have titles and they go back and forth to Samoa and they do various things within Samoa. They even use their titles here."
The conference looked at what it means to change a nation's constitution in relation to its religious values.
Samoa has declared itself a Christian state based on the religions that recognise the trinity.
But Ms Suaali'i-Sauni says this is problematic because not all Christian denominations accept the trinity. fade out sfx...
"The trinity is something that many of the Christian denominations don't agree on, so what we're calling for is a deeper unpacking conversation of these issues in terms of the relationship between what happens at the constitutional level and what happens in terms of custom in terms of our traditional beliefs. Where do they come together and where is there a mismatch."
Head of State Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi says it is crucial Pacific people living abroad are aware of the law, the customs and their rights in their homeland.
"How do I identify what is best in my culture, in my history, in my theology, in my philosophy. How do I find a mix with the best in western practice, western technology and process and when I do find this mix, how do I locate it in a context that we live in, in this day and age."
The conference committee says if funding is secured, the second part of the series will be a dialogue between Aotearoa New Zealand and Tonga next year.
This is Sela Jane Hopgood.
