The
American Samoa quarter is the fourth in the 2009 District of Columbia
and U.S. Territories Quarters Program. American Samoa—known as the
heart of Polynesia—is a group of five islands and two coral atolls in
the South Pacific, approximately 2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii and
2,700 miles northeast of Australia. Contacts with Europeans began in
the early 1700s and intensified with the arrival of English missionaries
and traders in the 1830s. Under the Treaty of Berlin in 1899, the
United Kingdom and Germany gave the United States rights and claims over
the area, and it officially became a United States territory in 1929
when Congress ratified deeds of cession dating back to 1900 and 1904.
The
American Samoa quarter reverse design depicts the ava bowl ("tanoa"),
whisk and staff in the foreground with a coconut tree on the shore in
the background and the inscriptions, AMERICAN SAMOA and SAMOA MUAMUA LE
ATUA, the motto of American Samoa, which means "Samoa, God is First."
The ava bowl is used to make the special ceremonial drink for island
chiefs and guests during important events. The ava ceremony is
considered the most significant traditional event in Samoan culture.
The whisk and staff symbolize the rank of the Samoan orator delivering
speeches during these gatherings. The ava bowl, whisk and staff also
appear on the Official Seal of American Samoa.
A
review committee established by American Samoa Governor Togiola T.A.
Tulafono solicited and reviewed reverse design narratives from the
public, narrowing approximately 60 submissions down to three. These
included the ava bowl, whisk and staff and coconut tree concept; a man
with traditional Samoan tattoo holding an ava bowl; and a traditional
Samoan guest house with a head-dress and ava bowl. These narratives
were forwarded to the United States Mint for the production of artistic
renderings, which were then proposed to the territory. Governor
Tulafono recommended the final design for the American Samoa quarter,
which the Secretary of the Treasury approved on July 31, 2008.
Source: United States Mint
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