Samoa has been settled for at least 2,500 years. It had frequent contact with Fiji and Tonga, sometimes paying tribute to or being conquered by one or the other. After contact with Europeans, a quickly growing expatriate community of beachcombers, traders, plantation owners, and  missionaries developed. In the mid-1800s the Samoans became embroiled in their own civil wars to determine the next Tupu-o-Samoa, or paramount chief of Samoa. The Samoans began selling land to Europeans and Americans to buy guns to fight their wars. The Americans, Germans, and British supported different Samoan factions, each hoping their man would become high chief and bring the stability of a central government. When the wars ended, the Samoans found much of their land in foreign hands, and the Europeans found that the Tupu-o-Samoa was only a ceremonial chief and really had no power to rule over the villages. Rivalries continued, and the expatriates began beseeching their home governments to come in and take over. Eventually deals were worked out that divided Samoa. In 1899 the United States took over what is now American Samoa, with its great harbor at Pago Pago and Germany took over Western Samoa, now called Samoa. The Samoans did not appreciate losing their independence, and began the Mau Movement to regain it. Some leaders of the movement were exiled to the Northern Marianas. New Zealand troops occupied Samoa during World War I, and after the war New Zealand administered the group as a League of Nations mandated territory. The Samoans continued the Mau Movement against New Zealand control. One demonstration ended in violence with several deaths. After World War II, Western Samoa became a United Nations trust territory administered by New Zealand. In 1962, Western Samoa became the first Pacific island group to become independent from colonial rule. The new constitution required preserving the culture, and only family chiefs, known as matai, were allowed to run for office or vote. Economic development was quite slow, and thousands of Samoans migrated to New Zealand and elsewhere. In 1990 the constitution was amended to allow all adult Samoans to vote, but still only matai can run for the legislature. In 1997, the “Western” was dropped from the name and the group became just Samoa.