Independence Day in Samoa
Independence Day in Samoa is held on June 1. Celebrates the independence of Samoa from New Zealand in 1962. This event in the first decade of the month June is annual.
In Samoa, gender identity is largely based on a person's role in the family and if one family has numerous sons and no daughters, it's not uncommon to raise one of the boys as a girl.
The country gained independence from New Zealand on January 1, 1962, and it's the first pacific island country to gain independence. The date was originally January 1, 1962, but it was changed to avoid having the special celebration fall on New Year's Day.
New Zealand administered Western Samoa under the auspices of the League of Nations and then as a UN trusteeship until independence in 1962. Western Samoa was the first Pacific Island country to gain its independence. In July 1997 the Constitution was amended to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa.