"By far the best part, everyone agreed, was when the outgoing Miss American Samoa, who is an Army Reserve Soldier here, had the youth from her village sing and join in her farewell dance," said Sgt.

Image Lorisa Mata’utia, Miss American Samoa, performed for delegates to the constitutional convention during the opening ceremony.Credit...T. Gasu/Samoa News Each of the United States’s ...

Though Samoa, not to be confused with the nearby U.S. territory of American Samoa, is an independent nation, Miss Samoa contest organizers allow contestants of Samoan descent from other countries.