The Postal Service issued a 33-cent American Samoa commemorative stamp in Pago Pago, American Samoa, on April 17, 2000. The stamp, designed by Howard Paine of Delaplane, Virginia, and illustrated by Herb Kane of Captain Cook, Hawaii, went on sale nationwide April 18, 2000.
With the issuance of this stamp, the Postal Service commemorated a century of political affiliation between the United States and the territory of American Samoa. In April 1900, local Samoan chiefs ceded the islands of Tutuila and Aunuu to the US.
The stamp art, in gouache, depicts an "alia," the traditional double canoe, sailing with the prevailing easterly wind. Sunuitao Peak, on the island of Ofu, can be seen in the background. Hawaiian artist Herb Kawainui Kane is also an art historian and author with special interest in Hawaii and the South Pacific and is the recipient of numerous awards for his work.
Ashton Potter (USA), Ltd., printed 16 million stamps in the offset process with microprinting "Samoa."
