The Wasp — 1889 — page 216: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes the impending Berlin Conference regarding the Samoan question. King Matapaa (a Samoan leader, shown with an ornate headdress) appears bewildered as European diplomats in formal dress surround him, examining documents. The caption—"King Matapaa: Pardon me, gentlemen, but on the Samoan question is Samoa going to have ng[...]"—suggests the satire's point: Samoa itself has no voice in determining its own fate. European powers will decide Samoa's future at the conference table while the actual Samoan king is ignored or marginalized. This reflects late-19th-century imperialism, when colonizing nations carved up non-Western territories without consulting indigenous peoples.