 During the country's struggle for political independence in the early 1900s, organised under the national Mau movement, the streets of Apia became the center of non-violent protests and marches where many Samoans were arrested.In what became known as "Black Saturday", on 28 December 1929, during a peaceful Mau gathering in the town, the New Zealand constabulary killed paramount chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.Apia is situated on a natural harbour at the mouth of the Vaisigano River.