Samoans began to feel a sense of injustice and loss of authority in the early 1920s as New Zealand asserted more control over Samoa through colonial paternalism. Two public meetings in 1926 organized by Olaf Nelson saw growing anti-New Zealand sentiment among Samoans, with the second meeting attracting almost 700 people. The New Zealand administration did not recognize the Mau movement that emerged that year as a nationalist movement seeking autonomy due to the paternalistic view that inhibited listening to Samoan grievances.