COOK ISLAND .. HISTORY... GREAT READING.. Cook Islanders are Polynesians: people of the poly (many) islands of the South Pacific. They are closely related to the Maoris of New Zealand and Tahiti (Cook Islanders can happily converse with their Maori cousins from overseas, despite differences in vocabulary and dialect). The Cook Islands were first settled around 1500 years ago by travellers from the Society and Marquesas Islands (now known as French Polynesia). Polynesians had been trekking across much of the South Pacific in huge ocean-going canoes for a couple of millennia before they arrived in the Cooks. The first settlers arrived in Melanesia from Southeast Asia around 2500 BC, before heading on to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga; French Polynesia was then settled somewhere between 200 BC and AD 200. From there, canoes travelled thousands of kilometres in all directions, reaching Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Hawaii, South America, and finally Rarotonga and the Cook Islands in around AD 500. ^ Back to top Early cook islands society Although written records only began with the arrival of the Europeans, oral history on Rarotonga traces its ancestry back about 1400 years. One of the oldest legends tells the tale of Toi, the great chief who built the Ara Metua (the ancient inland road) on Rarotonga somewhere around the 11th century, suggesting that there was already a sizable population living on the island (probably settlers from present-day French Polynesia). Traditional history, however, begins in the 13th century with the arrival of Tangiia and Karika, great chiefs from Tahiti and Samoa, who arrived aboard mighty ocean-going vaka (canoes), conquered the resident population, and founded Rarotongas six main tribes. Every island in the Cooks was ruled by several ariki (high chiefs). Beneath the ariki were mataiapo (chiefs) and rangatira (sub-chiefs). Land was divided into sections called tapere, each governed by one or more mataiapo, and home to a large extended family who used the land to build houses, farm crops and raise livestock. Each tribe had its own marae (sacred meeting places) and worshipped specific gods. The koutu was the most important meeting place of all - it was the official seat of a ruling ariki, and the place where the main sacrifices, offerings and annual feasts were made. A chiefs authority depended on his mana - a complex term signifying not just physical or hereditary power, but also confidence, victory, prestige, knowledge, spirituality and all-round star quality. Mana ariki was the hereditary power of a chief; mana atua was the divine authority of the priest; and mana tutara was the ruling power of a mataiapo. Mana could be gained as well as lost; great deeds in battle and cowardly acts could all affect a persons mana, and the way he was regarded by the tribe. Taunga (literally experts) were also important figures. There were taunga in many fields, including woodcarving, agriculture, medicine, canoe-making and navigation. The tumu korero (speaker) was responsible for memorising tribal history and genealogy, but the most powerful taunga was the high priest, who was seen as the main bridge between the people and the spirits of the gods and ancestors. The high priest could declare certain acts or places tapu (forbidden), either by order of the gods or the ariki; the chief would decide when tapu had been violated and what the punishment would be (generally it was likely to be fairly unpleasant). Like their modern-day descendants, early Cook Islanders never passed up the opportunity for a party. There were elaborate ceremonies for all kinds of occasions - coming-of-age ceremonies, marriages, deaths, harvest festivals and victories in battle - so the islanders had plenty of opportunity to perfect their song and dance routines. ^ Back to top European explorers The Cook Islands had over a thousand years to develop its distinctive culture and customs before any Europeans finally pitched up. The first Europeans to sight the islands were both Spanish explorers: Alvaro de Mendaña glimpsed Pukapuka in 1595, and in 1606, Pedro Fernández de Quirós stopped at Rakahanga to take on provisions. In 1773, the English explorer James Cook sighted the islands from his vessel The Resolution (among his crew was a young Cornish sailing master by the name of William Bligh, who went on to lead the infamous mutiny aboard The Bounty in 1789). Between 1773 and 1777, Cook charted much of the group, and following a fine English tradition of attaching dull, irrelevant names to wonderful places, dubbed the Southern Group islands the Hervey Islands in honour of a Lord of the Admiralty. Fifty years later a Russian cartographer (Admiral Johann von Krusenstern) published the Atlas de lOcéan Pacifique, in which he renamed the islands in honour of Captain Cook.
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 04:22:59 +0000