Thread of Cook Islands facts

Cook Islanders also practiced the hongi (sharing of breathe) but the practice became quickly eradicated during the arrival and influence of Christianity. Now a days no one practices it

The missionaries success of assimilating the bible was on the basis of fearmongering, between 1815 -1845 multiple natural disasters and epidemic devastated the population the missionaries at the time blamed it on their “heathenistic” practices

Between (roughly) 1815-1845 the Cook Islands had a flood, followed by an epidemic (killed 900), an intense hurricane that brought sea water up to the mountains then a famine from the wilted agriculture, in a weakened state many Cook Islanders died from glandular diseases

The marae system was brought to the Cooks by Tangiia (Tahitian) and Karika (some believe he was Samoan, others believed he was Tahitian) who’s canoes collided just outside of mauke they joined forces and settled in Rarotonga

Tangiia who was fleeing from his cousin (who was trying to self appoint himself the paramount chief of Tahiti) established the first Royal court in the Cooks at Arai O Te Tonga In O’oa from here they established more maraes around the Cook Islands

There are different kinds of marae, some are made just for ariki, some for Ngati title holders these are still in use today but there were also marae for religion, delegation, death and some were seen as portals to the gods

Chestnut trees were used by our ancestors back in the day to section off land, if you have a piece of land in the Cook Islands chances are there is a chestnut tree within your boundaries

Black rock (Tu’oro) on the northwest of Rarotonga is seen as a place where spirits leave, it is also known to be where a lot of car & motorbike fatalities are. There are also multiple accounts of paranormal activity people have experienced in this area

Pukapuka was one of the first islands inhabited in the Cook Islands by the Lapita people, their dialect is that similar to Samoan/ Tongan. The lapita people did not migrate south into the rest of the Cooks as they were inhabited years later from eastern polynesia

Our ancestors used place names of places they were from when settling in new areas, this is why the historical name of Matavera in Rarotonga is Rangiatea which points our origin back to Raiatea (Many of our ancestors migrated from Raiatea)

The mythology around the name Rangiatea is that Rarotonga used to be the southern most extremity of Raiatea. As the raiatean people killed two preists from Raro after presenting the gods at Opoa marae with a paū , enraged by their actions the gods pushed our island away

The biggest historical rivalry is between Vaka Puaikura (western side of Rarotonga) and Vaka Takitumu (southern, eastern side of Rarotonga) the rivalry is ongoing but instead of wars we have Cultural festivities (Te Maeva Nui) that keeps the passion going

The site of the Sheraton in Rarotonga was home to the last major battle between Takitumu and Puaikura. The hotel also had economic troubles (money laundering which lead to its demise) aswell as a curse put on the land to ensure no one uses it

There have been multiple attempts to lift the curse but the land has been tainted, my uncle mike unknowingly made traditional clothes and shoes aswell as a spear from wood found in the area for a man who conducted the curse. He struck a large rock with this spear and it broke

The area is very Tapu, many people do not enjoy driving past it at night, (I don’t either) it is also near the boundary between the where the districts of Vaka Puaikura and Takitumu collide. Many occurrences of paranormal and spiritual activity is associated with this area

The Tinomana Ariki of Vaka Puaikura was the first Ariki to convert to Christianity. You can visit his marae and village settlement at Highland paradise up on a mountain overlooking Arorangi. There is also a rock on the land that is lined up and points straight towards Aotearoa

The ghost of Tokatarava is the ghost of the strongest most feared warrior from Vaka Puaikura, his spirit rested under an old chestnut tree which was connected to a road to his settlement he still stays on guard in this area & is known for multiple accounts paranormal activity

There is a large rock under the old chestnut tree Tokatarava used to guard from, when young men were clearing the land and setting fires on the large boulders to break them, the fire set on Tokataravas rock flew off and burnt the surrounding areas

Although the occurances with Tokatarava have not been good for a range of people he will not curse nor haunt the people of Puaikura or descendants of Vaka Puaikura.

Vaka Puaikura is also home to two ancient freshwater ponds that were seen as gateways to the underworld, one of the ponds has been covered in but the larger pond is still in use and is owned by my Aunty Mereana who is the title holder to the land it is on

Renowned ancient navigator Kupe also passed through Rarotonga to pick up a stone anchor for his vessel on the way to Aotearoa this stone anchor was known as Taratara-a-punga which he obtained from a mountain in Rarotonga called Maungaroa

The Are Metua (Backroad) that surrounds Rarotonga was made by Toi- Te-Tuatahi who was a Tahitian ariki navigating the pacific to find his grandson. The same coral road and path has been tarsealed over but follows the same route our ancestors took over 2000 years ago

Toi-Te-Tuatahi after completing the road went on to find aotearoa within his time in the Tamaki estuary (Auckland harbour) he met a tribe of moriori people that directed him to the bay of plenty where he settled and was then reunited with his grandson on his vessel Kura-hau-po

The genealogy and distribution of land can be traced back to the first ancestors, land was distributed in collectives this is why today you may have shares to land but it’s up to the family as a collective to agree to you aqquiring land

Mangaia in the Cook Islands is the oldest island in the pacific with an estimated 18 million years, origin stories of Mangaia do not speak of migration from another island nor a specific navigator who founded the island

Mangaia is also home to a lake called Tiriara the rock face overlooking this lake is very sacred, as the rich gold like stone is very valuable in stone pounders and other artefacts

The island of Tuanaki was a thriving population, and was the 16th island of the Cook Islands, somewhere between the 1700-1800s tectonic movement had pushed the island underwater it is unknown what happened to its population but some stories believed they all escaped in time

Avaavaroa passage like many passages on Rarotonga are home to many varieties of fish, it has been feeding and sustaining the people of Rarotonga for generations. But quick current changes can prove deadly as they can suck you through reef openings never to be seen again

The Mangaian wedding match was a custom to signify marriage, the bride would walk along the backs of the grooms family from her house to his and be repeated for the groom to walk along the brides, both occasions were ended with a large feast only then wedding would be offical

Older styles of housing were made with thatched roofing, depending on the status of the individual, higher ranking people would have pandanus thatched roofing that could withstand 10-15 years before needing to be changed whereas coconut tree thatching only lasted 5-10

In the village of Tamarua in Mangaia stands a large hollowed out limestone pillar , the story of two lovers from rival villages would meet at night at this pillar as the young man Omiara would hide within the pillar for his love Tavero to meet him in secret

The surrounding beach of mangaia is Makatea, which is raised coral much of the Makatea in mangaia is formed into caves, many of these caves are burial chambers housing the bodies, canoes, and relics of the many people who lived on the island

The art of tapa in the Cooks is very different to that of Tongan, Fijian and Samoan tapa as we do not hold the same variety of tree because of this our tapa came from the Aute tree which means our tapa was a lot whiter than other varieties that would dry out browner

Tiputa a staple piece of clothing, it was a long piece of tapa with a hole cut in the middle to be worn as a poncho, triangular masks were also made as well as pants the ends of these were frilled to keep the idea of repetitive patterning

Unlike the rest of the pacific where tapa making was done by women, special heavier white cloth called Tikoru was only made by men. This was special ceremonial bark cloth used only to wrap around gods and for high ranking chief and preists