Far East Kingdoms

Mangaia / Auau Enua (Cook Islands / Polynesia) (Oceania)
Incorporating the Aitu, Akatauira, Ngariki, Ngati-Manaue, Ngati-Tane, Ngati-Vara, Tai-kura, & Te-tuitura

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Considered in some quarters to be a watery continent in its own right, Oceania starts where South-East Asia ends, to the south-east of Indonesia and East Timor. Its territory is somewhat debatable but generally consists of the waters of the Pacific Ocean dotted with some two thousand islands, some of which are independent states and others either parts of countries or colonies.

Southern Polynesia, of which the Cook Islands are a part, is the vast easternmost stretch of a thousand islands in Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Progressing from west to east, southern Polynesia in the South Pacific consists of Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, the Pitcairn Islands, and Easter Island.

Mangaia, also referred to as Auau Enua (meaning 'our land'), is the southernmost atoll in the Cook Islands, as well as being the name of a tribe which inhabits the island. It is the second-largest island in the group, and is considered the oldest island in the Pacific at some eighteen million years.

Major tribes which occupy territory in Mangaia include the Ngariki (with three sub-tribes: Ngariki (Paparangi), Akatauira, and Vaeruarangi), Ngati-Vara (Amama), Tongaiti (with two sub-tribes: Teipe and Teaaki), Ngati-Tane (Aitu), Te Kama, Kanae, Tangiia, Tai-Kura, Ngati-Amai, and Ngati-Manaue.

Unlike most Polynesian societies, the Mangaians do not have a myth which involves the arrival of ancestors by canoe. Instead, according to legend, Mangaia was inside the universe (which is a hollow coconut shell), and emerged from under the legendary 'Avaiki already inhabited.

Amongst the first beings were Tangaroa and Rongo, the latter of whom is the island's chief god. His first two sons became the island's first two chiefs. Three of Rongo's grandsons became the first human beings on the island before explorers began to settle the island, first from the underworld, then from Rarotonga and Tahiti, and finally from Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Tonga, and even New Zealand.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by John De Cleene and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Ancient History of the Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I, Abraham Fornander (Mutual Publishing Company, 1996, and originally published as An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations, Vol II), and from External Links: Buried Bones and Ancient Myths on Mangaia (ABC News), and Cook Islands (World Statesmen), and Discoverers of the Cook Islands and the Names They Gave (NZETC), and The Genealogy of the Kings of Rarotonga and Mangaia as Illustrating the Colonisation of That Island and the Hervey Group (NZETC), and Mangaia (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and Mangaia (Cook Islands Travel, PDF), and Mangaian Society, Te Rangi Hiroa/P H Buck (Bishop Museum, 1934, and accessed via NZETC), and Relief Web.)

AD 1000

Polynesians first settle Mangaia, according to recent archaeological research. Their point of origin is not known for certain, but could be Rarotonga. Mangaian oral history remembers the next thousand years of Neolithic Oceania as being characterised by warfare which will only be ended with the arrival of British explorers.

fl early 1000s

Eldest son (or grandson) of the god Rongo.

early 1000s

There is speculation that the divine nature of Rangi and his brothers is an invention to cover up the lower-class origins of the original settlers of Mangaia. According to this theory the Mangaians originate as a tribe on Rarotonga, a tribe which has no chance of advancement.

About two centuries before the time of Tangi'ia of Rarotonga (who seems to rule at the end of the twelfth century AD), this group is desperate to improve its station, so it relocates to Mangaia and sets up an ariki domain there.

The concept of 'Avaiki stretches back over many generations, with it commonly being known as the final resting place of all Polynesians, one which was located within the bowels of 'Mother earth'

In order to disguise their humble background, the Mangaians invent a creation myth which includes Rongo, the island's chief god, and his first two sons who become the island's first two chiefs. To further establish their legitimacy, the Mangaians invent the idea of Tangi'ia of Rarotonga as the brother of Rongo, despite Tangi'ia living two centuries later.

Upon their arrival in Mangaia, the group becomes known as the Ngariki tribe (meaning 'the high chiefs'). They institute two hereditary high priesthoods: 'the shore high priests' and 'the interior high priests'. The interior high priests, of which Rangi is the first, are the higher-ranking.

They also create a temporal lord (a military dictator), regardless of who the ariki may be. Initially the temporal lord is a hereditary position as the early battles are all amongst the Ngariki. Later the position is usually held by the victor of a battle, of which forty-two are fought.

Led by their chief, Te Tipi, and their high priest, Te Ao-roa, the Tongaiti arrive by canoe during Rangi's reign. They land at Tamarua on the southern part of the island. Rangi fights and wins the first battle against this new warlike people. A tradition is established in which a human sacrifice is offered after each battle. Rangi subsequently permits the Tongaiti to settle permanently on the south side of Mangaia.

At the geographic centre of Polynesian society were the islands of Kūki 'Āirani (the Cook Islands) and Tōtaiete mā (the Society Islands), while larger communities were formed in the Hawaiian chain and in Aotearoa (New Zealand) where the Māori people spoke (and still speak) a Polynesian language - the furthest extent of Polynesian society was Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Although Rangihough Mata-tau-kiu (Rangi-Tamatapu) of the Tai-kura tribe, a subdivision of the Ngariki, wins the second battle, the title of temporal lord (military dictator) passes to Te Akatauira. He eventually becomes the second ariki (second interior high priest or king).

During Rangi's reign, the first of three waves of a second people, the Ngati-Tane, arrive on the east coast from Tahiti. Their chiefs include Te Rangai (the founder), Vairanga, Kaki, and Mataroi, although it is more likely that the last three arrive in the second wave of this group.

The cult of the god Oro has replaced that of Tane in Raiatea in the Society Islands and this now spreads to Tahiti. Those adherents of Tane flee to the other Cook Islands but are driven off until they reach Mangaia. The Ngati-Tane are also known as Aitu.

In a misunderstanding, Tumatapu, the shore high priest, has many of the Ngati-Tane massacred. This event is not counted as a battle. The remnants regroup to fight the third battle at Tangicura. The Ngati-Tane are nearly wiped out but a new wave of immigrants reinforces their ranks.

Paopao Bay, now better known as Cooks Bay in the Cook Islands, with a mid-twentieth century postcard photograph presenting an idyllic scene

fl c.1025

Brother. Also military dictator.

c.1025

Following the death of Rangi, Rarotongans under Kateateoru arrive and settle peacefully on the west coast of Mangaia. The Mangaians later drive them away but a new Rarotongan force invades and is again driven off. Mangaian legend reports a series of invasions from a variety of groups, with these invasions accounting for many of the numbered battles.

Relationship uncertain.

Relationship uncertain.

Slain by Ngauta, the military leader.

Ruaika defeats the Tongaiti in the eleventh battle but, because he is already high priest, does not assume the title of 'lord of Mangaia' (military dictator). Instead, Te-nau, another Ngariki, becomes the recognised lord. The Tongaiti defeat Ruaika in the twelfth battle, and their leader, 'One', becomes the lord. Following another victory, One turns over the position to his ally, Panako of the Akatauira subdivision of the Ngariki.

By the time European explorers entered the Pacific in the fifteenth century, almost all of the habitable islands had been settled for hundreds of years and oral traditions told of explorations, migrations, and travels across this immense watery world

At One's death his nephew, Ngauta, becomes military leader of the Tongaiti. Ruaika attempts to regain control of the island but Ngauta defeats and kills him in the sixteenth battle to become the lord of Mangaia (military dictator). Ngauta, who therefore finally ends the hereditary Ngariki military dictatorship, goes on to win seven more battles. He cements Tongaiti supremacy over Mangaia.

Ultimately the enslaved Ngariki, under the leadership of Ngangati, rise up and kill their Tongaiti masters. Ngauta's nephew kills him, and Ngangati consents to giving the military dictatorship to Tuanui. Their rising counts as the twenty-third battle. The Tongaiti are exiled to Rarotonga.

1620s

The Aitu clan now returns to Mangaia, having been driven off about a century earlier by the Te-tuitura clan. In a series of night attacks the Aitu kill hundreds of Te-tuitura, using their heads as a foundation for a marae (a combination open-air temple and gathering place). The clan retakes control of the island.

Vegetation-covered volcanic peaks are the 'skyscrapers' of Rarotonga, the main island in the Cook Islands chain, where buildings are no taller than the highest coconut tree

Son of Vaerua-rau (the 'shore king', who was deified).

Relationship uncertain.

Relationship uncertain.

Relationship uncertain.

1775 - 1777

Tamaeu of Aitutaki (another of the Cook Islands) names the island Mangaia. Two years later, Captain James Cook of Britain becomes the first European to reach Mangaia. During his visit Kirikovi is the island's native military dictator, so Cook gives him an iron axe as a gift. Kirikovi is later overthrown by his brother, Pai, to take over the dictatorship after the thirty-seventh battle.

Relationship uncertain.

1787

The Ngati-Vara, a sub-tribe of the Ngariki, return to power when their leader, Potiki, wins the thirty-eighth battle. He becomes dictator after killing the previous Ngariki dictator, Pai. Potiki's rule is prosperous but, towards the end of his reign, the Ngati-Vari break into two factions. Marokore, leader of one of them, replaces Potiki without a battle.

A feature of the second millennium AD Polynesian tribal story in the Cook Islands, Arorangi today offers two beaches which are perfect for sunbathing, surfing, and swimming

1814

The intertribal fighting amongst the Ngati-Vara allows the Manaune, a tribe which descends from an immigrant from Rarotonga, to ally with the Ngati-Tane and force the abdication of the present dictator: Makitaka. Pangemiro succeeds to the dictatorship and is ruling when Christian missionaries arrive in 1823.

? - 1821

Converted to Christianity. Deposed.

1821 - 1878

'Shore king' (to 1821).

1823

Christian missionaries arrive, finding a Mangaia which presently has a population of two-to-three thousand. The islanders fiercely resist conversion and, although most do end up converting, many retain their traditional beliefs in the gods. They transfer their stone idols to the many caves on the volcanic island to protect them from destruction.

A month before that arrival, Mangaia sees its forty-first battle, in which Pangemiro again prevails. The battle is significant in that it is the last to be celebrated with a human sacrifice. Pangemiro deprives Teao II of the inland high priesthood. He combines that office with the shore high priesthood and gives both offices to Numangatini.

The Cook Islands today are one of the South Pacific's best-kept secrets, a natural paradise, and the location of a good deal of Polynesian history which has been recorded through oral history

1878 - 1928

Son.

1878 - 1928

Grandson of Numangatini. Co-ruler.

1888 - 1901

Captain Bourke of HMS Hyacinth proclaims Mangaia a British protectorate, and the island is added to the 'Cook Islands Federation'. The island, along with the rest of the Cook Islands, becomes part of New Zealand in 1901.

1928 - 1948

Relationship uncertain.

1944 - 1948

Co-ruler until 1948, then sole ruler.

1948 - 1964

Former co-ruler. Now sole ruler.

1964 - 1991

Female ariki.

1991 - 2018

Female ariki.

2001

Cyclone Trina strikes Rarotonga and Mangaia, bringing with it eight days of rain and heavy flooding. Ninety percent of the taro crop, the main product, is submerged, and sixty percent of livestock drown.

Tropical Cyclone Trina formed to the south of the Cook Islands on 29 November 2001, passing between the islands of Avarua and Mangaia on 1-2 December, and sustaining winds of seventy kilometres an hour with stronger gusts causing very rough seas and coastal flooding

2005

Five cyclones, Meena, Nancy, Olaf, Percy, and Rae, strike the Cook Islands in the space of one month. Percy in particular Is severely damaging to Pukapuka and Nassau in the northern Cook Islands.

2018 - 2020

Following No'oroa's death the position of ariki of Mangaia remains vacant for two years until the six kavana (chiefs) manage in 2020 to elect Tangi Tereapi'i as the new ariki.

2020 - On

Relationship uncertain.

2024

A controversial bill to allow the Cook Island government to regain losses from cryptocurrency scams is revealed to have been drafted by a private for-profit American debt-collection company. The major objection to the bill is the feature which will effectively authorise the government 'ethically' to hack into any system around the world. Opponents decry the potential for violating privacy.