Far East Kingdoms

Arorangi / Pūa'ikura Tribe (Rarotonga / Cook Islands) (Polynesia) (Oceania)

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The watery continent of Oceania starts where South-East Asia ends, to the south-east of Indonesia and East Timor. Polynesia, of which the Cook Islands are a part, is the vast easternmost stretch of a thousand islands in Oceania. The Cook Islands today are a Polynesian self-governing entity which is associated with Australasia's New Zealand.

The islands are located between Samoa and Tonga to the west and the Society Islands of French Polynesia to the east. To the north is Kiribati. Those islands amount to fifteen individual islands which are spread over an area the size of India - with a population of only seventeen thousand.

Rarotonga, near the southern end of the Cook Islands chain, is the capital island. It originally also gave its name to the entire island group, although at times it was also known by the alternative name of Tumu-te-varovaro. Other islands and chiefdoms in the Cook Islands include Avarua and Ma'uke. Tribes of the Cook Islands include the Arorangi, Ngati Tangi'ia (also called Takitumu), and Tongaiti (also called Kainuku).

The Arorangi broke away from Avarua to achieve local independence. The Arorangi district on the western side of Rarotonga is named after the tribe, although the district's original name was Pūa'ikura. Confusingly, now the reverse is true in that Arorangi is the name of the district and Pūa'ikura is the name of the tribe. Ariki (chiefs) of this district hold the title of tinomana (of Pūa'ikura) after an early ariki who was descended from Tangi'ia by an early wife.

The Arorangi ariki claimed descent from Motoro, a son of Tangi'ia who was not born on Rarotonga. These settlers arrived on Rarotonga at the end of the twelfth century, during the Neolithic Oceania period. Peace was agreed through Tangi'ia's marriage to Karika's daughter. The first of the Arorangi line, Rongooe, was banished from Avarua in the late 1500s or early 1600s due to his despotism. He moved to western Rarotonga, a haven for refugees, and later was accepted as ariki.

Of the three districts on Rarotonga, Arorangi had the smallest in land area by 1823, the time at which the first Christian missionaries arrived. The population had been reduced by a series of defeats in war, and many survivors had fled to the mountains to avoid complete extermination.

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(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), from Beyond the Blue Horizon (National Geographic, March 2008), and from External Links: The Heart of Polynesia - The Cook Islands, and Cook Islands (Rulers.org), and Cook Islands (World Statesmen), and Hawaiki: The Original Home of the Maori; with a Sketch of Polynesian History (Victoria University of Wellington Library), and Land Tenure in the Cook Islands, R G Crocombe (New Zealand Electronic Text Collection), and Tangiia and Tutapu - History and Traditions of Rarotonga, Te Ariki-Tara-are (Trans S Percy Smith, Parts VI and VII, Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol 28, University of Hawaii, 1919), and Treaty of Rarotonga (United Nations), and A Brief History of Rarotonga & the Cook Islands, Laura S (Cook Islands Pocket Guide), and Cook Islands (Flags of the World), and Cook Islands History (Goway.com), and Mangaian Society, Te Rangi Hiroa/P H Buck (Bishop Museum, 1934, and accessed via NZETC).)

mid-1200s

Two united expeditions arrive from Samoa and Tahiti, under the leaderships of Karika and Tangi'ia. They establish themselves and subdue the inhabitants of Rarotonga. Then they divide their people into six tribes and set up a political organisation, one which includes the establishment (or re-establishment) of the ariki (the high chiefs).

Tangi'ia's own tribe is called Ngati Tangi'ia or Takitumu (after Tangi'ia's canoe) but he also commands the Arorangi. Karika's tribe is called Te Au o Tonga or Avarua. When Tangi'ia dies, his spirit joins other gods, and he too becomes a god.

fl late 1100s

Ariki founder. Ruled Arorangi & Ngati Tangi'ia.

c.1200 - 1300

New Zealand becomes the last major habitable land mass settled by humans, when Polynesians arrive by canoe from Rarotonga (now the Cook Islands). The Polynesians became the ancestors of the Māori, who are not known by that name until the arrival of Europeans. They spread around the New Zealand islands, dividing themselves into tribes and sub-tribes.

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'

fl 1310s - 1330s

Son. Not born in Rarotonga.

fl 1330s - 1350s

Son?

fl 1350s - 1370s

Son?

fl 1370s - 1380s

Son? 'Uenga Atua.

fl 1380s - 1390s

Son?

fl 1390s - 1410s

Son?

fl 1410s - 1430s

Son?

fl 1430s - 1450s

Son?

fl 1450s - 1470s

Son?

fl 1470s - 1490s

Son?

fl 1490s - 1510s

Son? Tū'au'āitu.

fl 1510s - 1530s

Son?

fl 1530s - 1550s

Son?

fl 1550s - 1570s

Son?

fl 1570s - 1590s

Son?

fl 1590s - 1610s

Son?

1595 - 1606

The Cook Islands (also called Rarotonga after the largest island) are first sighted by a European, the Spanish explorer, Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, who spots Pukapuka Atoll in the northern Cook Islands and names it San Bernardo. Pedro Fernandez de Qurioz, a Portuguese navigator who is sailing for Spain, stops at Rakahanga Atoll for supplies in 1606. He calls it Peregrina.

The Battle of Monte Claros on 17 June 1665 took place in the third stage of the war between Portugal and Spain, when the Spanish king attempted a sledgehammer approach to cracking the Portuguese nut, although Monte Claros delivered Spain a very bloody nose which effectively terminated the prospect of any further major engamements

fl 1610s - 1630s

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fl 1630s - 1650s

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1590s or 1650s

Around this time the first of the Arorangi line, Rongo'oe, is banished from Avarua due to his despotism. He is the chief who ends ten generations of peace by killing and eating men, beginning the troubles of the land. He moves to the western part of Rarotonga, a haven for refugees, and later is accepted as ariki.

fl 1650s - 1660s

Son of Makea te Ratu. Former chief of Avarua. Founder.

fl 1660s - 1660s

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fl 1660s - 1670s

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fl 1670s - 1690s

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fl 1690s - 1710s

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fl 1710s - 1730s

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fl 1730s - 1750s

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fl 1750s - 1770s

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fl 1770s - 1790s

Son?

1773 - 1777

British navigator and explorer Captain James Cook is the first European to sight Manuae and the Hervey Islands in the southern Cook Islands. He returns in 1774 to spot Mangaia, Atiu (which he calls Wautieu), and Takutea.

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

fl 1790s - 1800s

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fl 1800s - 1820s

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c.1820s - 1854

Son?

by 1823

At the time of the arrival of the first Christian missionaries, Arorangi is the smallest district in land area. The population has been reduced by a series of defeats in war, and many survivors have fled to the mountains to avoid complete extermination.

1854 - 1868

Son? Setephano or Stephen.

1868 - 1881

Son. Sāmuela.

1881 - 1908

Sister. Female ariki. Married an Anglo-American.

1888 - 1891

Rarotonga, also known as the Cook Islands, becomes a British protectorate. The Cook Islands Federation is formed on 5 June 1891, which includes Avarua.

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

1901 - 1908

The Cook Islands are incorporated into the British colony of New Zealand on 11 June 1901. New Zealand in 1907 becomes a self-governing dominion which effectively is independent of the United Kingdom. Mere'ana, the ariki of Arorangi, however, has no children. Upon her death the title passes to Nāpā II, who is of another line of the same family.

1908 - 1909

A relative from a cadet branch of the family.

1910 - 1915

Son?

1915 - 1916

Cousin. Female ariki.

1916 - 1934

Son?

1934 - 1948

Son?

1940s

An airstrip is built on Rarotonga. Together with better maritime connections this triggers the start of large-scale migration to New Zealand. Nevertheless, the population is fairly stable as Rarotonga experiences inwards immigration from other parts of the Cook Islands.

'The Dominion of New Zealand', Simpson & Williams Ltd, Christchurch, release on 4 November 1927 as a colourful booklet, having been created for the 'Department of Tourist and Health Resorts' to advertise New Zealand for holidays (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 2.0 Deed)

1948 - 1970

Son?

1970 - 1975

The position of ariki of Arorangi is vacant during this period. It takes until 1975 for Tinomana Nāpā III to become the next ariki of the tribe within Rarotonga on the modern Cook Islands.

1975 - 1991

Son? Nāpā Tau'ei Konitanitai Tinomana.

1986

The Treaty of Rarotonga is signed on that island, between a group of South Pacific nations in order to create a nuclear-free zone. It covers the entirety of the southern Pacific region, with the western coast of Australia and the western boundary of Papua New Guinea as the border on one side, and the coast of Latin America between the equator and the boundary of the Antarctic Treaty on the other.

The treaty expands a policy which had been started in 1985 by New Zealand's prime minister, David Lange, and which had also served to dissolved Anzus, the alliance between Australia, New Zealand, and the USA.

1991 - 2013

Dau? Female ariki. Ruta Ata Tū'oro.

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

2013 - On

Dau? Female ariki.

2024

Ms Catherine Graham succeeds Ms Tui Dewes as New Zealand high commissioner to the Cook Islands with residence in Rarotonga. Her first day on 10 September 2024 sees her meet New Zealand's foreign secretary, Ms Tepaeru Herrmann.