Arerangi Tongia's introduction has kindly been translated into english by Ma'ara Maeva.

Greetings to ALL in the name of our Lord. Greetings to the three pillars of our country namely; the Traditional leaders, the Churches, and the Government. To those titled and untitled those above and below, those to the left and to the right, those before and after, greetings in the grace of Jehovah Amen. A special welcome and acknowledgement to our elders for you are the holders and guardians of our language and cultural traditions from times immemorable. The fragrance thereof of your wisdom spread upwards to the ceiling of this house called Auckland museum, confirming that we tangata Maori are alive and shall live on…….Let it be!! 

This is the day that the Lord has made where we shall rejoice and celebrate. Let us all come together.

Welcome one welcome all.  

I am honoured to introduce you to our son, our esteemed researcher namely William Cuthers. In short Willie Cuthers; who is a descendant of Rarotonga.  He hails from the chiefly district of Makea Karika Ariki, known as Te Rua o te Tonga and also from the chiefly court called Arai te Tonga. He is the grandson of Papa Vaevae Anguna from the village of Tupapa and Mama Tevairangi Enoka of Ruatonga. (Willie’s paternal grandma Tevairangi and his paternal grand uncle “Potene” Rei Jack Enoka and I are second cousins, descendants of Arerangi a Taruia Pakau.) 

It was Willie who has opened our eyes and ears to the achievements of our ancestors. They who served during the time of the Second World War 1939-1945. The first group were wireless operators in the southern as well as the northern Cook Islands; for instance people such as Papa Tonga Henry, Tutu Ringiao, Pamatatau Pamatatau and many others. The other group of people were known as Coast Watchers, people such as Rangi Mokotua, Tere Mataroa, Tiputoa Taio and many others of Rarotonga.

This is the appropriate time for us to honour and venerate our forefathers so that their efforts and contributions become known, recorded and celebrated. It is also timely that New Zealand should recognise their efforts and bravely in serving the British Empire. Although they did not participate in the Solomon, Papua New Guinea or the Philippines wars they however dedicated their lives to God, the Queen and the country.

Greetings and may their bravery endure

As part of our annual Cook Islands Language Week here in Aotearoa New Zealand, I commemorate the service of our small island nation to Aotearoa New Zealand’s war history.

As a child of Cook Islands descent, I was raised by my non-Cook Islands Maori speaking mother in South Auckland in the 1980s. At that time there was largely an absence of realisation and acknowledgement of the importance of reservation and preservation of Pasifika languages, and I recall being told that learning our language would not get me anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand so there was no need to bother learning it. Thankfully, those times are behind us and, this week especially, our rich language and culture is being celebrated.

The same can be said for the war contribution from Pacific Island nations, contributions which were never seen on par with the service given by European New Zealanders, raising the question of why would anyone bother learning about this? We have seen how in the past our language was viewed as unimportant, yet now we know it needs to be celebrated. Our Cook Islands war history has similarly lacked significant recognition, but now the commemorations for our Cook Islands servicemen have begun.

As we dissect our war history we discover previously untold or undocumented war stories of many Pacific people who served. Bringing to light these stories will allow a more complete history to be told of our country’s war efforts and we must reserve and preserve this history. I acknowledge and am forever grateful for the service of any man or woman that has contributed to the defence of New Zealand and the Pacific from our past, in our present and in the future.

I am fortunate to have many familial connections to the Cook Islands contribution to the wars. My paternal great grandfather Anguna Kainana and my maternal great grandfather Makiroa Cuthers were members of the Pioneer Maori Battalion who served in World War I along with four great granduncles from both sides of my family. My other paternal great grandfather Tuainekore Enoka was a member of the Cook Islands Local Defence Force of World War II. My maternal grandfather William Cuthers, whose name I carry, served as a Coastwatcher during World War II. While our men served it was our va’ine rangatira that kept our islands together and nurtured the generations to come.

Our reo contributes to our identity as Cook Islanders. We are a small nation with a rich and beautiful history that stretches back to primordial beings that have now become part of myth and legend. We remember these great ancestors in our songs and in our dance and in our reo. The service given by Cook Islands people adds to this rich history. As we celebrate Cook Islands Language Week here in Aotearoa New Zealand let us commemorate our Cook Islands ancestors that served.

Kia manuia

Willie Cuthers

Meitaki to Arerangi Tongia for his kind introduction and to William Cuthers for his beautiful words. 

Willie Cuthers, has been researching service persons from the Cook Islands, especially Pasifika Coastwatchers who served during the Second World War. Online Cenotaph has created records for Coastwatchers which can be found here. 

You can learn more about Coastwatchers from the Pacific, in the documentary by Aotearoa Media Collective, below is the trailer - the full documentary can be found here, on TVNZ On Demand. 

More than 700 Cook Islander served for New Zealand in during the First and Second World War and later conflicts. You can find these Cook Islands service people here. 

Much of William Kainana Cuther's research is avaliable from Te Kaharoa the eJournal on Indigenous Pacific Issues, we have linked his articles below.

Re-Writing the stories of the pasifika coastwatchers.

Reclaiming Identity

Chief, Land and Family

The Mana Model

The Significance of Stories

He Raranga Tangata: A Māori and Indigenous master’s research supervision model derived from our experiences of the Master of Applied Indigenous Knowledge programme at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in Māngere in 2019

To find more of William Kainana Cuther's research from the National Library here

Online Cenotaph is happy to create records for Cook Islanders who have served for New Zealand, or add and amend information on the database. Please feel free to contact the team  -  if there is a record you wish to be created.