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Cook Islands Language Week

Kia Orana!

Sunday 31st July – Saturday 6th August 2022 is ‘Epetoma ō te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani, Cook Islands Language Week.

To celebrate we will share Cook Islands items from our Natural History and Documentary Heritage collections, stories of service from Online Cenotaph, along with videos, kids activities, and an interview with Tauraki Raea, Cook Islands Pacific Media Network presenter.

From Sunday 31 July until Saturday 6 August, the Museum will be illuminated every evening in red, white and blue in recognition of Cook Islands Language Week.

Join us for a day of celebration

Free performance Under the Tanoa

Celebrate Cook Islands Language Week
FREE EVENT

Celebrate Cook Islands Language Week

On Saturday 6 August,the Ma'uke Community helped us celebrate Cook Islands Language Week by performing Under the Tanoa in Te Ao Mārama South Atrium.

The Art of Tivaevae

In May, Fuli Pereira, Curator Pacific curated an outdoor exhibition of photographs of tivaevae from the collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, in collaboration with Britomart for the City of Colour Festival.

Tivaevae are the height of women’s artistic expression within Cook Island and Society Islands communities, both in the islands and abroad. They are the key gift item during significant life ceremonies such as christenings, graduations, weddings, and funerals. Tivaevae (or tifaifai in Tahitian) are treasured heirlooms that feature from the beginning of life to its end.

Tivaevae making is largely a communal undertaking. Vainetini, tivaevae-making groups, are centered around a tivaevae ta’unga, quilting expert, who leads the creation and cutting of patterns and oversees the final form of tivaevae. Familial, village and island pride are bound up in the creativity and skill expressed in tivaevae.

Go behind the scenes to find out more with exhibition curator Fuli Pereira in her interview with Viva.

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"The survival of the language is in the hands of the youth of today."

Watch our interview with Tauraki Raea, Cook Islands Pacific Media Network presenter, as he discusses the dangers of dialect and language loss. 

The motto from Tauraki Rongo Raea: "The survival of the language is in the hands of the youth of today."

Tauraki expresses his worries about his native language being on the brink of extinction, "all efforts should be to ensure that the youth of today have a reason to embrace the reo". In life we all have gifts to help each other. Helping to save his language is something that he has unconsciously been doing and has continued to do throughout his working career. His passion for his language is fueled by the thought that somewhere in the future, someone else will be carrying on this work with the same energy that will benefit all.

Dive into these stories from the Cook Islands

Explore stories from around Auckland Museum 

The Cook Islands in WWI
ONLINE CENOTAPH

Manava Toa

The Cook Islands in WWI

More than 500 Cook Islanders fought for New Zealand in the WWI. They served with distinction but suffered great loss. Find out more about these courageous servicemen.

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Portrait of Lance Corporal John Ropu. Image kindly provided by Teke`u Framhein via Kees De Boer. Image has no known copyright restrictions.
The mystery of the travelling guitar
ONLINE CENOTAPH

The mystery of the travelling guitar

Rarotongan-born Private Tuaine Utanga took a guitar with him on active service. Private Utanga invited his fellow soldiers to sign their names on the guitar's case, which in the end held the signatures of more than 200 of Utanga's fellow New Zealand soldiers. The guitar was an object of much interest to many Museum staff, but neither the guitar, its case nor the associated diary are held in the Museum's collection. So where were they? 

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Kāre e ngaropōina ia mātou a rātou e tuātau `uātu
ONLINE CENOTAPH

Kāre e ngaropōina ia mātou a rātou e tuātau `uātu

“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.”

William Kainana Cuthers, Researcher and Academic Writer, has written an article in celebration of Cook Islands Language Week and to commemorate and highlight the legacy of Cook Islands service persons, like his grandfather and namesake William Kiri Cuthers, a Coastwatcher during the Second World War.

Introduction written by Arerangi Tongia.

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The collision and resolution of two fishy mysteries
BLOG

The collision and resolution of two fishy mysteries

Auckland Museum’s Head of Natural Sciences and avid fish expert, Tom Trnski, shares how a recently opened old box of hand-written notes fills in some long-standing gaps, and opens up a conversation with Cook Islands knowledge holders about the naming of fish.

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Mapping Mauke and the Cook Islands

In this video for Cook Islands Language Week, Ma’ara Maeva (Tuiātea Learning Specialist) looks at a 1906 map of Mauke and speaks in Cook Islands Māori about the connections it holds to Tāmaki Makaurau.

To learn more, read the blog by Paula Legel (Associate Curator, Heritage Manuscripts) about the history of the maps.

Read the blog

 

See shells

Take a closer look at some beautiful shell specimens from Aitutaki, which were collected from the nearly 20 square kilometres of lagoon that surround the island.


 

Things to watch

Tune in to some of our engaging Cook Islands Language Week video content

Evotia-Rose: A film by The Raro Dog, Rob George 

To celebrate all our Pacific Language Weeks, Auckland Museum commissioned short films made by Pacific artists and filmmakers based on objects or memories of home. The brief for these films were left intentionally broad to allow the makers to open the vā to be navigated by the makers and knowledge-holders to let the stories, entangled in all Pacific languages, go wherever it needed to.

We wanted these videos to be made by the people for the people of the Pacific. Not an external visitor to the islands filming strangers but connected people who are telling their stories in their own ways. Objects contain so many stories, especially if they have travelled the Great Ocean of Kiwa and now, like so many Pacific peoples, call Aotearoa home.

The Raro Dog aka Rob George decided to produce a short documentary about local Cook Islander, Evotia-Rose Araiti.

Framed within a photography session, Evotia-Rose speaks personally about being a proud Cook Islander and some of the barriers to learning the language and how she overcomes them.

Produced for Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum to celebrate Cook Islands Language Week 2020.

Kia pūāvai tō tātou Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani i Aotearoa

For 2020's Cook Islands Language Week, we held an online discussion session through Zoom on 4 August 2020. It highlighted three Cook Islands fish specimens from the Natural Sciences collection, the Kōkiri (Pinktail triggerfish), the Ka’a (or Kanai, Squaretailed mullet), Vete (Goatfish) and a register of specimens and local names for fish species collected 1926-1934. 

We were delighted to welcome a panel of Cook Islands knowledge holders: Makira Maea (Tokoroa), Taiau Nicholas (Auckland), Dr Teina Rongo (Rarotonga), Ma’ara Maeva (Mauke, now living in Auckland) and Tauraki Rongo (Auckland). Background information about the fish and the Griffin register of fishes were shared by Dr Tom Trnski, and the participants explored Cook Islands fishing practices, dance movements and chants inspired by fish, canoe building, genealogy and the impacts of climate change not only on fishing practices but on the continuance of Cook Islands language.

Our heartfelt gratitude to our panelists for discussing, sharing and coming together with the Museum to enlighten us all. Meitaki Ma’ata.

Learn some Cook Islands Māori

Auckland Museum Learning Specialist Ma'ara Maeva shares some common greetings and phrases in Cook Islands Māori. 

Botany of the Cook Islands 

Auckland Museum's Herbarium holds over 3,500 plant specimens from the Cook Islands, including one thousand plant specimens collected by Thomas Cheeseman, who carried out the first botanical survey in the Cook Islands in 1899. Cheeseman was an acclaimed botanist, and Director of Auckland Museum from 1874-1923.

Moto

An endemic tree to Rarotonga

Moto

“common all through the island…wood red, durable, used for making canoes” 
Described by Cheeseman: Homalium acuminatum (Flacourtiaceae)
Type specimen: AK227087
Rarotongan sclerotheca

(local name unknown)

Rarotongan sclerotheca

An endemic herb to Rarotonga with green flowers.
Described by Cheeseman: Sclerotheca viridflora (Campanulaceae)
Type specimen: AK92674
Angi

An endemic shrub to Rarotonga

Angi

“It is slightly fragrant when bruised or drying". Male and female flowers are on separate plants. Described by Cheeseman: Coprosma laevigata (Rubiaceae)
Type specimen: AK77859
Nei-nei

Spectacular endemic daisy shrub or small tree

Nei-nei

In the winter, Rarotongans "make numerous expeditions to the hills in order to collect the honey from the flowers, which is secreted in large quantities.” Described by Cheeseman: Fitchia speciosa (Asteraceae)
Type specimen: AK90474 
Kaiatea

A small to medium tree

Kaiatea

Described by Cheeseman: Weinmannia rarotongensis (Cunoniaceae) Kaiatea was described as endemic to Rarotonga, but now thought to be native to Samoa as well. Type specimen of Cheeseman’s name: Weinmannia rarotongensis (Cunoniaceae), is now treated as a synonym of Weinmannia samoensis – the earlier published name has priority.
Cheeseman’s specimen: AK73834 
Kumara

Some cultivated plants were collected

Kumara

“Cultivated by the natives from time immemorial… the kinds cultivated before the arrival of Europeans were two, which were distinguished as Kumara-rea, possessing white skin and yellowish flesh, and Kumara-tea, which had white skin and white flesh. Of late years many varieties have been introduced…and these appear to be preferred to the original stock.”
One of Cheeseman’s kumara collections: AK92948

Explore these specimens held in the Museum's collection from the garden island of Mauke.

By Ewen Cameron, Curator Botany

A Cook Islands endemic small tree
AK361393

Pittosporum rarotongensis

A Cook Islands endemic small tree

Cook Islands names: kavakava, karamika
Native to: Rarotonga, Mangaia, ‘Atiu, Ma’uke, Miti’aro – oddly absent from ‘Atiu.
Notes: tree 4-10 m tall, of lowland makatea forest, described from material that TF Cheeseman of the Auckland Museum collected on Rarotonga in 1899 by Kew Gardens botanist W Botting Hemsley in 1903.

More information ›
A native fern ally
AK352212

Lycopodiella cernua

A native fern ally

Cook Islands names: remu, maunga vai, remu maunga, remu paina, vai tukitukirangi, via titirangi, tukitukirangi
Native to: Rarotonga, Mangaia, ‘Atiu, Ma’uke; tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific, including New Zealand.
Notes: one of the few plant species native to both the Cook Islands and New Zealand.

More information ›
A showy exotic daisy
AK358456

Gaillardia pulchella var. picta

A showy exotic daisy

Cook Islands name: gaillardia
Native to: North America
Notes: occurs on Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Ma’uke, and probably other high islands. Cultivated for its showy both crimson and yellow flowerheads. Naturalised in disturbed coastal areas, the largest populations are around the airstrips of Aitutaki and Ma’uke.

More information ›
An exotic grass
AK250106

Schizachyrium pseudeulalia

An exotic grass

Cook Islands names: unknown.
Native to: Malesia, W Micronesia, tropical and subtropical Australia.
Notes: known only from Ma’uke in the Cook Islands from this rather recent collection from the modified, open central volcanic area of the island.

More information ›
A native fern
AK327424

Asplenium laserpitiifolium

A native fern

Cook Islands names: unknown.
Native to: Rarotonga, Mangaia, ‘Atiu, Ma’uke; Indian Ocean, Malesia, Melanesia, West & East Polynesia.
Notes: a fairly large ground fern occurring most commonly in the Cook Islands on Ma’uke.

More information ›

Heritage publications from the Cook Islands

Inspired by the collaboration between Cook Islands knowledge-holders and our Natural Sciences teams, here Paula Legel (Associate Curator, Heritage Publications) and Leone Samu (Associate Curator, Documentary Heritage - Pacific) feature several fish-themed publications found in our Documentary Heritage collection. 

 

Paiere : The Making of a Fishing Canoe in Ma‘uke

Paiere : The Making of a Fishing Canoe in Ma‘uke

The first of our highlights is a beautifully illustrated children’s book about the making of a Paiere (fishing canoe) on the island of Ma‘uke in the southern group (also known as Akatokamanava) by Judith Kunzle. Called ‘Paiere : The Making of a Fishing Canoe in Ma‘uke’, and published in 1995 by the Cook Islands Natural Heritage Project, the book shows, through beautiful watercolours, a group of canoe builders creating a new paiere from scratch. Judith Kunzle lived on Rarotonga for many years and has worked closely with the local knowledge holders to create this demonstration of an important traditional creative process. She has interwoven local Ma‘uke terms (rather than Rarotongan) into the text and acknowledged a number of those who contributed their knowledge; Rairi Rairi, Rangi Moekaa, Mata Taruia, Vavia Mata, Ngavii Tere, Tautara Purea and Noo Aiturau.

A Guide to The Reef Fishes of Palmerston and Suwarrow Atolls, Cook Islands

A Guide to The Reef Fishes of Palmerston and Suwarrow Atolls, Cook Islands

Heading further northward from Ma‘uke, our second and very different publication comes from the two islands of Palmerston and Suwarrow, each having their own romantic and colourful histories. However, this title is one in a series of field reports from the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute published in 1985 on the fish to be found around the reefs of these atolls. ‘A Guide to The Reef Fishes of Palmerston and Suwarrow Atolls, Cook Islands’ is a scientific survey of all the fish the authors K. R. Grange and R. J. Singleton identified from underwater observations and photographs. The colour photographs enable clear identification and there is a short description included of each fish. 

Wild Life Among The Pacific Islanders

Wild Life Among The Pacific Islanders

We then dive back to the 1800s and two titles based around the Cook Islands and in particular, Tongareva (Penrhyn Atoll) and Mangaia.

‘Wild Life Among The Pacific Islanders’ (published 1867) was written by E. H. Lamont, an American trader and beachcomber who voyaged through the islands of French Polynesia and the Southern Cooks until he eventually washed up on Tongareva in 1853 after the brig “Chatham” was wrecked on the reef. Tongareva (Penrhyn Atoll) is the most remote of the Cook Islands, 1360 kilometres north east of Rarotonga. Lamont and the other survivors were captured by the locals, becoming involved in the local community. In fact, though only on Tongareva a year, Lamont was so involved he had three wives whilst there, before escaping on a canoe he built with Bill, another survivor of the shipwreck. He was picked up by a whaling ship, the “John Appleton” out of New Bedford and so managed to get to Rarotonga. This title has interesting references to fishing at that time, including methods and types of fish caught. You can read the references to fish and fishing in this book online here.

Jottings From The Pacific

Jottings From The Pacific

Our last title is ‘Jottings From The Pacific’ (published 1885), by the Reverend William Gill, a missionary on Mangaia for 20 years and then on Rarotonga until he retired to Sydney in 1883. Reverend Gill published numerous books on the Cook Islands, including translations of religious texts and the bible. Gill was curious and interested in everything, recording all aspects of culture of the communities across the Cook Islands. He was also a keen observer of the natural world as evidenced in the third section of this title called, ‘Zoological and Botanical notes’. In this he documents his learnings of all aspects of marine life, including local terms and customary knowledge gleaned from knowledge holders.  You can also read the references to fish and fishing in this book online here. 

Another great online resource to access and research fishes, flora and other fauna found in the Cook Islands is the Cook Islands Biodiversity Database developed by the Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust and hosted by the Bishop Museum based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Common names of different species are often listed alongside their name in Cook Islands Maori as well in Latin. Images, scientific taxonomy, and distribution in the geographic area are also key features of the records in this comprehensive database.

For the kids

Colouring-in sheet

Colour in the fish of the Cook Islands

Colour in the fish of the Cook Islands

Bring to life the beautiful fish found in the clear waters of the Cook Islands. 

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