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THE HISTORY OF COOK ISLAND

ELIZABETH.YANG

2011
CONTENTS:
 1.TIMELINE
 2.HISTORY
 3.GALLERY
 4.BIBLOGRAPHY & REFERENCE

TIMELINE OF COOK ISLAND

1595-Spainiard Alvaro de Mundane de Naira is the first Europeans to sight the islands.
1606-Portguese-Spainiard Pedro Fernandez de Quiroz made the first recorded European
landing in the islands when he set foot on Foot on Rakahanga.

1773-Captain James Cook explores the islands and names them the Hervey Islands. Fifty years
later they are renamed in his honour by Russian Admiral Adam Johann Von Krusentern.

1813-English missionary John Williams made the first official sighting of Rarotonga.

1821-English and Tahitian missionaries land in Aitutaki, become the first non-Polynesian
settlers.
1823-English missionary John Williams lands in Rarotonga, converting Makea Pori Ariki to
Christianity.

1858-The Cook Islands become united as a state, the Kingdom of Rarotonga.

1862-Peruvian slave traders took a terrible toll on the islands of Penrhyn, Rakahanga and
Pukapuka in 1862 and 1863.

1888-Cook Islands are proclaimed a British protectorate and a single federal parliament is
established.

1901-The Cook Islands are annexed to New Zealand.

1924-The All Blacks Invincible stop in Rarotonga on their way to the United Kingdom and a
play a friendly match against a scratch Rarotonga team.

1946-Legislative Council is established. For the first time since 1912, the territory has direct
representation.

1965-The Cook Islands become a self-governing territory in free association with New
Zealand. Albert Henry, leader of the Cook Islands Party, is elected as the territory’s first prime
minister.

1974-Albert Henry is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1979-Sir Albert Henry is found guilty of electoral fraud and stripped of his premiership and his
knighthood. Tom Davis becomes Premier.

1980-Cook Islands- United States Maritime Boundary Treaty establishes the Cook Islands-
American Samoa boundary.

1981-Constitution is amended. Parliament grows from 22 to 24 seats and the parliamentary

term is extended from four to five years. Tom Davis is knighted.

1984-The country’s first coalition government, between Sir Thomas and Geoffrey Henry, is
signed in the lead up to hosting regional Mini Games in 1985.

1985-Rarotonga Treaty is opened for signing in the Cook Islands, creating a nuclear free zone
in the South Pacific.

1986-In January 1986, following the rift between New Zealand and the USA in respect of the
ANZUS security arrangements Prime Minister Tom Davis declared the Cook Islands a neutral
country, because he considered that New Zealand(which has control over the islands’ defense
and foreign policy) was no longer in a position to defend the islands.
1990-Cook Islands-France Maritime Delimitation Agreement establishes the Cook Islands-
French Polynesia boundary.

1991-The Cook Islands signed treaty of friendship and co-operation with France, covering
economic development, trade and surveillance of the islands’ EEZ. The establishment of
closer relations with France was widely regarded as an expression of the Cook Islands’
Government’s dissatisfaction with existing arrangements with New Zealand which was no
longer in a position to defend the Cook Island.

1995-The French Government resumed its programme of nuclear- weapons testing at

Mururoa Atoll in September 1995 upsetting the Cook Islands. New Prime Minister Geoffrey
Henry was fiercely critical of the decision and dispatched a vaka (traditional voyaging canoe)
with crew of Cook Island’s traditional warriors to protest near the test site. The tests were
concluded in January 1996 and amoratorium was placed on future testing by the French
government.

1997-Full diplomatic relations established with China.

1997-In November, Cyclone Martin in Manihiki kills at least six people; 80% of buildings are
damaged and the black pearl industry suffered severe losses.

1999-A second era of political instability begans, starting with five different coalitions in less
than nine months, and at least as many since then.

2000-Full diplomatic relations concluded with France.

2002-Prime Minister Terepai Mao ate is ousted from government following second vote of
no-confidence in his leadership.

2004-Prime Minister Robert Wonton visits China; Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao grants
$16million in development aid.

2006-Parliamentry elections held. The Democratic Party keeps majority of seats in

parliament, but is unable to command a majority for confidence, forcing a coalition with
breakaway MPS who left, then rejoined the “Demos”.

HISTORY OF COOK ISLAND

The Cook Islands are named after Captain James Cook, who visited the islands in 1773 and
1777. The Cook Islands become a British protectorate in 1888.
By 1990, administrative control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965 residents chose self-
government in free association with New Zealand.

The Cook Islands contain fifteen islands in the group spread over a vast area in the South
Pacific.

The majority of islands are low coral atolls in the Northern Group, with Rarotonga, a volcanic
island in the Southern Group, as the main administration and government center. The main
Cook Islands language is Rarotongan Maori. There are some variations in dialect in the ‘outer’
islands.

The Cook Islands were first settled around the 6th century AD by Polynesian people who
migrated from nearby Tahiti, to the southeast. Over-population on many of the tiny islands of
Polynesia led to these oceanic migrations. Tradition has it that this was the reason for the
expedition of Rue, from Tupua’I in French Polynesia, who landed on Aitutaki and Tangiia, also
from French Polynesia, who are believed to have arrived on Rarotonga around 800 AD. Some
evidence for this is that the old road of Toi, the Are Metua (inland road) which runs round
most of Rarotonga, is believed to be at least 1200 years old. This 29 km long, paved road is
considerable achievement of ancient engineering, unsurpassed elsewhere in Polynesia.[2]
Similarly, the northern islands were probably settled by expeditions from Samoa and Tonga.
[3]

Spanish ships visited the islands in the 16th century; the first written record of contact with
the Islands came with the sighting of Pukapuka by Spanish sailor Alvaro de Mandan in 1595
who called it San Bernardo (Saint Bernard). Portuguese- Spaniard Pedro Fernandez deQuiros,
made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on Rakahanga in
1606,calling it Gente Hermosa(Beautiful People). [4]

British navigator Captain James Cook arrived in 1773 and 1777; Cook named the islands the
‘Hervey Islands’ to honour a British Lord of the Admiratly; Half a century later the Baltic
German Admiral Adam Johann von Krusentern published the Atlas de l’ Ocean Pacifique, in
which he renamed the islands the Cook islands to honour Cook. Captain Cook navigated and
mapped much of the group. Surprisingly, Cook never sighted the largest island, Rarotonga,
and the only island that he personally set foot on was tiny, uninhabited Palmerston Atoll.

In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the Endeavour (not the same ship as Cook’s), made
the first official sighting of the island Rarotonga.[1] The first recorded landing by Europeans
was in 1814 by the Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and Islanders and
many were killed on both sides.
The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in 1821.
Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and retrains that grip today.

Brutal Peruvian slave traders, known as blackbirder’s, took a terrible toll on the islands of the
Northern Group in 1862 and 1863. At first the traders may have genuinely operated as labour
recruiters, but they quickly turned to subterfuge and outright kidnapping to round up their
human cargo. The Cook Island group visited by the traders, but Penrhyn Atoll was their port
of call and it has been estimated that three- quarters of the population was taken to Callao,
Peru.[6] Rakahanga and Pukapuka also suffered tremendous losses.[7]

The Kingdom of Rarotonga was established in 1858 and in 1888 it became a British
protectorate by the request of Queen Makea Takau, mainly to thwart French expansionism.
Then later were transferred to New Zealand in 1901. They remained a New Zealand
protectorate until 1965, at which point they became a self- governing territory in free
association with New Zealand. The first Prime Minister Sir Albert Henry led the country until
1978 when he was acused of vote- rigging.

Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent (self-governing in free association with New
Zealand), but are still officially placed under New Zealand sovereignty. New Zealand is tasked with
overseeing the country’s foreign relations and defense. The Cook Islands are one of four New
Zealand dependencies, along with Tokelau, Niue and the Ross Dependency.

After achieving autonomy in 1965,the Cook Islands elected Albert Henry of the Cook Islands Party as
their first Prime Minister. He was succeeded in 1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic Party.

On 11 June 1980, the United States signed treaty with the Cook Islands specifying the maritime border
between the Cook Islands and American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of
Penrhyn, Pukapuka, Manihiki, and Rakahanga.[8] In 1990 the Cook Islands signed a treaty with France
which delimited the maritime boundary between the Cook Islands and French Polynesia.

On June 13, 2008 a small majority of members of the House of Ariki attempted a coup, claiming to
dissolve the elected government and to take control of the country’s leadership.

The Cook Islands Herald suggested that the ariki were attempting thereby to reign some of their
traditional prestige or mana.[9][10].Prime minister Jim Marurai described the take- over move as “ill-
founded and nonsensical”. By June 23, the situation appeared to have normalized, with members of
the House of Ariki accepting to return to their regular duties.[12]
RECCOMANDATIONS:
I think that Cook Island is still a self-governing country, because of reading the paragraph 8 & 9
mentioned above in the article says that Cook Island is a self- governing country with New Zealand,
because Cook Islands are one of four New Zealand dependencies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES:

This information was taken from the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1. Cook: The extraordinary voyages of captain James Cook, 2003, by Nicholas Thomas, pages
310-311.
2. Ara Metua- ancient Polynesian road”.
Wondermondo.http/www.wondermondo.com/countries/Au/NZ/Cook/AraMetua.htm.
3. History of the Cook Islands www.ck
4. European discovery of the Cook Islands by Brian Hooker
5. Lonely Planet Guidebook: Rarotonga & the Cook Islands, by Errol Hunt & Nancy J. Keller p
10-11 ISBN 1-74059-083-X
6. Discoveries Of The Cook Islands And The Names They Gave, by Alphons M.J. Kloosterman
Chap 1. Penrhn.
7. Lonely Planet Guidebook: Rarotonga & the Cook Islands, by Errol Hunt & Nancy J.Keller p11-12
ISBN -74059-083-X
8. Treaty Between the United States of America and the Cook Islands on Friendship and
Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary Between the Untied States of America and the Cook
Islands(and Exchange of Notes)”. Pacific Islands Treaty Series.
University of the South Pacific School of Law.
http;//www.paclii.org/pits/en/treaty database/1980/6html. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
9. “Cook heading for internal strife”, TVNZ, June 13, 2008.
10. “NZ Maori stirs Cooks sovereignty stoush”, Stuff.co. nz, June 13,2008.
11. “NZ Maori behind strange Cook’s coup”’, Stuff.co.nz,June 17,2008.
12. “Cook Islands chiefs drop take over claim, return to normal duties”, Radio New Zealand
International, June 23, 2008.