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Cook Islands
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Culture and Art
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Individuality between
islands is the hallmark of the culture of the Cook Islands and reflects
their varied sources of ancient migration as well as the vast distances
between 15 tiny islands scattered over a section of the central South
Pacific Ocean as big as the Indian sub-continent.
However, there are some common threads.
All the islands employed a chiefly system based on traditional legends of
migration and settlement. These stories enshrined the power of the chiefs
as inheritors of what might be termed an "heroic" culture.
From time to time
theories have been advanced that Polynesian culture before European
contact was similar to that of the heroic period of Greece, that is,
pre-dating Homer around 1200 BC. Some of these parallels include the
concept of 'mana', kinship, feasting and the giving of food,
attitudes towards women and the lack of individualism.
The Polynesian hero, or free man, acquired 'mana',
loosely translated as 'power' and 'prestige' by the deeds he accomplished.
He was measured by his deeds achieved on a purely personal basis. His main
attachment was to his own kin or clan. The obligations inside this
framework far outweighed any notion of social conscience or nationalism.
This was a close parallel to the archaic Greeks, termed by Homer 'Achaians'.
Neither the Achaian nor the archetypal Polynesian free man or 'hero' had a
word describing his immediate nuclear family. Also, neither had a word for
'love' as modern western civilisation understands it. Food and the giving
of it features strongly in both cultures.
Western notions of the importance of the
individual are completely alien to Polynesians as indeed they would have
been to the Achaians. Polynesians see themselves as members of a race, a
people, a party or some other general group in much the same way as many
primitive societies do.
Allegiance to chiefs was a fundamental of
Polynesian culture. The chiefs' titles and other authoritative positions
were passed down primarily through the senior male line. However, land
rights were inherited via the mother's line. Chiefs were responsible for
war leadership, carrying out important discussions with other groups or
clans, land allocation, disputes settlement and intercession with the gods.
One of the most significant functions of a chief
was to organise and pay for feasts. A chief, or indeed, any man, was
judged by his ability and willingness to bestow gifts and to throw big
parties. Much of the detail of these cultural structures was lost when the
missionaries began making inroads into the native religion in 1823 and
afterwards. The Dance
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To the despair of many educated Cook Islanders
the expression "culture" in the popular mind equates to
traditional festivals, singing and dancing. There is some justification
for this since the art of dance is taken very seriously in the Cooks.
Each island has its own special dances and these are practised assiduously
from early childhood. There are numerous competitions throughout the year
on each island and these are hotly contested.
The highly rhythmic
drumming on the paté and the wild and sensuous movements of both
men and women virtually guarantee that Cook Islands teams win all the
major Pacific dance festivals.The Hawaiian hula and the Tahitian
tamuré are probably better known because those islands have had wider
publicity for the last 100 years but the Cook Islands hura is far
more sensual and fierce. Every major hotel prides itself on the
performance it puts on at least once a week on Island Night when guests,
selected by the dancers, are led onto the floor to show what they can do.
Music |
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If there is one outstanding ability
which appears to be shared by all Cook Islanders it is music and song.
Close harmony singing is highly developed in church music and the power
and emotional impact of chants and hymns at weddings and funerals is well
known to visitors who attend.
The range and talent of
popular singing can be seen at the numerous festivals throughout the year.
Each island also has its own songs and the various island groups compete
fiercely. There are numerous Polynesian string bands who play at
restaurants, hotels and concerts and they use combinations of modern
electronics with traditional ukeleles fashioned from coconut shells.
Visual arts |
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In recent years there has been an increase in
activity by local painters and artists have begun to develop original
contemporary Polynesian styles. Woodcarving is a common art form in the
Cook Islands. Sculpture in stone is much rarer although there are some
excellent carvings in basalt by Mike Taveoni. The proximity of islands in
the southern group helped produce a homogeneous style of carving but which
had special developments in each island.
Rarotonga is known for
its fisherman's gods and staff-gods, Atiu for its wooden seats, Mitiaro,
Mauke and Atiu for mace and slab gods and Mangaia for its ceremonial adzes.
Most of the original wood carvings were either spirited away by early
European collectors or were burned in large numbers by missionary zealots.
Today, carving is no longer the major art form with the same spiritual and
cultural emphasis given to it by the Maori in New Zealand. However, there
are continual efforts to interest young people in their heritage and some
good work is being turned out under the guidance of older carvers. Atiu,
in particular, has a strong tradition of crafts both in carving and local
fibre arts such as tapa. Mangaia is the source of many fine adzes
carved in a distinctive, idiosyncratic style with the so-called double-k
design. Mangaia also produces food
pounders carved from the heavy calcite found in its extensive limestone
caves.
Crafts |
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The outer islands produce traditional
weaving of mats, basketware and hats. Particularly fine examples of rito
hats are worn by women to church on Sundays. They are made from the
uncurled fibre of the coconut palm and are of very high quality. The
Polynesian equivalent of Panama hats, they are highly valued and are
keenly sought by Polynesian visitors from Tahiti.
Often, they are decorated
with hatbands made of minuscule pupu shells which are painted and
stitched on by hand. Although pupu are found on other islands the
collection and use of them in decorative work has become a speciality of Mangaia.
Tivaevae |
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A major art form in the Cook Islands is tivaevae.
This is, in essence, the art of making handmade patchwork quilts.
Introduced by the wives of missionaries in the
19th century, the craft grew into a communal activity and is probably one
of the main reasons for its popularity.
The designs are stunning. These beautiful and
intricate works are made by women. They have great intrinsic value and
become family heirlooms.
They are often given as
gifts of love and friendship. They supplanted the traditional giving of tapa
cloth on ceremonial occasions such as weddings, funerals and hair-cutting.
Tivaevae is a communal activity and several women will work on them
together. The original idea was introduced by the wives of missionaries
from England and nuns from Tahiti who taught embroidery, needlework,
sewing and crochet.
Tivaevae has played an important role in
the daily life of Cook Island women. Since it is largely a social activity
-- it is nearly always carried out communally -- it has had a major impact
on the lives of the many women who practise it.
Despite its European origin, patterns and
techniques have evolved into styles which now belong quite distinctly to
the Cooks. The tivaevae reflect the women's surroundings and
usually employ designs of flowers, leaves, birds, fish, insects and
animals.
It has become an important and recognised art
form and provides a structured and accepted channel for creativity.
There are two principal techniques: Piecework and
appliqué. The first is patchwork made from tiny pieces of colored cloth
sewn together on a backing. Tivaevae tataura are made in several
colors on a contrasting background. The pattern is created from separate
pieces of fabric which may be richly embroidered either beforehand or onto
the background fabric. Appliqué usually involve two colors, the first for
the pattern, the second for the background. Tivaevae manu are made
in only two colors, the pattern is folded four or eight times, cut and
stitched onto a contrasting base cloth.
Exhibitions of tivaevae are very popular
in both the Cook Islands and the cities of New Zealand. As well as being
shown at displays, tivaevae are given on important family and
social occasions such as weddings and the traditional hair cutting
ceremony for boys when they come of age. They are used also at funerals
and sometimes the body is wrapped in one.
An excellent book on the subject is"Tivaevae
- Portraits of Cook Islands Quilting" by Lynnsay Rongokea,
published in 1992 by Daphne Brasell Associates Press, Wellington, New
Zealand.
Literature |
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The Cook islands have produced many
writers. One of the earliest was Stephen Savage, a New Zealander who
arrived in Rarotonga in 1894. A public
servant, Savage compiled a dictionary late in the 19th century. The first
manuscript was destroyed by fire but he began work again and the Maori to
English dictionary was published long after his death. The task of
completing the full dictionary awaits some scholar.
Samoa had Robert Louis Stevenson and Tahiti had
Paul Gauguin. The Cook Islands had Robert Dean Frisbie, a Californian
writer who, in the late 1920s, sought refuge from the hectic world of
post-war America and made his home on Pukapuka.
Eventually, loneliness, alcohol and disease overcame Frisbie but not
before he had written sensitively of the islands in numerous magazine
articles and books. His grave is in the CICC churchyard in Avarua,
Rarotonga. His eldest daughter, Johnny, now living on Rarotonga, is also a
writer and has produced a biography of her family titled "The
Frisbies of the South Seas".
Another fugitive from the metropolis of London
was Ronald Syme, founder of the pineapple canning enterprise on Mangaia
and author of "Isles of the Frigate Bird" and "The Lagoon
is Lonely Now". In similar vein, an English ex-patriate who lived on Mauke,
Julian Dashwood, wrote "South Seas Paradise" under the pseudonym,
Julian Hillas.
Sir Tom Davis, an ex-Prime Minister and renowned
ocean sailor, knows his island history and has an exhaustive knowledge of
ancient Polynesian navigational techniques. His autobiography,
"Island Boy", details his career. As well as being president of
the Cook Islands Oceangoing Vaka Association, he has recently published an
historical novel "Vaka" which is the story of a Polynesian ocean
voyage.
For
more general information
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For more regional information on Cook Islands, go to: |
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For more product information on Cook Islands, go to: |
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We have included the Cook Islands in some of our specials to the South
Pacific, eg. our Bounty
Voyage and South
Sea Dream Voyage.
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