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If
you look on the South Pacific page
in an atlas, with only 27 kmē Atiu
often appears no larger than a fly dropping right in the centre
fold, if it can be found at all. On other maps, it usually
has fallen off the edge.
For
some inhabitants it is all the world they have ever known.
And a beautiful world it is as you will see scrolling trough
this web site.
SOME
HISTORY
Brave Polynesian navigators discovered Atiu an undocumented
number of centuries ago. According to ancient legends, the
first settlers were direct descendants from the gods. There
are several variations depending on who tells you the story,
but one names their leader as Mariri. When Mariri arrived
around 1300, he found the island full of insects (potipoti).
So he returned to his home island Avaiki (possibly Savaii
in Samoa) and brought back his wife and two birds called Pena
and Kura to rid the island of the potipoti. Mariri and his
wife then had two sons called Atiu-mua and Atiu-muri (Atiu
the Firstborn and Atiu the Lastborn). It is in honour of Atiu-mua
that the island was called Atiu. Either of the brothers may
then have called the island Enua-manu (Bird Island).
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Double-hull voyaging canoe
Many visitors
followed, some to wage war and conquer the island, others
in a more friendly mission. When Captain James Cook approached
Atiu with his two sailing ships Resolution and Discovery in
early April 1777, they were greeted by a welcome committee
in outrigger canoes, bringing them gifts of food. Due
to their Tahitian interpreter's fear that the umu (earth
oven, below)was in preparation for eating and not feeding
the visitors, the first visit of European explorers
under
the command of Lieutenant Gore to our shores on 3rd April
1777 was a rather short one. |
The
visitors left behind two memorable gifts:
On
the high chief's request Atiu received its first dog, a pregnant
bitch, and a piece of red fabric.
When John Williams of the London Missionary
Society arrived on Atiu some 46 years later, this red fabric
served as proof that the island that Cook had recorded as
"Wateeoo" was, indeed, Atiu.
JohnWilliams' arrival date, the 19th
of July 1823, is celebrated as "Atiu Gospel Day"
every year. A stalactite and 2 plaques (above) were erected
to commemorate the first preaching from the Bible. The missionaries'
teachings and ensuing iron
rule caused the island and its people
profound changes whose repercussions can be felt to the day.
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In
memory of Ngamaru Ariki
One
of Atiu's high chiefs, Ngamaru Ariki, was prince consort to
queen Makea who, for fear of take-over by the French
from neighbouring Tahiti, begged Britain for protection in
1888. Her decision again changed the course of the nation's
and thus our island's fate. Atiu, however, remained
closely connected to Tahiti, where an Atiu community was established
in the late 1880s by some Atiuans who went there to work on
the sugar plantations.
Though the idea of annexation to New Zealand didn't appeal
to Makea Ariki, in 1891 the Cook Islands became a New Zealand
colony.
Even
though in 1965 the country was granted self-governing status,
until today all Cook Islanders remain new Zealand citizens.
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| While
New Zealand and other nations have been providing financial
and practical assistance to many projects that have helped to
improve our island, it is thanks to the sense of community,
capacity of hard work and self-motivation of our Atiu people
that most of these projects could be accomplished. With the
help of the New Zealand Army the harbour at Taunganui was
completed in 1975. |
Atiu
Airport
An airstrip,
built in community work and completed in 1976, followed. It
became the first airstrip in the outer islands, discounting
those built during WW II. When the need arose, the islanders
cleared a longer airstrip on the opposite side of the island.
In 1983 the current airport airport was opened.
Today less
than 600 people live on Atiu. 180 of these are
students at Enuamanu School. The majority of the parent generation
has left the island to work in
New Zealand and
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Australia, sending their children home to live with grandparents
and siblings. A large percentage of
the remaining population is in their 60s and over. The few
people of the middle generation are either government or self
employed, many work in the tourism industry. Quite a
few of us have several jobs and work very hard to keep up
the standard of our island despite its dwindling population.
We want to keep our people from leaving
and make Atiu a home to return to. Your visit and interest
can help us in this endeavour!
Students
at Enuamanu School
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