Cook Islands Culture and History

The Cook Islands, located in the South Pacific near New Zealand, consists of fifteen small islands. Years, French Polynesia and American Samoa, Cook Islands, which occupies nearly one million square kilometers of ocean. When the total area is slightly more than 90 square kilometers in the northern Cook Islands was formed volcanoes, while the southern islands are coral.

Today tourism is the highest in 100,000 people each year travel to the Cook Islands, and in almost all the international airport of the island of Rarotonga. This island is home to about 15,000 inhabitants, making it the largest cluster of islands.

It is believed that the islands were settled in around the sixth century by Polynesian travelers from Tahiti. Like many other groups of islands in the South Pacific, Polynesians brought with them a rich culture, including ideology tiki spreading throughout the region. The languages spoken here, especially English, Maori, Rarotongan (a drawing native language of the Maori language of New Zealand) and Pukapuka. Words heard in the Cook Islands are often extracted from Tahiti, Samoa and New Zealand Maori language.

Islanders living in the Cook Islands are known for their woodcarvings. However, most previous wooden sculptures, including tiki gods, were taken by the first Europeans, burned by the missionaries. In spite of the Cook Islands does not so much strong spiritual emphasis in his sculptures, there was a renewed interest in exciting young Cook Islands in the islands history, culture and heritage. In particular, the island of Atiu is known for its modern wood sculptures.

Cook Islands are also known for their precision dance. Many of their dances to express ancient stories and folklore. Each of the fifteen islands has its own dance style. Often, children begin to learn the dance as soon as they can walk. dancing with women and men swaying hips, knees slightly bent preserved. The dancers are accompanied by music and singersusually in the mother tongue. Dance costumes made of bark cloth covered with strips of bark, leaves and grass, often decorated with seeds, shells and tropical flowers and accompanied by a large flowered hat.

If you want to take the culture of the Cook Islands, many resorts will include presentations of dance. In Rarotonga, visit the Cook Islands Cultural Village, where you can learn more about the different rites is Cook Islands culture history.

The first European observation of the Cook Islands came in 1595, but contact with the natives of the Cook Islands did not begin until the 1606th Captain James Cook visited the islands twice during the eighteenth century, they were named after him in the 1820s. In 1820, missionaries from England began arriving in droves. Christianity has rapidly changed the indigenous culture and the islanders are many Christians today.

Like many islands in the region, Cook Islands came under British control in the nineteenth century. The area was transferred to New Zealand in 1901. In 1965, the Cook Islands became an autonomous territory. But today, the Cook Islands have close ties with New Zealand, defense and other activities are the responsibility of New Zealand.