Situated near the centre of this huge area sits the Cook Islands, Rarotonga and Atiu the tiny island that Captain Cook first visited in 1777.
Tui is a descendent of a paramount chief, who in turn is a descendent of a paramount chief of the island of Atiu, in the heart of the Polynesian Triangle.
The island is about half the size of Rarotonga. Legend says Tangaroa, the divine god of the sea, was the first inhabitant.
The first recorded European to arrive at Atiu was Captain Cook. He sighted the island on March 31, 1777 and made tentative contact with some of the people. Captain Cook never knew about the larger island of Rarotonga.
In this interview we learn about a way of life that is very different to present day ways in the West and especially about what is culture and what is custom.
As the Cook Islands are situated in the centre of the Polynesian Triangle Tu shares with us his heart felt cause for unifying the Polynesian peoples across the expansive Pacific ocean.
Pacific - Mid 16th century: from French pacifique or Latin pacificus ‘peacemaking’, from pax, pac - ‘peace’.