Cook Islands Host Community

Global Volunteers' development partnership is on Rarotonga, the youngest and largest island, and the administrative center of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The nation consist of 15 individual islands, scattered over approximately 850,000 square miles. Costal coconut plantations, beaches, villages and small hotels fringe the Rarotonga coastline, where the population exists. The mountainous interior of the island is uninhabitable for humans. The highest peak on Rarotonga measures 2140 feet (658m) above sea level. This tropical paradise is surrounded by a lagoon, which extends several hundred yards to the reef which slopes steeply to deep water.

Cook Islanders are well-known for friendliness, openness and a gentle, easy-going spirit. The legendary generosity and charm of the Polynesian people quickly becomes obvious when you arrive in the Cook Islands. A warm welcome and sincere generosity is extended to visitors, instantly creating a feeling of total acceptance and tranquility. Some 90 percent of Cook Islanders are "pure" Polynesians -- people of the 'many' (poly) islands of the South Pacific, distantly related to the New Zealand Maori. Only 10 percent of Cook Islanders descend from minorities from Europe, New Zealand, Fiji, or China. Individuality between islands is the hallmark of the culture of the Cook Islands, and reflects their varied sources of ancient migration. The local language is Cook Islands Maori - closely related to the Polynesian languages spoken in Tahiti and Hawaii -- although English is widely spoken as a second language.

The early inhabitants of the Cook Islands were fine Pacific seafarers in search of new lands to escape the over-populated Polynesian Islands. It was the French Polynesians who first arrived on Rarotonga around 800 AD. The northern islands were probably settled by expeditions from Samoa and Tonga around the same time. Cook Islanders are convinced that the great Maori migrations to New Zealand began from Rarotonga - possibly as early as the fifth century. The most favored location for the starting point was Ngatangiia on the eastern side of Rarotonga at a gap in the fringing reef where the island's lagoon is the widest.

Hard-working and resourceful, Cook Islanders' optimism has eroded in the past two generations in a struggle to maintain their lifestyle and renew a faltering economy. Many families have established cottage industries such as exploring for black pearls, creating original jewelry, and making coconut perfumes and soaps. Read on for more information about Cook Islands culture and people.