Editing Rarotonga (section)

==History==
{{main|History of the Cook Islands}}

{{further|Kingdom of Rarotonga}}
The earliest evidence of human presence in the Southern Cook Islands has been dated to around AD 1000. Oral tradition tells that Rarotonga was settled by various groups, including Ata-i-te-kura, Apopo-te-akatinatina and Apopo-te-ivi-roa in the ninth century, and Tangi'ia Nui from Tahiti and Karika from Samoa in 1250.<ref name="Kloosterman">{{cite book |title=Discoverers Of The Cook Islands And The Names They Gave|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-KloDisc-t1-body-d13.html |date=1976 |author=Alphons M.J. Kloosterman |pages=44–47}}</ref> An early ''ariki'', Toi, is said to have built ''Te Ara Nui o Toi'' or ''Ara Metua'', a paved road that encircles the island, though the sites adjacent to it are dated to 1530.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_111_2002/Volume_111%2C_No._2/Ritual_landscape_in_late_pre-contact_Rarotonga%3A_A_brief_reading%2C_by_Matthew_Campbell%2C_p_147-170/p1 |title=Ritual landscape in late pre-contact Rarotonga: a brief reading |author=Matthew Campbell |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=111 |issue=2 |date=2002 |pages=147–170 |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> Trading contact was maintained with the Austral Islands, Samoa and the Marquesas to import basalt that was used for making local adze heads,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cook Island artifact geochemistry demonstrates spatial and temporal extent of pre-European interarchipelago voyaging in East Polynesia |last1=Weisler |first1=Marshall I. |last2=Bolhar |first2=Robert |last3=Ma |first3=Jinlong |last4=St Pierre |first4=Emma |last5=Sheppard |first5=Peter |last6=walter |first6=Richard K. |last7=Feng |first7=Yuexing |last8=Zhao |first8=Jian-xin |last9=Kirch |first9=Patrick V. |display-authors=3 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=113 |issue=29 |date=5 July 2016 |pages = 8150–8155|doi=10.1073/pnas.1608130113 |pmid = 27382159|pmc = 4961153|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.8150W |doi-access=free }}</ref> while a pottery fragment found on Ma'uke has been traced to [[Tongatapu]] to the west, the main island of Tonga.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_98_1989/Volume_98%2C_No._4/A_ceramic_sherd_from_Ma%26apos%3Buke_in_the_Southern_Cook_Islands%2C_by_R._Walter%2C_p_465-470/p1 |title=A ceramic sherd from Ma'uke in the Southern Cook Islands |author1=Richard Walter |author2=W.R. Dickinson |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=465–470 |date=1989 |access-date=6 August 2020}}</ref> The ultimate origin of almost all the islanders’ settlement cargo can be traced back to Southeast Asia: not just their chickens, Pacific rats, Polynesian pigs, Pacific dogs and crops, but also several kinds of lizards and snails. Among the species that are understood to have reached Rarotonga by this means are at least two species of geckos and three of skinks. Likewise, the ultimate origin of almost 30 of their crops lies in the west.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crowe |first1=Andrew |title=Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and their Polynesian Ancestors |page=122 |year=2018 |publisher=Bateman |location=Auckland, New Zealand |isbn=9781869539610}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2019|reason=Popular science, non-expert author}}[[File:CookIslands-Rarotonga-TeManga-mgl20030609-01.jpg|thumb|[[Te Manga]] is the highest mountain on Rarotonga and [[Cook Islands]] ]]

According to New Zealand [[Māori people|Māori]] tradition, [[Kupe]], the discoverer of [[Aotearoa]], visited Rarotonga, and the [[Māori migration canoes]] ''[[Tākitimu]], [[Arawa (canoe)|Te Arawa]], [[Tainui (canoe)|Tainui]], [[Mātaatua]], [[Tokomaru (canoe)|Tokomaru]], [[Aotea (canoe)|Aotea]]'', and ''[[Kurahaupō]]'' passed through on their way to Aotearoa.<ref name=Kloosterman/> 

[[Fletcher Christian]] visited the island in 1789 on {{HMS|Bounty}} but did not land.<ref name=Kloosterman/> Captain Theodore Walker sighted the island in 1813 on the ship ''Endeavour''. The first recorded landing by a European was Captain Philip Goodenough with [[William Wentworth]] in 1814 on the schooner ''Cumberland''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Coppell |first=W. G. |date=1973 |title=About the Cook Islands. Their Nomenclature and a Systematic Statement of Early European contacts |url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/jso_0300-953x_1973_num_29_38_2410 |journal=Journal de la Société des océanistes |volume=29 |issue=38 |pages=43 |doi=10.3406/jso.1973.2410 |access-date=18 January 2018 }}</ref> On 25 July 1823,  while transporting the missionary Reverend [[John Williams (missionary)|John Williams]], the ''Endeavour'' returned to Rarotonga. [[Papeiha]], a [[London Missionary Society]] evangelist from [[Bora Bora]], went ashore to teach his religion.<ref name=Kloosterman/> Further missionaries followed, and by 1830 the island had converted to Christianity.[[File:"RARATONGA National Flag" (Rarotonga) in 1899 according to the United States Navy, from book- Flags of Maritime Nations (1899) (page 117 crop).jpg|thumb|"RARATONGA [<nowiki/>[[Typographical error|sic]]] National Flag" (Rarotonga) in 1899 publication by the [[United States Navy]] book, ''[[c:File:Flags_of_Maritime_Nations_(1899).djvu|Flags of Maritime Nations]]''|left|190x190px]]From 1830 to 1850, Rarotonga was a popular stop for whalers and trading schooners,<ref name=Kloosterman/> and trade began with the outside world. The missionaries attempted to exclude other Europeans as a bad influence, and in 1845 Rarotongan ''ariki'' prohibited the sale of land to Europeans, though they were allowed to rent land on an annual basis.<ref name=Gilson>{{cite book |title=The Cook Islands, 1820–1950 |author=Richard Phillip Gilson |editor=Ron Crocombe |publisher=Victoria University press |location=Wellington |date=1980 |pages=41–43}}</ref> Despite a further ban on foreign settlement in 1848, European traders began to settle. In 1865, driven by rumours that France planned to annex the islands, the ''ariki'' of Rarotonga unsuccessfully petitioned Governor [[George Grey]] of New Zealand for British protection.<ref name=Gilson/> In 1883 the Royal navy ''de facto'' recognised the ''ariki'' of Rarotonga as an independent government.<ref name=Gilson50>Gilson (1980), p. 50</ref> By this time [[Makea Takau Ariki]] had become paramount among the ''ariki'', and was recognised as the "Queen of Rarotonga" on a visit to New Zealand.<ref name=Gilson50/> In 1888 the island became a British protectorate after a petition from the ''ariki''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18881203.2.63.21 |title=Protectorate Over the Cook's Group: The official ceremony performed |work=New Zealand Herald |volume=XXV |issue=9227 |page=11 |date=3 December 1888 |access-date=20 August 2020 |via=Papers Past}}</ref> In 1901, it was annexed by New Zealand.[[File:Avarua, february 2006.jpg|thumb|[[Avarua]] is the most populous centre on Rarotonga]]Oranges had been introduced by the ''Bounty'' mutineers, and after annexation developed into a major export crop, though exports had been disrupted by poor shipping.<ref name=Johnston1951>{{cite journal |last=Johnston |first=W. B. |title=The Citrus Industry of the Cook Islands |journal=New Zealand Geographer |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=121–138 |date=1951 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-7939.1951.tb01760.x}}</ref> In 1945 the industry was revived with a government-led citrus replanting scheme,<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10179/13651 |title=A study of a development scheme in a Polynesian community : the citrus replanting scheme on Atiu, Cook Islands |first=Brian John |last=Menzies |publisher=Massey University |date=1970 |type=MA |page=60–62 |hdl=10179/13651 |accessdate=8 February 2021}}</ref> and in 1961 a canning factory was opened to allow the export of juice.<ref>{{cite book |title=Australia and New Zealand: Citrus Producers and Markets in the Southern Hemisphere |author=Joseph Henry Burke |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture |year=1963 |page=38}}</ref><ref name=CIB1>{{cite web |url=http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=5945 |title=Sweet Orange |publisher=Cook Islands Biodiversity |date= |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> The industry survived until the 1980s,<ref name=CIB1/> but collapsed after New Zealand adopted [[Rogernomics]] and removed privileged market access.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/in-search-of-the-cook-islands-2/ |title=In search of the Cook Islands |author=Mark Scott |publisher=New Zealand Geographic |date=1991 |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>

An airstrip was built in 1944, leading to regular flights to [[Fiji]], [[Tonga]], [[Samoa]] and [[Aitutaki]].<ref name=Kloosterman/> The airport and better shipping links saw the beginnings of large-scale migration to New Zealand.<ref name=Curson1972>{{cite thesis |url=https://eprints.utas.edu.au/19418/1/whole_CursonPeterHayden1972_thesis.pdf |title="COOK ISLANDERS IN TOWN" A STUDY OF COOK ISLAND URBANISATION |last=Curson |first=Peter Hayden |publisher=University of Tasmania |date=1972 |type=PhD |page=38–40 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> Emigration increased further in the early 1970's when the airport was upgraded,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/cook-islanders/page-1 |title=Cook Islanders – Migration |author=Carl Walrond |publisher=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=8 February 2005 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> but this was balanced by immigration from elsewhere in the Cook Islands.<ref name=Curson1972/>{{rp|48–49}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_70_1961/Volume_70%2C_No._1/A_note_on_population_movements_in_the_Cook_Islands%2C_by_R._Gerard_Ward%2C_p_1-10/p1 |title=A note on population movements in the Cook Islands |last=Ward |first=R. Gerard |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=70 |issue=1 |page=1–10 |date=1961 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>

Flooding in April and May 1967 damaged bridges on the island and caused widespread crop losses, raising risks of a food shortage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-326773715/view?sectionId=nla.obj-335437781 |title=Food shortage may follow RAROTONGA FLOODS PLAY HAVOC WITH FOOD CROPS |author=W. H. Perceval |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=38 |issue=7 |date=1 July 1967 |page=75 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> An unnamed tropical cyclone in December of that year left hundreds homeless and caused widespread devastation after demolishing homes and offices in Avarua.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107038110 |title=Hurricane lashes Cook Is. group |work=Canberra Times |date=20 December 1967 |page=10 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-341925396/view?sectionId=nla.obj-345556246 |title=Devastating hurricane lashes the Cook Islands |author=W. H. Perceval |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=39 |issue=1 |date=1 January 1968 |page=22–23 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In December 1976 80% of the island's banana crop was destroyed by [[1976–77 South Pacific cyclone season|tropical cyclone Kim]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250574493 |title=Lashes Island |work= Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |date=15 December 1976 |page=6 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In January 1987 Tropical Cyclone Sally made a thousand people homeless and damaged 80% of the buildings in Avarua.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119473324 |title=Sally's $35m trail |work=Canberra Times |date=5 January 1987 |page=5 |access-date=24 July 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/ca87ca58b7a457508071efb0b8f8f80d |title=Hurricane Sally, "Worst in Memory," Leaves Island Devastated |publisher=AP |date=5 January 1987 |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>