Cook Islands History

The first inhabitants of the Cook Islands were the travellers from the territory, which is known now as French Polynesia. All the country was divided into sections called tapere, each governed by one or more mataiapo (chiefs). The first Europeans to discover the islands were Spanish sailors. The English explorer James Cook, who came to the islands in 1773, named them the “Hervey Islands” in honour of a Lord of the Admiralty. The present name of the Cooks was given only fifty years later by a Russian cartographer Admiral Johann von Krusenstern, who renamed the islands in honour of Captain Cook. Later the long-lasting contact between the population of the Cook Islands with the missionaries was established. On one hand it put an end to many traditional customs at the Cook Islands, on the other hand - the missionaries left the country with some beautiful churches. In 1888 in order to avoid a French invasion, Rarotonga was officially made a British overseas protectorate. During the WWII the Cooks remained practically untouched, unlike many of its neighbours. In 1965 the Cook Islands became internally self-governing.