History
Ma'uke's traditional name is 'Akatokamanava (Land Where My Heart Is at Rest). It was named by its legendary founder 'Uke, who (depending on which legend you read) either named the island after a long voyage from 'Avaiki (the land of the spirits) or, rather less poetically, from Ra'iatea in the Society Islands. He is traditionally supposed to have landed, in the huge canoe Paipaimoana, at Arapaea on the eastern coast. 'Uke later renamed the island Ma-Uke (Land of 'Uke), but Ma'uke is still referred to as 'Akatokamanava in traditional songs and stories.
'Uke had two daughters, renowned for their beauty, and when the two famous Rarotongan settlers, Tangi'ia and Karika, came seeking these girls for marriage, they went to live on Rarotonga. 'Uke's four sons also went to other islands, so that 'Uke became a common ancestor for all the islands of the Southern Group.
Before the arrival of Christianity, Ma'uke was dominated by the island of 'Atiu. The people of 'Atiu would frequently descend on the island in murderous, cannibal raids; the 19th-century ariki (chief) Rongomatane, was particularly feared as a ruthless taker of slaves and eater of men. In 1823, when the first European, the missionary John Williams, arrived on Ma'uke, it was Rongomatane who arrived with him. Unsurprisingly, the Ma'ukeans were converted to Christianity with an ease and speed that astonished the missionaries.
Despite Christian influence, Ma'uke still remained subject to 'Atiu. When the British Protectorate of the Cook Islands was declared in 1888, it was an 'Atiuan chief, Ngamaru Ariki, who gave permission on behalf of Ma'uke. New Zealand officially ended 'Atiuan rule in the early 1900s.
