Makea Takau Ariki

Makea Takau Ariki (b. 1845 - d. 1911) was a sovereign of the Cook Islands. She was the ariki (queen) of the dynasty Makea Nui (Great Makea), one of the three chiefdoms of the tribe Te-au-o-tonga (The mist of the south) on the island of Rarotonga. She succeeded her uncle Makea Abera Ariki in 1871.^[1]

Her reign lasted forty years (1871-1911) during a crucial time in the history of Rarotonga and the Cook Islands. It was under her reign that the Cook Islands became a British protectorate in 1888 before being annexed to New Zealand in 1900.^[2]

Makea Takau was adopted by her uncle, Makea Davida, her birth mother was his sister, Makea Te Vaerua, Makea Takau's mother was the eldest daughter of Makea Pori Ariki.^[3]

Makea Davida, was ariki of Te-au-o-tonga from 1839 until 1849 and succeeded by his sister, Te Vaerua, until her death in 1857. She was succeeded by her younger brother Makea Daniela, until his death in 1866. He was succeeded by another brother, Makea Abera, who was in office until his death in 1871.^[4]

In the 1860's she married Ngamaru Rongotini Ariki, one of the three high chiefs of Atiu.

The war-like Prince Consort, Ngamaru, was less civilized than she; it was his way to threaten people who offended him, by making the "cannibal sign" at them—rapidly drawing his clenched fist across his teeth; the significance being: "I will tear you with my teeth!".^[5]

Prince Ngamaru Rongotini died in 1903.

According to Beatrice Grimshaw, who visited in 1907, shortly after the death of Ngamaru, it seems that it was a happy marriage.

"Their married life was a happy one, in spite of the prince's violent character, and when he died, the widowed queen took all her splendid robes of velvet, silk, and satin gorgeously trimmed with gold, tore them in fragments, and cast them into his grave, so that he might lie soft, as befitted the prince who had been loved so well by such a queen." ^[6]

France's armed takeover of Tahiti and the Society Islands in 1843 caused considerable apprehension among the Cook Islands' ariki and led to requests from them to the British for protection in the event of French attack. This nervousness continued for many years and the call for protection was repeated in 1865 in a petition to Governor Grey of New Zealand.

During the 1870s the Cook Islands enjoyed prosperity and peace under the authority of Queen Makea, Makea Takau as she was known. A wily negotiator, she secured good prices for exports and cut the debts which had piled up before she became ariki. By 1882 four of the five ariki of Rarotonga were women. Since the sovereign of the British Empire was Queen Victoria, Makea probably found it easier to achieve a paramount status. In 1888 she formally petitioned the British to set up a Protectorate to head off what she believed to be imminent invasion by the French.

The British were reluctant administrators and continued pressure was applied to them from New Zealand and from European residents of the islands to pass the Cook Islands over to New Zealand. The first British Resident was Frederick Moss, a New Zealand politician who tried to help the local chiefs form a central government. In 1898 another New Zealander, Major W.E. Gudgeon, a veteran of the New Zealand Maori wars, was made British Resident with the aim of paving the way for New Zealand to take over from Britain as part of the expansionist ambitions of New Zealand's Prime Minister, Richard Seddon. This was not favored by Makea Takau who preferred the idea of being annexed to Britain. One of the results of the British annexation was freedom of religion and a new influx of missionaries from different denominations. The first Roman Catholic church was dedicated in 1896.

After much maneuvering and politicking, the Cook Islands was formally annexed by New Zealand on October 7 1900 when a deed of cession was signed by five ariki and seven lesser chiefs without any debate or examination of its ramifications or implications.^[7]

• 1871-1911 Makea Takau Ariki, 27th Makea Nui Ariki of the Te-au-o-tonga Tribe
• 1874-1911 Queen/Supreme High Chiefess of the Cook Islands
• 1888-1900 Leader of the Council of Chiefs
• 1891-1901 President of the Executive Council

In a shady park-like setting, in Avarua, are the Para O Tane Palace and its surrounding area, Taputapuatea marae. The palace is where Makea Takau, signed the treaty accepting the Cook Islands' status as a British protectorate in 1888. Beatrice Grimshaw gives a description of the palace during her visit in 1907.

"We walked through the blazing hot sun of the tropic afternoon, down the palm-shaded main street of Avarua town, to the great grassy enclosure that surrounds the palace of the queen. One enters through a neat white gate; inside are one or two small houses, a number of palms and flowering bushes, and at the far end, a stately two-storeyed building constructed of whitewashed concrete, with big railed-in verandahs, and handsome arched windows. This is Makea's palace, but her visitors do not go there to look for her. In true South Sea Islander fashion, she keeps a house for show and one for use." ^[8]

The palace was reputedly a lively place when Queen Makea was around in the 19th century. The building is now a picturesque ruin, and it is closed to the public, although officially it's still one of the island's main seats of power.

• Kingdom of Rarotonga
• History of the Cook Islands
• House of Ariki
• List of current constituent monarchs

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Makea Takau Ariki.

• Pedigree of Makea Takau, as given by herself in 1883 - nzetc.org
• Rarotongan Genealogy - Genealogy of the Kings of Rarotonga - nzetc.org
• Kings of Rarotonga, as given by the "Wise Men" of Makea & Tinomana in 1869 - nzetc.org
• Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (photographs)

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