One of the great new experiences available on Aitutaki is the Aitutaki Punarei Cultural Tour. This is based on a replica village that has been built to the design of a traditional Aitutaki village and shows the structures and way of life prior to the coming of Europeans.
This is the life’s work of local archaeologist and historian Ngaakitai Pureariki (Ngaa) and he is a passionate advocate of teaching this history to Cook Islands’ youth as well as to tourists.
Entrance to Punarei Cultural Village
The tour picks you up at your accommodation and drives you to the village, located above the coastal plains. The guests are then shown the umu (underground oven) that has been prepared for lunch. Then pork, chicken and vegetables are placed on a bed of banana leaves laid over the hot rocks and then covered to allow it to cook for a couple of hours.
Chicken pork and vegetables placed in the umu, before it is covered
While lunch is cooking we are all taken around interesting historical sites on the island. In particular Ngaa takes us to the partly excavated site of an ancient marae, or sacred site, known as Paengaariki. This had been reclaimed by the jungle over the last two centuries after Christian missionaries prevented Aitutakians following their customary ways after the early 1800s.
Ngaakitai explaining the ceremonial purpose of some of the rocks in the marae
This is a very interesting site and Ngaa is extremely knowledgeable about it, but it is essential that you take mosquito repellent as they are awfully vicious!
After this we returned to Punarei Village and were met with a traditional welcome.
Warrior challenge at the village entrance
On entering each guest was asked to plant a pandanus tree and return in 15 years to see how it had grown. Ngaa took the time to explain to us how important the trees and shrubs were to the people.
Ngaa talks about pandanus and other plants at the village
We then were invited to weave a plate from coconut fronds so that we could eat lunch.
Coconut palm plate
The umu was opened and every helped themselves to the wonderful food that was uncovered.
Lunch is ready
After lunch we played a traditional ball game using coconuts. Here Ngaa and another show how it should be done.
Coconut game
Ngaa then took us around the village and explained traditional methods of building, using live logs that continued to grow to provide a secure footing to resist cyclones. He also told us about various sacred artifacts that are held in overseas museums and collections, after being taken from Aitutaki without the consent of the people. One of these was a statue of the Polynesian God of the Sea, Tangiroa, that is held in a German museum and is the only remaining example in the Aitutaki style. Local craftsmen have carved a replica and this stands at the village entrance.
Ngaakitai with the replica statue of Tangiroa
All of us left the tour with a greater knowledge of the history of Aitutaki and, at least in our case, a deeper understanding of the clash of cultures that the coming of the Europeans heralded.
The village is a work in progress for Ngaakitai and is being improved as funds become available. The visits and donations of tourists are a major source of fundraising for this very worthy project.