Kingdom of Rarotonga
|
Kingdom of Rarotonga Kingdom of Rarotonga (English) Mātāmuatanga Rarotonga (Rarotongan) 1858 –1893 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||
|
||||
| Official languages | English and Rarotongan | |||
| Capital | Avarua | |||
| Form of government | monarchy | |||
| Head of state | monarch | |||
| religion | Rarotongan Religion, Christianity | |||
| founding | 1858 | |||
| resolution | 1893 | |||
| currency | Pound Sterling | |||
| map | ||||
|
||||
The Kingdom of Rarotonga ( English Kingdom of Rarotonga ; Rarotongan : Mātāmuatanga Rarotonga ), named after the island of Rarotonga , was an independent kingdom that was founded in 1858 on what is now the Cook Islands . In 1888 it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom at its own request . In 1893 it was transformed into the Federation of the Cook Islands under the administration of New Zealand . In 1901, the Cook Islands became the protectorate of New Zealand and remained so until 1965.
founding
After the early conversion of some important ariki (high chiefs), Christianity spread rapidly within the southern archipelago of the Cook Islands. With the help of the ariki , the missionaries developed bills that , together with the abolition of violence as a means of dispute settlement, led to political stability. In 1881 the Colonial Office ruled that New Zealand's interests in the area must be protected from foreign powers and the British government accepted an application from local European traders and planters to appoint an unpaid British consul for the Hervey Islands , as the Southern Isles were then called , on.
British protectorate
In October 1885, the British Colonial Bureau accepted an offer from the self-governed Crown Colony of New Zealand to pay the British consul for Rarotonga, on condition that the latter be appointed by New Zealand and act as New Zealand's official administrator. This “resident” would also act as an advisor to the ariki in drafting and enforcing laws and would sign all notices of local lawmakers on behalf of the New Zealand governor . He also had the right to reject legislative proposals. In 1888, Queen Makea Takau formally requested the British to set up a protectorate in order to avert what she believed to be an imminent invasion of France . The British government agreed to entrust its then Vice Consul in Rarotonga with the establishment of a protectorate to protect the pro-British islanders and New Zealand trade on the islands of the southern group. The colonial bureau also decided that certain other islands in the northern group should be considered for possible future use as transpacific cable stations.
federation
In 1890, the newly appointed British resident Frederick Moss convinced the ariki of Rarotonga to establish provisional Rarotongan legislation or a general council, the first administration for the entire island. The following year, representatives of the ariki from Rarotonga agreed with representatives from the islands of the Southern Group to form the first federal legislation for the islands. However, the last decade of the 19th century was far from easy, and the numerous changes were not welcomed by some ariki and members of the nobility.
annexation
The British were hesitant administrators. There was constant pressure from New Zealand and the European residents of the islands to formally place the Cook Islands under New Zealand administration. When two ariki told New Zealand Prime Minister Richard Seddon that the traditional leaders wanted the Cook Islands to remain under British administration, sentiment between the islanders and New Zealand hit rock bottom. On September 27, 1900, the New Zealand Parliament approved the annexation of the islands by New Zealand and the following month New Zealand Governor Lord Ranfurly visited Rarotonga. The five ariki and seven minor chiefs signed a deed of assignment, whereupon the Cook Islands were annexed by New Zealand on October 7, 1900, without discussing the implications or consequences.
On June 11, 1901, New Zealand's borders were expanded to include the Cook Islands and the political power of the ariki was suspended.
Individual evidence
- ^ Regno di Rarotonga
- ^ History of the Cook Islands: Kingdom of Rarotonga, Tuanaki, Cook Islands Federation
- ↑ a b c d History of the Cook Islands: The Established Kingdom of Rarotonga
literature
- Lorenz Rudolf Gonschor: Law as a Tool of Oppression and Liberation: Institutional Histories and Perspectives on Political Independence in Hawaiʻi, Tahiti Nui / French Polynesia and Rapa Nui . University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu August 2008.
