Years of the Pooh-Bah: A Cook Islands History

by Dick Scott

Description

"What an odd assortment of characters New Zealand sent to administer the Cook Islands during 75 years of colonial rule. Out of sight, out of mind, with warships at their back, a succession of papaa officials placed in positions of near absolute authority were left virtually free to indulge their personal inclinations. The power drunk and the benevolent, dull bureaucrats and bewildered misfits -- long suffering Cook Islanders saw them all ... Dick Scott follows the sometimes bizarre and show more always fascinating trail left by these colonial rulers in the archives of both countries, in their personal papers and in the memory of the people. At the same time the book illustrates a wider Cook Islands history. The story of the ruled is celebrated and brought to the light of day. As the author says in his introduction, the Cook Islanders can "take pride in the way their people preserved mana in times of great change and did not flinch at moments of necessity from challenging alien rule" ... Sixty years after Waitangi how was the annexation document prepared and translated? Was it trick or treaty? What was the fate of the 500 soldiers recruited for World War One? For a critical quarter century three famous New Zealand Maori politicians were in charge of Cook Islands affairs. How well did they handle their portfolios? What was the response of the first Labour government to the flogging of adults for breaches of curfew -- or to the rise of a nationalist movement? The Cook Islands story, too long a blank page in our history books, has at last been told." -- Jacket. show less