Te Ara- Cook Islands Museum of Cultural Enterprise, Muri

Visited Te Ara - Cook Islands Museum of Cultural Enterprise (NZ$15) and was amazed to see knowledge recontextualised through Pasifikan eyes. By mapping language, the museum is able to show all Pasifikan people originated in Taiwan, replacing stories of South American ancestry. While Europeans were hugging shorelines two thousand years ago, Pasifikan navigators were sailing into the unknown and populating the Pasifikan islands, creating top-down navigation charts and mapping currents and islands on bamboo frames. Mapping from a European perspective is done from the deck of the boat using stars and angles, while Pasifikan navigators viewed the map from above looking down at the relative position of each island. In the second half of the small museum, the impacts of missionaries, their diseases, slavery (blackbirding) and colonisation are laid bare as you travel through time and wave after wave of oppression suppressing the knowledge and way of life of the Cook Islanders. It is hard to walk out of there without feeling ashamed that you come from people who acted with such cruelty, subjecting the Pasifikan peoples to exploitation, false gods, racism and a totally misguided sense of being superior in all things. This museum made me glad that we’re now hearing the voices of the peoples our ancestors spoke over coming though loud and clear. Best we listen.

Must see for any new visitors to the Cook Islands who would like to learn more about the history and culture of the Cook Islands and its people. I love things of days gone by and found this a great treat. The museum has a lovely little gift shop and café with super friendly staff!