Niue artist John Pule is exhibiting his works at Auckland Art Gallery until 21 January. The show covers 20 years of his work — since he began exhibiting in the 1990’s. One of the few major New Zealand artists who has had no formal training and little education, he developed his art as a way … Read more …
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Yachties attracted to Niue
29 November 2011Niue’s Yacht Club has been named the 2011 Cruising Station of the Year by the Seven Seas Cruising Association. The Association, which has over 100 member stations with more than 10,000 members worldwide, deemed Niue a safe and enjoyable stop for cruises. While anchored at Alofi port, most yachties catch up on their email by … Read more …
Internet can help save Niue language
14 October 2011Award-winning internet operator Emani Fakaotimanava-Lui says the internet can play an important part in keeping the Niue language alive. Mr Fakaotimanava-Lui has just returned to Niue from the Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was presented with an international award on behalf of Internet Niue for its innovative work building Niue’s WiFi internet … Read more …
Fascinating Niue
Niue the fierce
The first European explorer to attempt a landing on Niue was Captain James Cook in June 1774. He and his crew were forcefully repelled by parties of fearsomely attired men uttering blood curdling screams and brandishing spears with the purpose of repelling these visitors, for fear that they would bring diseases – a fate that befell other Pacific cultures that were more welcoming of European explorers.
Hastily leaving after little actual combat, Cook called the place “Savage Island,” a name that appeared on maps into the twentieth century.
At the time of Cook’s arrival, Niue had already been populated for several centuries by Tongans in the south, Cook Island Maori in the west and Samoans in the north. The people of the north were known as motu and those of the south were known as tafiti. They were staunch enemies, and the forests of the island were laced with tracks used by raiding parties searching for food and women to steal.
The Niuean language is related to other western Polynesian languages, such as Samoan and Tongan, with slight pronunciation differences between the north and the south. Most Niueans today speak Niuean and English.
Source: Niue by Charles Cooper. Reed Children’s Books, 2000. ISBN 1869488490
