Avaiki - Samoa, Hawaii, Cook Islands

Samoa, Hawaii, Cook Islands

By no means certain, but certainly possible, is an origin in the large islands of Samoa, namely Savaii. Variants include, in order of migration, Havaii, the old name for Raiatea in French Polynesia; the far better known Hawaii in the United States, Avaiki in the Cook Islands and Niue and Hawaiki in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

There are endless local variants. In the Cook Islands, for example, on the capital island of Rarotonga, northern facing volcanic rocks, tumbling onto the shore millennia ago and still set in place, are well known as the ancient departure point for souls bound for Avaiki - the afterworld or heaven.

In fact each island, vaka or ngati (family line) has its own Avaiki or interpretation of it. For instance it would be somewhere in the manu'a islands group (American Samoa) for the Ngati Karika (Te au o Tonga tribe - Rarotonga). For the Ngati Tangi'ia (Takitumu tribe-Rarotonga), it would be at Tahiti. Others locate Avaiki at Raiatea...