Areora Village Explained

Areora Village
Native Name:Te-Are-O-Tangaroa
Settlement Type:Village
Coordinates:-19.9833°N -165°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Cook Islands
Subdivision Type1:Island
Subdivision Name1:Aitu

Areora Village (Te-Are-O-Tangaroa), is a village on Atiu in the Cook Islands.[1]

Etymology

The name Areora refers to the story behind the name of the village. "Are" means house and "Ora" means the lies of the chief. A carpenter lies to chief Tangaroa that the meeting house of the chief is completely finished. The chief looks at the house, one side of the house is long and the other side is short. Because the carpenter doesn't know what to say, he finds something to make the chief happy. So he said to the chief: "The short side of the house is for the chief Tangaroa and his family, the long side of the house is for the people of Areora". When the carpenters explain this to the chief he was totally happy, so the chief didn't kill the carpenter.[2]

References

-19.9833°N -165°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Atiu . Cook Islands Tourism Corporation . 10 August 2020.
  2. Mareta, Isaac, M., Utakea, E., & Utakea, T. (2015) The Five Villages of Atiu. Presentation at the Atiu Online: Developing Destination Content – Digital Enablement workshop, Atiu, 23 October 2015