| Vainerere Tangatapoto | |
| Office1: | Member of the Legislative Assembly |
| Term1: | 1968–1983 |
| Predecessor1: | Mariri Paratainga |
| Term2: | 1958–1965 |
| Constituency2: | Atiu |
| Birth Date: | 1 July 1912 |
| Birth Place: | Atiu, Cook Islands |
| Death Place: | Mangaia, Cook Islands |
Vainerere Tangatapoto (1 July 1912 – 19 January 1986) was a Cook Islands chief, educator and politician. He served as member of the Legislative Assembly in two spells between 1958 and 1983.
Tangatapoto was born in July 1912 in Atiu,[1] the son of Akemarae and Tangatapoto.[2] Having won the Sir Maui Pomare medal for being an outstanding pupil twice during his education on Atiu, he became a teacher at Atiu Primary School in 1927 the age of 15.[3] [1] In 1934 he joined the Tagua ship as a cabin boy under Andy Thomson and followed him to the Tiare Taporo.[3] He returned to teaching at the primary school in 1940 and became the first local headteacher in 1951.[3] He also served as a church deacon,[3] founded Atiu's first youth club and public library,[3] and also established the Cook Islands branch of the Boys' and Girls' Brigades, the latter in 1972.[4] He was married to Tuerei and had ten children.[2] [1]
Conferred with the title of ariki, he served as speaker of the Atiu House of Ariki.[5] In the 1958 elections, the first under universal suffrage, he was elected to the Cook Islands Legislative Assembly from the Atiu constituency. He was re-elected in 1961 and the following year was elected to the Executive Committee, the islands' first cabinet, by members of the legislature.[6]
Although he lost his seat in the 1965 elections, which he contested as a United Political Party candidate,[7] he was elected again in 1968 as a representative of the United Cook Islanders party, which he led from 1970 to 1971. He subsequently joined the new Democratic Party and was re-elected in 1972, 1974 and 1978. Following the 1978 elections, he became Deputy Speaker.[1] He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977,[8] and retired from politics prior to the March 1983 elections.[5] He was awarded an OBE in the 1983 New Year Honours.
He died in Mangaia in January 1986 at the age of 73.[5] After his death the government set up the Vainerere Tangatapoto Foundation Fund for Uniformed Organisations.[9]