Culture of the Cook Islands Culture of the Cook Islands The culture of the Cook Islands reflects the traditions of its fifteen islands as a Polynesian island country, spread over in the South Pacific Ocean. It is in free association with New Zealand. Its traditions are based on the influences of those who settled the islands over several centuries. Polynesian people from Tahiti settled in the Cook Islands in the 6th century. The Portuguese captain, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands in the early 17th century, and well over a hundred years later, in the 18th century, the
Culture of the Cook Islands the 1986 Pacific Cup and the 1998 Polynesia Cup. Native antiquities, defined as "native relics, articles with ancient native tools and according to native methods, and all other articles or things of historical or scientific value or interest and relating to the Cook Islands" are protected by the Cook Islands Amendment Act 1950. Cultural events are coordinated by the Cook Islands National Arts Council, which was established in 1985 by an Act of Parliament. The administrative mechanism was specially oriented towards promotion of culture of the islands and a Cultural Division was functional. In the late 1980s, the Prime Minister,