Pukapuka - A Remote Land of Many Mysteries

Pukapuka is a part of the Northern Cook Islands. It is actually one of the remotest inhabited areas on earth. The place is actually an atoll in the shape that is roughly triangular with three main islands. The land area of the atoll is just over one square mile. However, that small amount of land has had inhabitants for at least two thousand years. The people of the atoll have maintained their unique culture despite contact with the outside world. Due to its remoteness, most tourists bypass the island all together. The people speak a dialect that is unique to the small atoll. Most speak some English however.

Due to the scarcity of resources, the people regulate life on the Pukapuka atoll with strict conservation in mind. Villages move from one island to the next regularly to protect the resources on each one. The people protect the trees by not cutting them down without express permission. They protect all sources of food. Birds and seafood remain untouched until they are fully-grown. Foodstuffs remain on tree and vine until they are ripe. This gives the islanders more control over their existence. Waste is a rare thing on the island.

The people of Pukapuka inhabited the atoll for hundreds of years before the first European caught sight of it. Alvaro de Mendana saw the atoll in 1595 and designated it as San Bernardo. Due to its isolation, contact with Europeans was rare before the mid 1800’s. The modern atoll comes with many modern amenities. However, contact with the outside world remains rare since air flights only occur every six weeks or so. The island sits closer to Samoa than the Cook Islands capital island of Rarotonga. The flight from Rarotonga takes five hours one way.

The culture of Pukapuka remains intact despite the modernization of recent years. The inhabitants maintain their own language, PukaPukan. The people continue to weave fine mats well known around the South Pacific. They also continue their own sport of Kirikiti, a sport brought from Samoa in the far past. Over six hundred people currently occupy the island. The main villages lie on the northern island of Wale. They use the other islands for food production. The uninhabited island of Ko is home to the airstrip.  The islanders also govern the nearby island of Nassau. A visit to the atoll will take visitors away from the world they know.