A new publication is the first book to chronicle the colonial history of Niue.
Landing place at Mutalau, photographed by Graham Balfour in 1890. Balfour noted that it was ‘a very bad landing at foot of 200ft cliff’. Wooden ladders allow people to reach different parts of the steep cliffs. Photo: Images from: Niue 1774–1974: 200 years of contact and change. Otago University Press
Niue 1774 - 1974, 200 years of Contact and Change has been written by Margaret Pointer, who spent three years on Niue from the late 1990s when her husband served as the NZ High Commissioner.
She has previously written the tragic account of the Niuean contingent that signed up and joined the New Zealand war effort during the First World War.
People gather on the wharf at Alofi in 1900 as the governor’s party prepares to come ashore. Photo: Images from: Niue 1774–1974: 200 years of contact and change. Otago University Press
The colonial history is an account of a stiff encounter with James Cook, visits from whalers, raids by Peruvian slave traders, earnest missionary and the often inept management by New Zealand after it became the colonial master.
The first recorded contact was James Cook's visit during his second Pacific voyage in 1774.
He dubbed Niue 'Savage Island'.
Listen to Margaret Pointer
Hat making was an important industry on Niue. This image appeared in the annual report from the resident commissioner in 1906. Photo: Images from: Niue 1774–1974: 200 years of contact and change. Otago University Press