Avaiki is one of the many names by which the peoples of Polynesia refer to their ancestral and spiritual homelands.

Samoa, Hawaii, Cook Islands

By no means certain, but certainly possible, is an origin in the large islands of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, namely Savaii and

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approximate ...

. Variants include, in order of migration, Havaii, the old name for Raiatea in

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

; the far better known

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Avaiki in the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

and

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

and

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. There are endless local variants. In the Cook Islands, for example, on the capital island of

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...

, northern facing volcanic rocks, tumbling onto the shore millennia ago and still set in place, are well known as the ancient departure point for souls bound for Avaiki - the afterworld or heaven. In fact each island, ''vaka'' or ''ngati'' (family line) has its own Avaiki or interpretation of it. For instance it would be somewhere in the Manu'a islands group (American Samoa) for the Ngati Karika (Te au o Tonga tribe - Rarotonga). For the Ngati Tangi'ia (Takitumu tribe-Rarotonga), it would be at

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

. Others locate Avaiki at Raiatea...

Mythology

In the

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily popul ...

in the Cook Islands, Avaiki is the "

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

" or "netherworld". It is described like a hollow of a vast coconut shell.

Varima-te-takere In Cook Islands mythology, Varima-te-takere ("goddess of the beginning") also called Vari ( ), was the primordial mother goddess, mother of the gods and mortals. According to William Wyatt Gill, Gill, Vari, a female spirit or demon of flesh an ...

, the mother of

Vatea In Cook Islands mythology, Avatea (also known as Vatea; meaning 'noon' or 'light') was a lunar deity and the father of gods and men in Mangaian myth of origin. His eyes were thought to be the Sun and the Moon; he was also known as the god of ligh ...

, lives in the lowest depths of the interior of this coconut shell. Nevertheless, the New Zealand anthropologist

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.; he played the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his caree ...

(Te Rangi Hīroa), gives a less mystical interpretation of this Mangaian Avaiki: "when Tangi'ia came to Rarotonga from Tahiti, he brought with him some rankless "manahune" ommoners... As they had no chance of rising in social status, some of them under the leadership of Rangi migrated to Mangaia to start a new life (c.1450–1475). Their antagonism toward Rarotonga made them conceal the land of origin and invent an origin from a spiritual homeland in the netherworld of Avaiki."Peter Buck, "Mangaian Society" in "Bulletin of the Bishop Museum", Honolulu, 1934.

Solomon Islands connection

While

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

is mostly considered Melanesia, the province of Rennell and Bellona is Polynesian. The province consists of

Rennell Island Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the nation state of Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of and is about long and wide. It is ...

Bellona Island Bellona Island (indigenous name Mungiki) is an island within Rennell and Bellona Province, in Solomon Islands. Its length is about and its average width . Its area is about . It is almost entirely surrounded by high cliffs, consisting primaril ...

and the uninhabited Indispensable Reefs. The locals call Rennell Island “MUNGAVA” and they call Bellona Island “MUNGIKI”. They then combine the last three letters of each Island and come up with a word called AVAIKI. If someone local does something silly you might hear someone say ‘''That’s the Avaiki way''’. A further example of this nomenclature can also be evidenced with the identification of the name of the Province, Renbel which combines Rennell and Bellona. MV Renbel is also the name of the ferry that supplies the province from

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

. There is also a rugby and netball team on Rennell Island called Avaiki.

Notes

{{authority control Islands of the Solomon Islands Polynesian outliers Mangaia mythology Underworld