Niue 1774–1974

Tiny Niue lies alone in the south Pacific, a single island with formidable cliffs rising from the deep ocean. Far from the main shipping routes and with a daunting reputation, ‘Savage Island’ did not naturally invite visitors.

Yet Niue has a surprisingly rich history of contact, from the brief landings by James Cook in 1774 through to the nineteenth-century visits by whalers, traders and missionaries, and into the twentieth century when New Zealand extended its territory to include the Cook Islands and Niue.

To date, this story has not been told. Using a wide range of archival material from Niue, New Zealand, Australia and Britain, Margaret Pointer places Niue centre stage in an entertaining and thoroughly readable account of this island nation through to 1974, when Niue became self-governing.

As important as the written story is the visual record, and many remarkable images are published here for the first time. Together, text and images unravel a fascinating and colourful Pacific story of Nukututaha, the island that stands alone.