Atiu: History
Polynesians are believed to have lived on Atiu since at least 900 or 1000 AD. According to oral tradition, Atiu is named for the first man on the island, who was fathered by Tangaroa. Other traditions identify various settlers, including Te Ariki-Mou-Taua, Mariri, and Nuku-kere-i-manu, as well as a visit by the navigator Ruatapu. The island was unified in c.1760, and subsequently invaded and dominated neighbouring Mauke and Mitiaro.
The first recorded European to arrive at Atiu was Captain Cook. He sighted the island on 31 March 1777, and made tentative contact with some of the people over the next few days. In early 1823 the missionary J.M. Orsmond left two Boraboran teachers on the island. Later that year John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived and converted the island's leader, Rongomatane Ngaakaara Ariki, to Christianity. This resulted in the island's population being resettled in a single settlement in its centre. Conversion saw Atiu's dominance of its neighbours fade.
In the 1860s Ngamaru Rongotini Ariki, ariki of Atiu, Mauke and Mitiaro, married Makea Takau Ariki, a Rarotongan ariki. As a result, in 1871 Atiu became part of the Kingdom of Rarotonga. In 1888 it became a British protectorate as part of the Cook Islands Federation. In 1901 it was annexed by New Zealand. Post-annexation the island exported oranges, coffee and copra, but exports were disrupted by poor shipping, and collapsed in the 1950s. The citrus industry was revived in the 1960s, but declined again in the 1970s. Lack of economic opportunity had already begun to drive emigration to Rarotonga in the 1950s, and the economic crisis of 1995 and 1996 and subsequent public sector reforms has led to the island's depopulation.