12/11/2025
đź“ŤCook Islands
Historical photographs
Photographs and paintings give us a glimpse into the past — but not everything we see is truth. Many early images of Pacific peoples were staged to push a colonial narrative — one that painted islanders as “uncivilized” and in need of “salvation.”

Missionaries and colonial photographers often orchestrated scenes of cannibalism or violence to justify their presence and portray Pacific communities as incapable of governing themselves.
This wasn’t unique to the Cook Islands — similar tactics were used across the Pacific, especially in Fiji during the 1840s–1870s, where fake scenes were spread as propaganda to shock European audiences, many of these photographs were plastered over postcards and stamps as pushing the narrative further they were seen as desirable due to their “exotic” & “savage” nature. 

These portrayals still shape how we view our ancestors today. What might look like a “savage” moment in history was often a setup — the same people, same props, staged again and again.

So what does this mean for us?

It challenges us to question what’s real in historical records and how misinformation framed our heritage. These images weren’t reflections of truth — they were tools of control.

Every culture, even those deemed “civilized,” has its own history with cannibalism — including Europeans who practiced medicinal cannibalism well into the 19th century. Yet only ours was used as proof of inferiority.
The more we dismiss or hide from our history, the more we lose the chance to understand and reclaim it. Our ancestors’ stories deserve depth, not shame.
