Bahá’í World/Volume 20/Pa Tepaeru Ariki
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PA TEP'AERU ARIKI
(Lady Davis) 1922—1990
It is recorded in a letter from Edith Danielson dated 21 January 1960 that: “Pa Ariki, queen of the Ngatangiia District of Ratotonga, Cook Is1ands, has become a Bahá’í”. Edith became acquainted with Pa Ariki in 1953, shortly after Edith had arrived in Rarotonga. “She was one of the very few who asked about the Faith,” Edith wrote She read Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. Before long she was speaking of the Faith and expounding its principles far and wide.
One day I asked her Why it was that she believed but did not affiliate. She had two problems. One was being of the nobility. It was her ancestors who had welcomed the first Christian missionaries (London Missionary Society) to the island and became pi11ars of the church. The second problem was that by tradition, if she were to change her religion, at least the elders of her district would be duty bound to follow where she led and this was not the Bahá’í way of independent choice. I remember the many star—spangled evenings and even rainy nights we drove about the island talking, finally ending up in her front yard sitting in the little car, talking until two or three in the morning about the Faith, the world, the education of people. Once she asked permission to use Bahá’í material in a talk she was going to give. On Sunday afternoon or
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evening each Village holds a meeting at
Which a speaker is elected to pose ques tions prepared by the Oramatua (minister),
and one question of his own, then general discussion follows. Pa had been asked many times but had always refused. She said she had never felt she knew anything about God and was not qualified to speak but ‘now,’ she said, ‘I know something
about Him and I want to tell it!’ When I
bade her a reluctant farewell in March
1958 she said, ‘I think I will be a Bahá’í
some day, but there are some things I feel
I must work out in my mind.’
Pa Tepaeru Ariki became a Bahá’í on 4 October 1959.
Tepaeru had been born 14 August 1922. Her mother was Takirikou Potikitaua Mana1‘angi, of Rua-o—te-Tonga, and her father was Taike Ariki Mitiau, of Takitumu. Tepaeru was only nine years old when she received the title of Pa Ariki. From that time on she knew that she would become the Takitumu leader and was trained accordingly. She received her education in New Zealand.
In later years she became the distinguished President of the House of Ariki—-the house of the traditional chiefs—and was affectionately known by her people as “Aunty Pa.”
“During the 30 years that I knew Pa Ariki,” Suhayl ‘Ala’i recalls, “I witnessed the love and affection she showered upon evelyone in her charming and joyful manner. She was so proud of her extended family.
“On my Visits to the Cook Islands she would often say to me, ‘Let us walk through the town and meet some of my people’. We would walk through Avarue, stopping here and there, and she would introduce many of her family and friends.
Pa Ariki was a staunch and outspoken defender of her ideals. Her membership in the Bahá’í community and her familian'ty with its principles greatly influenced her way of thinking. She strongly supported the rights of women, the ideal of the oneness of humanity, the oneness of religion, and the rights of the individual.
THE BAHA’I WORLD
During the hours that we sat and talked, she often expressed her great desire for her people to advance and her islands to prosper. She was immensely proud of her heritage.
In 1984, the people of Samoa welcomed Pa Tepaeru Ariki for the dedication of the Bahá’í House of Worship near Apia. On that occasion she insisted on remaining With the Cook Islands contingent at a simple dwelling, rather than an accommodation for dignitaries as befitted her rank. This was typical of her humble attitude.
She was a member of the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Te Au 0 Tonga and Takitumu. In 1985, she was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Cook Islands.
Pa Ariki rendered many important services to the Bahá’í Faith, attended many conferences and represented the Cook Islands in the Pacific. In 1985, she presented the Proclamation of Baha’u’llah to the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands on behalf of the Universal House of Justice and the National Assembly of the Cook Islands.
The climax of her life came in 1986, when, accompanied by her distinguished husband, Sir Thomas Davis, then Prime Minister, she paid a visit to the Holy Land and the Universal House of Justice at its seat on Mount Carmel, followed by a brief pilgrimage to the Bahá’í holy places.
Ever mindful of her position in Cook Islands society, Pa Ariki often called attention to a passage from the Tablets of Baha’u’llah addressed to the kings and rulers of the world:
F ear the sighs and tears of this Wronged One, and lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob them to rear palaces for yourselves... T hus We unfold to your eyes that which profiteth you, if ye but perceived. Your people are your treasures.
These words governed all her actions. Pa Tepaeru Ariki passed away suddenly on 2 February 1990 at the age of 67 While on
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IN MEMORIAM
Pa T epaeru Ariki
a Visit to New Zealand. The Cook Island News reported: “As day breaks tomorrow, Rarotonga will be half way through eight hours of solemn ceremonies to mark the return home of the late Pa Tepaeru Ariki, Lady Davis.”
She was accorded the largest state funeral ever seen in the Cook Islands and the only one recognised by an official day of mourning.
LILIAN ‘ALA’I‘