Ariki

An ariki (New Zealand, Cook Islands), ꞌariki (Easter Island), aliki (Tokelau, Tuvalu), ali‘i (Samoa,[1] Hawai‘i), ari'i (Society Islands, Tahiti), Rotuma) aiki or hakaiki (Marquesas Islands), akariki (Gambier Islands) or ‘eiki (Tonga) is or was[2] a member of a hereditary chiefly or noble rank in Polynesia.[3][4]

  1. ^ Sometimes pronounced aliki.
  2. ^ The title has disappeared or has no official or institutional status in some islands (e.g. French Polynesia, Hawai‘i, Easter Island).
  3. ^ Hale, Horatio (1846). United States Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842: Ethnography and Philology. Vol. 6. Philadelphia: Printed C. Sherman. p. 294.
  4. ^ Fornander, Abraham; Stokes, John F. G. (1885). An Account of the Polynesian Race. Vol. 3. London: Trübner & Company. pp. 55–56.