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Examples

  • Captain Cook’s party heard the term ariki (chief) applied to some, while others had nicknames such as ‘Twisted Neck’, ‘Tattooed One’, and even ‘Bad Smell’ (due to the upturned nostrils).

    The Eight Wonder of the World – Easter Island | Impact Lab 2007

  • However, next day, this chief sent baskets of bananas and a roast pig, saying that it was a present from the "ariki" of the island to the

    Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century Jules Verne 1866

  • KAI-KOUMOU, as frequently happens among the Maories, joined the title of ariki to that of tribal chief.

    In Search of the Castaways 2003

  • Chiefs, variously known throughout Polynesia as ariki or ali'i, were thought to possess mana—moral power and authority—and had well-defined rights and obligations in relation to their people.

    F. The Pacific Region, 1513-1798 2001

  • "I'd like to introduce you to Witi Ahamera, their ariki, their chief."

    Once An Angel Medeiros, Teresa, 1962- 1993

  • Among their well-loved faces stood Trini in full ceremonial garb, running his hands down the lapels of a rumpled coat of the finest Egyptian linen; Dani and Kawiri, their lithe naked bodies draped with shells and fragments of polished amber; the stern ariki, his mouth folded in what might have been a smile on a more expressive face.

    Once An Angel Medeiros, Teresa, 1962- 1993

  • KAI-KOUMOU, as frequently happens among the Maories, joined the title of ariki to that of tribal chief.

    In Search of the Castaways 1873

  • "'Tis my mother, _ariki papalagi_. {*} who carries thy child -- Malineta, the mother of Patiaro, the chief of Nukutavau, he who now speaks to thee.

    Rodman The Boatsteerer And Other Stories 1898 Louis Becke 1884

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