This paper was first presented at the ICOMOS-IFLA ISCCL conference, Jeju South Korea 2015.
Introduction
The first churches of the Cook Islands were constructed in the early 19th century through the work of the London Missionary Society (LMS). Applying lessons learned from their first mission to Tahiti, the LMS was able to effect rapid change in the Cook Islands, with Christianity being swiftly adopted through the island group and to the main island of Rarotonga in 1823 (Breward, 2001, pp. 26 - 31; Gunson, 1978, pp. 219, 222; Howard, 2002, pp. 100 - 104; Tauira, 2006, pp. 73 - 75, 105). Over the next three decades five Christian villages were established on Rarotonga, each with church, graveyard, mission house and school (Howard, 2002, p. 93). Church places became the central hub of a reshaped community, and now under the Cook Islands Christian Church (CICC), remain an intrinsic part of contemporary Rarotongans’ lifescapes.
Field research was undertaken on Rarotonga in August 2014, to understand the cultural heritage significance of these historic churchscapes. Research involved semi-formal interviews with locals, physical recordings of church sites, and more in-depth physical and historical analysis of the Matavera church in the Takitumu district as a case study. This paper uses place attachment theory to analyse research findings regarding memories associated with church places, opinions on modifications, and perceived links with Cook Islands identity. It finds that attachment to CICC churchscapes in this context goes beyond that of individual place association to distinctively Polynesian understandings of ancestry, tribal hierarchy and land. It concludes that these potentially evolving but still powerful place bonds have implications for future place sustainment in an increasingly diasporic island population.
Place attachment
The concept of ‘place’ and people’s emotional connection to places have been explored since the 1960s (Scannell & Gifford, 2013, p. 24; Williams, 2013, p. 89) and ‘place attachment’ as an academic concept has existed since the 1990s (see Altman & Low, 1992). However scholarly investigation regarding place attachment’s relevance to cultural heritage specifically has been limited (refer to Taha, 2013 for an example), with heritage studies focusing predominantly on the related concept of identity (refer for examples to Ashworth, Graham, & Tunbridge, 2007; Graham & Howard, 2008; Liston, Clark, & Alexander, 2011). However intangible social values imbued in historic places can only be understood by first understanding how and why people form attachments to such places (Taha, 2013, p. 12). Place attachment theory forms a useful framework for this and as such is applied here.
In this paper, three key themes regarding people’s associations with historic CICC places that emerged from field research interviews are discussed in relation to place attachment theory. Differentiation is made between two broad groups:
1. ‘Members’: People in Rarotonga who have attended the CICC for all (or significant parts) of their life and who are current attendees, and
2. ‘Non-members’: People in Rarotonga who may or may not have previously attended a CICC but no longer do so (either attend a different denomination or do not attend any church).
Memories
The first key theme is memories. People’s specific childhood memories related to CICC churchscapes were explored in all interviews, sometimes in relation to a specific church place that they were associated with, or in relation to CICC sites in general.
Members’ responses were predominantly positive, expressing warm and happy memories of church places and describing the Church’s central role in their childhood and upbringing. Expressed memories however were often broad and fairly undefined, and where more specific were more associated with patterns of repetition rather than distinct events. Physical objects or built form were notably absent; most member interviewees either did not mention physical aspects at all, or mentioned them in passing as backdrop.
Non-members’ memories were more mixed, with more negative recollections expressed relating to perceived personal / political issues, feelings of repression and boredom. However they recalled physical elements more, including preparing coral lime for mortar repairs, and the age and solidity of building fabric.
These responses reflect place attachment theory findings that people with long and close connections to a place have very strong social ties to it but tend to take the place itself for granted – their familiarity means that they may not ‘see’ it, whereas those for whom interaction with a place is an active choice are more likely to emphasise historical and physical qualities over relational groundings (Gustafon, 2013, p. 39).
Physical place modifications
This leads to the second key theme explored in the field research; that of physical modifications to church places. Analysis of the Matavera case study showed that its churchscape has been significantly modified over time; the Sunday School / community hall demolished and transformed, the upper level of the church removed, half of the graveyard covered by a lawn, trees cut down, boundary walls and interiors altered. Interviewees were asked about their feelings with regard to physical modifications to CICC churchscapes, and to the potential for future changes.
In general, members were fairly unconcerned about material loss and were confident that any future changes would be minimal. In contrast, non-members more readily expressed disappointment about perceived unsympathetic changes to historic CICC churchscapes and were concerned that there was potential for major loss. Interviewees opinioned that this was due to lessening interest in historic places as older generations passed away and younger generations, including more foreign-born Cook Islanders, became decision-makers.
A key aspect of interviewees’ responses was not only the influence of the older generation generally, a theme commonly explored in place attachment analyses, but more specifically the perceived role of traditional leaders (‘ariki’ and ‘mataiapo’) in supporting the Church and defending its physical presence. Interviewees highlighted the tama ua relationship between ariki and Church; this phrase means ‘to be raised on the lap’, inferring that when the Church was first established in the Cook Islands, ariki nurtured, protected and provided for it, as a parent does for their child. Added to this was interviewees’ emphasis on the importance of the land churchscapes are sited upon; land as moenga, ‘our mat’ – lain and lived upon, a defining centre of self and collective. As each church’s land was originally gifted by ariki or mataiapo, these leaders are considered to have a significant role of continued oversight over church places through their tribal mana (prestige, authority, power) that pre-dates the Church.
One notable feature of responses was that interviewees, particularly members, often did not recall any changes or did not consider them worth mentioning. This may be partially explained by the veil of familiarity and prioritising human interaction over physical place – as stated by one interviewee, "To me, it’s not the building... It’s being inside, sharing with your, you know, your fellow congregation." However perceptions of a churchscape as 'unchanged' may also link to deeper Polynesian views on time (Campbell, 2006; Refiti, 2009). Past, present and future are not separate moments but are dynamically enmeshed, such that a person is their ancestors, a place is its past. In this context, alterations appear incidental in the broader scheme of not only maintaining identity-creating social practices, but in the very idea of what 'place' as a static notion, is.
This research indicates that the primary cultural significance of historic churchscapes in Rarotonga may be their close association with wider tribal heritage, creating strong place bonds regardless of individuals’ personal residence duration or family connection. Place attachment in this context potentially enlarges identity-based heritage place studies from their current heavily individualistic focus (Masso, Dixon, & Durrheim, 2013, p. 79) to an inter-relational one more in line with Polynesian senses of self. Attachment to Church places is not simply reliant on individual connections but on deeper, pre-mission understandings of tribal hierarchy and land, with mana as the fundamental foundation of both. People strongly grounded in these frameworks may therefore be both more attached to place and more reliant on mana to appropriately guide change. Conversely, those less attached may be more cognisant of the fragilities of traditional mechanisms in a rapidly changing social and cultural context.
Shaper of identity
The final theme examined in field research interviews was the perceived place of historic CICC churches in Cook Islands cultural identity.
Members saw the Church as socio-religious entity as central to cultural identity, although they often discussed the perceived decline of Church influence. Members also shared personal expressions of identity connection, such as continuing traditions of forebears, the church as central to personal and collective expressions of worship and a place of community and sharing.
Non-members also readily acknowledged the identity-defining role of the Church, regardless of any negative, positive or ambivalent feelings they may have previously expressed. Their emphasis was generally on collective rather than personal identity; alluding to the initially European Church both appropriating and becoming enmeshed in Rarotonga’s pre-Christian cultural paradigm, with the resultant churchscapes being the repository of a reshaped indigenous identity. Furthermore, not only was the Church considered part of Cook Islanders’ cultural identity regardless of what faith individuals adhered to now, but it was regarded as critical to the fundamental formation of the Cook Islands as an entity, drawing formerly disparate people groups together as a nation. This extended to the physical places themselves, with churchscapes being seen as icons of the Cook Islands, alongside other (pre-Christian) heritage, and therefore embraced as 'indigenous' built expression.
This research supports academic analyses suggesting that heritage places can be tangible manifestations of identity and history (McDowell, 2008, p. 40), but more than this, place is a basis of individual and communal identity formation and continuity (Taha, 2013, p. 15). In this context, physical churchscapes not only are intrinsically imbued with, but also underpin, intangible values of ancestral continuity and collective memory. This implies a more complex and symbiotic relationship between people and place than simply that of place being created and sustained by human actions. Rather, places facilitate actions that foster memory and identity, that in turn lead to place attachment; intangible and tangible factors are inseparable.
Conclusion
This paper has analysed field research regarding the cultural heritage significance of Rarotonga’s historic CICC churchscapes through place attachment theory. Three key themes have been focused on; being peoples’ memories associated with church places, opinions on modifications, and perceived links with Cook Islands identity.
Research findings support place attachment theory analyses that people with long and close connections to a place emphasise their social ties over physical form; physical place has become a backdrop for interpersonal bonds that are little affected by material changes. However findings also suggest that place attachment in this context has some specifically Polynesian aspects that are unrelated to individuals’ personal membership or attendance at a particular church. In this case, churchscapes are embedded in pre-Christian understandings of tribal ancestry inscribed on the land that churches sit upon, the moenga, mat, that underpins all peoples’ lifescapes and identity as Cook Islanders. Their physical spaces are not only backdrops for human actions and interactions; they tangibly represent intangible values of ancestral identity and nationhood.
Place attachment may be decoupled from continual physical association but remains entwined with strong cultural associations of tribal hierarchy, mana and land. As such, physical churchscapes are likely to remain significant to an increasingly diasporic island population. How people are included in decision-making regarding the ongoing sustainment of CICC churchscapes presents a challenge to future Church and traditional leaders in this context of evolving but still powerful place bonds.
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