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Story: Cook Islanders

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell

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Alistair Te Ariki Campbell

Born in Rarotonga, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell arrived in New Zealand in 1933. He and his brother William were sent to a Dunedin orphanage when their parents died. Alistair, who became a poet, novelist and playwright, recalls trying to rub off his dark skin in the bath: ‘To survive I felt that I had to make myself invisible.’ He is shown here as a young man.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Landfall Collection (PAColl-7276)

Reference: 1/2-003021; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Cook Islanders – Migration, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/852/alistair-te-ariki-campbell (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 July 2024.