Cook Islanders say that travelling in groups is the best and most economical way to see the world. As an example, a woman in the Golden Oldies netball team said she could not have afforded to travel unless it was as part of a group. ‘It is a good system’ she said, ‘you go to places as a guest, they put on kaikai (feast) for you, organise your accommodation, your transport, you don’t have to worry about anything. Then they come here and you look after them’.

Before a group embarks on a trip overseas, they often fundraise at home to pay for airfares and to cover other travel expenses. These funds are put into a joint bank account, usually in the name of the group leader or the person nominated as the group’s accountant. The types of fundraising activities engaged in are raffles, sausage sizzles, selling plates of food and tending people’s plantations. What is particularly significant about fundraising for tere pati is that individuals are not expected to contribute their own money but they are expected to contribute to raising funds for the group as a whole. On trips overseas, people may bring ‘pocket money’ for themselves but otherwise the group funds pay for accommodation and travel. Food and additional costs are generally covered by the host communities.

Many tere pati travel with the aim of making money for a particular community project, usually for materials to construct a church, village or island public building, such as halls, churches and schools. The primary way that tere pati make money is by putting on series of dance performances at nightclubs or village halls. Money is made from ticket sales and donations during the performance. A contribution bowl is placed in front of the performers, audience members get up and dance towards the performers waving money above their heads. They will place money in the bowl or tuck notes in the waist of a performer’s costume. The figures I have been quoted for amounts earned through performances are sizeable. A family group that travelled to New Zealand had their children learn a series of ‘items’ to perform. They estimated that they made around NZ$1,000 each time they performed. A priest from a Catholic tere pati said that his group raised NZ$60,000 on their Australia trip and a group from the island of Mangaia raised NZ$100,000 for a new community building.

In 1997, I recorded three tere pati travelling to Australia and New Zealand from Rarotonga. These were the Rarotongan Golden Oldies netball team, the village of Tupapa-Maraerenga’s dance group, and Arorangi village Boys Brigade. In addition, two groups from the islands of Tongareva and Mangaia passed through Rarotonga, performing at local bars to raise money, on the way to New Zealand. In terms of tere pati travelling to the Cook Islands, at least six community or family groups arrive in Rarotonga each year. At Christmas time, at least one or two overseas groups travel to the outer islands. The main difference between groups travelling from the Cook Islands and those originating from abroad is that the latter do not undertake fundraising activities but rather bring large amounts of gifts to the home islands. This reflects the fact that diasporic communities are usually wealthier than those at home. Nevertheless, many outer islands councils have limited the number of tere pati to two per year as they feel the groups put too much strain on the limited island resources, especially food and accommodation.

While fundraising is a central component of tere pati, other incentives are also important. The family group mentioned above formed to visit family abroad but also to teach their children ‘old’ stories, songs and dances. Before leaving Rarotonga, they rehearsed twice a week for four months before they travelled overseas. In this instance, tere pati are as much about maintaining cultural capital as about economic capital. Similarly, diasporic communities view tere pati back to the homeland as extremely important for children born overseas. They are considered to be a vehicle through which children can learn the Cook Islands Maori language and culturally valued skills such as husking coconuts, fishing and planting. Older members of the community spend evenings recalling their childhoods and instructing young ones on ‘the ways things should be done’. Cultural and moral education, emotional connection, community service and fulfilment of economic obligations are all important to understanding the multiple ways in which Cook Islanders sustain relationships during tere pati.