COOKIN’ WITH ‘IMENE TUKI

‘Imene tuki are a heavenly hybrid, songs that infuse Church hymns with cascading multi-part harmonies and elements of pre-colonization chants that capture the musical spirit of the Pacific’s Cook Islands. Cook Islanders express their culture exuberantly through several kinds of 'IMENE, a genre of music that not only, covers contemporary songs, like Cook islands, string bands, but also traditional music like:

-- 'IMENE REO METUA, songs that Protestant missionaries brought to the islands in the 1800s.

-- UTE, celebratory songs that are essential to Cook Islanders' social gatherings, and

-- 'IMENE TUKI, which infuse Church hymns with cascading multi-part harmonies and elements of pre-colonization chants that capture the spirit of the, music of the Cook Islands, such as guttural grunts.

When we introduce ‘imene tuki in class we do so with enthusiasm, humor and, if we can manage, confident Polynesian flair.