The former Cook Islands High Commissioner to New Zealand Iaveta Short says there's no doubting the links with the Ngati Porou tribe on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island.
The comments come after celebrations ended in Tokomaru Bay where more than 500 gathered at the weekend to remember a trip made by a Cook Islands delegation to the area in 1934.
During their stay they gave one of the marae in Tokomaru Bay it's second Te Hono Ki Rarotonga.
Mr Short says the special link between the people of the Cook Islands and Pakirikiri marae is just one of many.
"There's a traditional link to the group that came 75 years ago, there's family connections that go back hundreds of years so all those connections are there so people come to relive the memory and also to make it alive and new."
The Cook Islands deputy Prime Minister and four paramount chiefs were among the 80 strong that travelled from Rarotonga.
