Where did the first Polynesian settlers of the Cook Islands mainly come from?

The first Polynesian settlers of the Cook Islands mainly came from the area now known as French Polynesia. These settlers were the sole inhabitants of the islands until the 19th century.1

While the broader Polynesian region was peopled by voyagers traveling across the Pacific in seaworthy canoes, the specific ancestral origins for the majority of the Cook Islands population are traced to this eastern region. It is important to note that the inhabitants of the isolated Pukapuka atoll are an exception, as they are of predominantly Samoan and Tongan descent.123