Tags: Monarch.
Makea Te Vaerua Ariki (b?–1857) was a sovereign of the Cook Islands. She was the ariki (queen or high chiefess) of the Makea Nui (Great Makea) dynasty one of the three chiefdoms of the Te Au O Tonga tribe on the island of Rarotonga.Makea Te Vaerua succeeded her elder brother Makea Davida with the involvement of the missionaries and her village was the headquarters of the mission. She was the first female to succeed the title of ariki even though she had surviving younger brothers.