Margaret Makea Karika Ariki

Dame Margaret Makea Karika Ariki DBE (12 December 1919 – 22 September 2017), also known as Pauline Margaret Rakera George Karika and Pauline Margaret Rakera Taripo, was a Cook Islands ariki and holder of the Makea Karika Ariki title from 1949 to 2017.

[1] Following the death of her elder sister in 1928, she became an aide to her grandmother, Karika Takau Ariki.

[1] Her father became Makea Karika Ariki in 1942, and she succeeded to the title following his death in May 1949.

[1] On succeeding to the title she was appointed to the Rarotonga Island Council, on which she served until self-government in 1965.

She was landowner of the Takitumu Conservation Area and committed to conservation, helping to transfer endangered Rarotonga monarch birds to Atiu in 2002,[4] and leading protest marches against purse seining in 2016.