THE MAORI AND HIS PREDECESSORS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 168, 3 August 1937, Page 8

THE MAORI AND HIS PREDECESSORS

Theories ''Not Proven," Says Bishop Williams MEANING OF 'AOTEAROA $ It was Kupe who discovered and named New Zealand; this was not disputed, but the name he gave it, "Aotearoa," did not mean "the long white cloud," as popularly supposed, remarked the Rt. Rev. Dr Ej. W . Williams, Bishop of Waiapu, in speaking at the Hastings Historica] Societv's meeting last evening. "I have some bombshells for you in this address/' he added, "and this is one of them." Kupe, he said, gave the name "aotea" to indicate a cloud seen over the island and "roa", whieh meant "long", was added to- describe the duration of the journey taken to reach the land. A scholarly paper whieh gave nse to much discussion was read by Dr Williams, the subject being "The Maruiwi Myth." In the absence of the president, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, JBishop of Aotearoa, Mr W. A. G. Penlxngton, M.A., presided over a gathering of about 50. At the conclusion oi the address the speaker answered numerous questions, after whieh a vote of thanks was rao\ed by Mr F. Tomoana. Dr' Williams dealt with his subjeol in a thorough manner, studding his re'marks with long quotations in Maori from acknowleuged authorities. The Maruiwi myth, sHnply stated, be said, was that the first Polynesia'n islanders to arrive in New Zealand found the North island populated by non-l'oly-nesian inhabitants. In the literature on the subject" there was a great deai that was contradictory, but this was only to be expected. Storytellers all the world over, even with the best intentions, never told a story exactly as they heard it. If was always passed On, with embellishments whieh, though they made the story better, were not history, •

The question' arose : Ji there wero itoone here when Kupe ' arrived, how bad this names for the less impoftant places, where there were no landmarks to deeide them, been preservedi' Some authorities suggested"' that there was a second Kupe who' "came later when the land was partly settled and that it was he who had named the places. "We may dismiss the tbeory that the first settlers came to New Zealand from a warmer country to the southwest," said the speaker, . "There is no country to the south-west warmer than New Zealand, so this is impossiblo and suggests that there has been a tnistuke made somewhere. The first people were undoubtedly Polynesians. The name Maruiwi applied to the people here before Kupe is misleading and. though possibly it is convenient, its use should be discouraged." Nothing resembling the Maori pa had been found ih any of the Polynesian islands, whieh created a problem for ethnologists. The extermination of the first settlers would have been difficult in a country such as New Zealand. The tixing of dates in early Maori history was not easy, pointed out Dr Williams in another part of his address. The Maori did not think in centuries. The amazing features of memory performed by most primitive tales wero often a source of wonder. But Maori family trees could be misleading. Some were' of a junior branch of a family and not of the main line. In others the name of a wife or relative mi'ght, be introduced occasionally, whieh was all right for the initiated but spelt disaster for the unsuspecting pakeha searching for dat'es. In reply to a question, Dr Williams remarked that he did riot think any attention had ever been drawn to the similarity between curved ornamentation found in New Guinea and that of the Maori. Other points of similarity 'were found among the Incas in South America. This was intriguing and should not be excluded from study, although all the "orthodox" authorities considered these ideas "blown out" entirely. The Maori's ancestors swarmeu all over the Pacific in their canoes, covering immense distances. Easter Island, for example, ^vliere strange carvings were found, was nearer the coast of America than, it was, say, to Tahiti. It was absurd to disregard such countries as Soutli America and New Guinea There was little luateriaJ evidenee connecting the pre-Toi people with the natives of tlie Chatham. Islands. There was a closer relationship with the language of the Marquesas than with anywhere else. Mariy theories had been brought forward concerning the Maoris and the tribes - before them, coneluded the speaker, but so far .the only reply possible to all of them - was to say "not proven".