COMING OF THE MAORIS TO N.Z.

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 40, 10 May 1927, Page 12

COMING OF THE MAORIS TO N.Z.

DR. BUCK TELLS OF THAT INTREPID TRIP THROUGH UNKNOWN SEAS

Setting out in the month of November, the great fleet of canoes had headed a little to the right of the setting sun, thus steering approximately couth-west by west. Thus the Polynesian ancestors of the Maori had voyaged to New Zealand somewhere about 1350.

There was a crowded attendance at the University Hall last evening when Hr. Peter Buck gave an extremely interesting lecture on “Native Life in the Cook Islands.” Mr. H. E. Vaile, president of the Auckland Institute, under the auspices of which body the lecture was given, presided and briefly introduced the speaker. The lecturer’s narrative was made very clear by the showing of lantern slides of island scenery and native gatherings and handiwork. COMING OF THE FLEET

The people who inhabited the Cook Islands, commenced the lecturer, were of the Polynesian race, the same as what the New Zealand Maori descended from. It was somewhere round about 1350 when the great fleet of canoes brought the ancestors of the Maori to this country. Tradition in the islands had it that the dauntless voyagers set off with the bows of their canoes pointed toward the setting sun and a little to the right. Looking at a map this would show that the only landing place would be on the east coast somewhere between the North Cape and the East Cape, and this was where it was said they had landed. CIVILISATION CREEPING IN His mission in-the Cook Islands was to collect material for the New Zealand Board of Ethnological Research and collate facts about the relation of the Polynesian to the Maori. The island of Raratonga he found to bo greatly changed to what it was some sixteen years back. To the civilised mind it had progressed but from an ethnological viewpoint it was spoilt. Evidence of the march of civilisation was shown in the havoc wrought by the woolly aphis, which had been introduced, among the pandanas trees, destroying the link of native handwork in mats and baskets, etc., with the material culture of the old Polynesians. It was often overlooked that although a native race had to be educated to the civilised ways of its European conquerors, it had to -keep to certain customs and culture, so as to retain the dignity of the race. POLYNESIAN AND MAORI

When the Maoris came to New Zealand they brought the Polynesian customs and culture with them. ' The typical native hut in Polynesia was a retcangular one with the door on the side. The same type prevailed in New Zealand for a time until it was found that it did not conform to the colder climate, and the lower-built hut with the door in the end c§,me into existence. The bare totara slabs did not suit the aesthetic taste of the native and he began to carve. The journey to New Zealand had been made in either double or outrigger canoes. Bigger canoes were built in this country of the huge kauri and totara trees. The Polynesian carried his load by means of a balance pole, whereas the Maori carried his on his back. The reason for the dropping of this custom was that the pas were situated on high hills and the long balance pole would be awkward.

Hr. Buck also gave an account of customs peculiar to the islands. He received a hearty vote of thanks at the close, on the motion of Mr. H. E. Vaile, seconded by Mr. George Graham.