MAORI ASTRONOMERS’ EXPERT KNOWLEDGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 79, 24 June 1927, Page 7

MAORI ASTRONOMERS’ EXPERT KNOWLEDGE

LECTURE AT UNIVERSITY In days gone by a select few of the Maoris had an expert knowledge of astronomy, but much of this had been forgotten with the passage of the years, said Professor P. W. Burbidge, professor of physics at Auckland University College, lecturing on a trip in the Urewera country to the Auckland Astronomical Society last evening. He had made a special trip to find the extent of the native knowledge of the heavenly bodies, but it was now impossible to obtain much specific knowledge about it. But before the pakeha arrived they had much astronomical learning. They used the stars for navigation and dated their months from the appearance of certain stars and began their New Year festivities when a certain constellation appeared in June in the early morning sky. They also Used the stars to indicate the beginning of the cropping and fishing seasons. The telescope which he took with him on this trip, said Professor Burbidge, was a source of considerable amazement to the Maoris, who used it in the daytime to observe at neighbouring pahs.