MAORIS’ FIRST HOME

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 626, 1 April 1929, Page 8

MAORIS’ FIRST HOME

Sir.— “Tawhitiroa’s” reply to Mr. -George Graham con .erning the origin of the Maori is interesting because of the indication it gives that there is now a tendency to associate the Maoris with the American Indians. Authorities have been delving into Polynesian lore and history tirelessly for years past, but it is significant that, in spite of investigation, not one has seriously attempted to class the Polynesian races with the American aborigines. Both peoples have dis- ! tinct traditional, mental, physical, and features.

It is much easier to ally Polynesians with an old branch of the Caucasian race when similar characteristics have been proved. It is not at all outlandish to do so, for the Somalis, of Africa, the blackest people on earth, were originally Caucasian stock. Then, again, words in the Maori language, or any Polynesian dialect, can be compared with other languages to a bewildering extent. Celtic, Portuguese, Spanish, Persian, early Indian, Egyptian, and Malayan words are actually to be traced in Polynesian vocabularies. There is the fact that the Maoris, in their legends, preserved two ancient Hindu words for rice, a plant which certainly was not found in the Pacific. Leaving out the several Hawaikis and Tawhitis in the Pacific Ocean, one gets back to the basic homes of the Maori race—liihia and Uru, How does “Irihia” compare with ancient names for India, and “Uru” with the crumbled city Hr of the Chaldees. HOEROA.