HISTORY TRACED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 773, 20 September 1929, Page 11

HISTORY TRACED

MAORIS DISCUSS RACE ORIGIN WAVES OF MIGRATION Absorbed in the history of the Polynesian race, members of the Akarana Maori Association traced epochs in the occupation of New Zealand at their meeting last evening. Glimpses in words were given of the ancestral home of the Polynesian, Irihia, generally judged to be India; of the roving Maori race before the navigators, Kupe and Ngahue, saw New Zealand’s shore; of the arrival of a Western Pacific people and of the Moriori; of Toi, the Tahitian, who intermingled with the races he found in New Zealand; and of the migrations of the great canoes from Tahiti to tlie new land. Each tribe has its particular angle regarding the common story of the Maori race. Several tribes were represented at the meeting last evening. The discussion showed how the several floods of immigrants to New Zealand had caused, by war and intermarriage, the existing tribal divisions. The traces of the influence of tire vanquished peoples, the Mouriuri of the Western Pacific and the Moriori were mentioned. An opinion expressed was that the perpetuation of inter-tribal differences, though interesting historically, was against progress. Should one tribe produce a leader, even in the present time, other tribes would perhaps ignore his ability. Present-day social gatherings, such as the annual Maori tennis tournament for New Zealand, are breaking down prejudice.