TRACES IN INDIA

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20956, 8 November 1939, Page 9

TRACES IN INDIA

CRADLE OF MAORI RACE BISHOP BENNETTS IMPRESSION ARAWA COMMUNITY POUND During his recent visit to India as the New Zealand delegate to the World Missionary Conference, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, found some time to study the racial connections between the natives of the country and the Maoris. “From what I saw I am convinced that India was the cradle of the Maori race,” said Bishop Bennett, during the course of a lantern lecture which was given in Hamilton last night. Bishop Bennett mentioned the Maori mythology which described the anchestral home as being Hawaiiki. He considered that was probably in Borneo or India, which was no doubt the jumping off place for the Maori migrations through the South Pacific Islands as far as New Zealand. Arawa Race In India Himself a member of the Arawa Tribe in New Zealand, Bishop Bennett was extremely interested to find in Northern India an Arawa community. Proving beyond doubt in his opinion that India was once the home of the Maoris, there were several sections of the race in the north whose names corresponded

with Maori tribes which had settled in the Bay of Plenty. For instance, the Kati Kuri tribe in Te Puke had its counterpart in India. The Kati Awa tribe of Whakatane was probably descended from the Kati Awas of Northern India, and the Kati Iras of Opotiki were probably representatives of the Indian people of the same name.

The features of the Maori resembled closely the features of these Indian people, said Bishop Bennett.