Random reminder

Press, 24 December 1980, Page 18

Random reminder

CRIES OR OR THOR Dr Thor .Heyerdahl was in ■ Christchurch recently. In 1947 Dr I Heyerdahl sailed his balsawood raft, I the "Kon Tiki,” from Peru to Eastern ' Polynesia, in order to prove that the, Polynesians could have come from f Peru. In ,1970 he sailed a papyrus raitj across the Atlantic to show that the | Peruvians Could have come froin Egypt. All that now remains is for Dr Heyerdahl to -sail .a„■ raft, made of , inflated kumara skins from .Rarotonga to. Cairo in order.'to prove that the ■ Egyptians were originally Polynesians. :. But where does all of this get us. ! Does it matter yvho came from- where?! Are 1 ' we any better, off for knowing < that a Maori All Blßcfc-was originally a Peruvian All. Black, and before that, an Egyptian .All Black? Does the Book i of Moses take on added impact wnen; we realise; that the troops of Pharoah ’ who unwisely followed Moses and the IsrCalites into the Red Sea were in fact] members of a Maori war party? Is our I appreciation of “Po kare kare ana

: deepened by knowledge of the fact i that the song is in fact a Peruvian I lullaby, or that poi dancing originated iin the mountain fastnesses of the ’ Andes? . , Surely it is better, and certainly !more romantic, to leave the origins of i these ancient races, shrouded in I mystery. How would Dr Heyerdahl (himself feel, for example, if someone were to prove that the Scandinavians ..were originally .Moroccans, who had travelled to Norway in great barges ■ pulled by camels which had been trained to swim? We say, let well enough alone. -Apart from anything I else, all this drifting about on the I ocean’s : tides in ludicrous vessels I messes up various famous limericks; ! “The young girl from Peru,” for | example. Presumably this should now :*There was a young girl from Peru, i (An Egyptian if.only you knew), I Who sailed off to the West, Completely undressed, ! Wearing only a Maori tattoo.