ORIGIN OF THE MAORI

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 253, 22 July 1938, Page 9

ORIGIN OF THE MAORI

Home Believed To Be Caucasus Mountains

CONQUEST OF INDIA

Dominion Special Service

Palmerston North. .Inly 20.

“E koro tena koe (greeting to you. sir). E boa ma temi kotiloti I friends greet in.. I. " Ka uui tn maloti " Koa. iiolemea ko te mattui o te kura Maori (Mr. Slovens, ive greet yon because you are the father of Illis Maori class. I ”

A class of students of Maori language. history and mythology gathered at Hie Technical High School, Palmerston North, to-night both to welcome the founder. Mr. .1. 11. Stevens, a noted Maori authority, and to listen to a number of informative and inferos ing talks by several members. Among lite speakers were Mr. Stevens himself, who spoke of his experiences; Mr. It. Rawstone, on the lost history of the .Maori.: Mrs. Yorke, on Maori cures for illnesses: Mr. .Marriott, on mythology, ami Mr. E. Edwards, on a wide and amusing range of observations on the race.

The. authorities believed, said Mr. Rawstone, that the Maori was a member -of a white Caucasian race which invaded north-west India from their home in the Caucasus mountains near the Caspian Sea. Reaching India, the Maori conquered the Mongolian race inhabiting the north-west border and eventually intermingled with it ami absorbed the Mongolian strain. It was believed that the ancestral home of the Maori was Ava. a kingdom now known as Bengal. Penetrating, to the Indus River, the Maori found the great land of Simla via. or Si'd in Punjab Th" word .Maori itself was Indian, being composed of two words: "ma.’’ meaning the first man in India, and "ttri.” people of tlie first man. It was not until tlie invasion of India flint the word was used. Tlie Maori people in New Zealand had Hie term "tangata Maori,’’ said Mr. Rawstone, which meant the Maori as distinct from ’all other races. During'tlie Maori’s sojourn in India the greater part of the land was occupied by the race called sangata Maori in old Hindu literature. This race was divided into such significant tribes as arawa, kati awn, kali ira, and rarau. the same as tribes in the Dominion to-day are named. In religion ami customs the Maori had surprising resemblances to those of the ancient Hindu people of north-west India. This great Aryan race, before growing into the powerful Sangata Maori nation of north-west India, poured into' the passes of Afghanistan on the way : to India after wandering across Persia | and Mesopotamia. Link With Biblical Times. ; Mr. Rawstone said the East Coast ; Maori to-day had a tradition tiiat they i came from a place called ”Uru” be- | fore they invaded Irihia —Sanskrit for ! India. This L’ru iiad been identified I ns l'r of Chaldees, in Mesopotamia. I where Abraham grazed his Hocks. As | the invading Maori spread out from , Punjab .across; India into tlie plains of ■ the Ganges, they grew into a mighty | nation and liecame all-powerful. They ; gradually spread to Burma, pushed i down to the Malay Peninsula, find , across to Borneo, Sumatra and JavaThough the Maori left India before the present degrading caste system arose, germs of it took fruit in the shape of the “tapu” system. Then lite people went to east New Guinea, where tlie language's features are like those of modern Maori. It seemed strange, however, that though the Maori travelled widely and settled islands ail round there was no sign that Maori or Hindu had ever discovered Australia.

One authority claimed the Kali Awn tribe its the old Hittites of ancient Assyria, continued Mr. Rawstone. The Old Testament story of the flood. X’oah. and the rainbow sent as a promise of no more floods, had its parallel in one of the most ancient Alaori legends, which mentions how 'Pane sent the rainbow after Hie Hood of Maui as a sign of forgiveness. A number of .Maori and Indian words similar in spelling and meaning were quoted. Mr. Rawstone concluded his talk with references to a number of place names existing in India to-day—Minin-pouri, Arahura. Rangariri. Mataron. I’ipiri—and Indian tribal names—Kai Awa, Arawa, Maona. Kaori.

(Radio programmes on page B.)*