EARLY MAORI HISTORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19235, 26 January 1926, Page 11

EARLY MAORI HISTORY.

ARRIVAL IN NEW ZEALAND. ( ADDRESS BY DR. P. H. BUCK. [by telegraph.—own correspondent.] CAMBRIDGE. Monday. One of the most interesting lectures at the teachers' summer school at Cambridge was that by Dr. P. H. Buck on "The Coming of the Maori." Although the history of New Zealand before the seventeenth century was shrouded in mythology and tradition, Said Dr. Buck, it had been established that the Maoris were a branch of the Polynesians, the first people to break through and colonise the Pacific Islands. The lecturer painted a vivid picture of the coming of the Maori to New Zealand. It was established that somewhere aboutthe year 950 Ktipe set sail from Polynesia and finally discovered New Zealand. He then returned to his own country. In 1150 a voyage was made by Toi and his grandson Whatonga, and about 200 years later the Polynesian fleet arrived here. Traditions established the fact that the historical Tokomaru and Tainui canoes of the fleet settled on the west coast round about Mokau, although the majority cast their crude stone anchors in the Bay of Plenty. That tho members of the fleet had no intention of returning to Hawaiki was illustrated by the story of one of the chiefs. Seeing the beautiful red bloom of the pohutukawas ho interpreted it as a favourable sign from the new land to the migrants, ana in characteristic action cast the red kura of his head gear into the sea behind him. This was also a sign to his people that the new land was to be permanently adopted. Dr. Buck gave an outline of early Maori education and religious beliefs and brought his address to a close with an appeal to the people of New Zealand to maintain and foster the recognition of the Maori race. He recognised that in time the Maoris would be absorbed, but it was the speaker's hope that the traditions, folk lore and other tangible evidence of old Polynesia would be preserved.