The Origin of the Maori.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 4, 26 July 1911, Page 2

The Origin of the Maori.

A LECTURE BY

MR. S. PERCY SMITH.

/ I’ N interesting lecture On “The Orif | gin of the Maori” was delivered J recently iu New Plymouth, by

Mr S. Percy Smith, the wellknown writer on Maori history, and the founder of the Polynesian Society. In ■the course of his remarks, Mr Smith said that India was the fatherland of the Polynesian people. They called it Hawaiki-nui, as well as by several other names. Until Dr A. K. Newman’s recent visit to India the identification of that country as the fatherland of the Polynesians was somewhat a matter of supposition, but it was now tolerably certain that it was where they came from originally. The Polynesians are a branch of the Caucasian race, like our-

selves, and all Europeans. Apparently they separated from the main branch in very ancient times. Originally the Caucasians had their home in Barbary, on the northern eoast of Africa, whence they appeared to have migrated into a country called Eran, in North-Eastern Persia. From there the Aryan people migrated over the Hindu-Kush Mountains into India. The Polynesians are believed to be what might be termed proto-Aryans, that is, people of a very early Aryan migration into India. Mr Smith went on to speak of the religion of the Polynesian people. Their religion, he said, seemed to have originated in a large measure during their sojourn iu India. They believed in one superior god-ereator, 10. Furthermore, apparently a second tradition was added to this original belief, describing the origin in all things from 'the “Sky-Fath-er? Raugi. and from Papa, the “EarthMother.” From that conjunction arose the seventy minor gods, of which the principal were Tane. Rongo. Tu, and Tangaroa, who became for ages afterwards the principal gods of the Polynea-

ians. They had in ancient Hawaiki-nu| some temples, which it was quite clear, were stone edifices of large size. . One of these in particular was named Hawaiki, and from that the country took itd name. This was situated at the foot; of a high hill called Tawhi'tinui, whieh was their sacred mountain, and up which! the spirits of the dead passed on to the( twelfth and uppermost heaven, where; they ever afterwards resided in peaeel and plenty in the presence of the go<J 10.

Reverting to the history of the Polynesian people, Mr Smith said that whilst, they were living in Hawaiki-nui, they, had as their neighbours in the west tho Dravidian people, who are an entirely, different race to the Polynesians or to

'the Hindus of the Ganges Valley. Ga the east were some of the Mangoloid people, who are to be found there to tho present day’. So far as we could see', there must have been much communication between these people, from which! the Polynesians learnt many customs to be seen even at the present day amongst? them. - ~

Whilst they were dwelling iu Hawai-ki-nui there was on a certain occasion an irruption of people from a. country, called traditionally the "land of Uru,’* which lay to the north-west of Hawaikinui. It is supposed that this land of Uru is the same as that mentioned on the cuneiform tablets which-have been discovered in Babylonia, and which has been identified by Assyriologists. as tha land of Ur (mentioned in the Scriptures), from which Abraham originally; came. The chief of these., people front the land of Uru was Ngana-te-ariki, who was evidently a very high chief or even a king. At that time the Polynesians had as their queen, if she may be SO

called, the chieftainess Tangi-te-ruru. A marriage took place between these two, and there was a family of six: children, whose names are all given in traditions. The youngest of them was Alia, and in his time there grew up serious trouble between the two people. This led to much lighting, in which eight great battles were fought. The last of these battles was called Paerangi. In It the Polynesians suffered a very severe defeat. It then became necessary them to decide what they were going to do. If they remained in Hawaiki-nui they would slaves or serfs to the people of Uni. They decided to migrate. It is quite clear from the traditions that by this time many of the Polynesians had become able navigator?, and had discovered and visited many islands in Indonesia. The first migration came away to the East. It is unfortunate, continued Mr Smith, that we know very little of this migration. But it is clear from researches which have (been made, more especially into ‘the language of the people, (hat they came into the Pacific and made their way to fsamoa, where their descendants are to be found at the present day. The second migration is generally called the Tonga-whiti migration. How long after the first it occurred cannot be ascertained.

But it has been found from the genealogies of the people that this migration left Indonesia somewhere about the first fcentury of the Christian era. There is available much more information about the course of this migration than about that of the first. Indeed, the whole route is embodied in some of their ancient chants. These show that they came down by the Solomon Islands to the New Tiebrides, and then on to the Fiji group, the eastern part of which they occupied for many generations. From here, in the process of many years, they extended their explorations and settlements to Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti,

the I’auinotu group, the Marquesas Islands, Easter Island, and the Gambier group. The period during which they lived iu Fiji might be termed the heroic period of Maori history. Whilst they were living there they became celebrated as navigators, and they furnished the great heroes of the Maori epics. These people were the ancestors of many of the Maori people of New Zealand, Rarotonga, and Tahiti.

The third migration (continued Mr Smith) tool- a somewhat different course, and vte are able from Maori traditions to follow it much more closely than either of the two previous ones." The people in this third migration left the fatherland in consequence of further trouble with the people of the. land of Uru, and sailed away in six canoes. They first made land at a place which they called Tawhiti-roa, or “long Tawhiti.” From what we know of their subsequent course, ‘'long Tawhiti” is identical with Sumatra. There they remained for some generations, until the Maori people fell out with the natives of the country, whom they described as being of two powerful tribes, one black and the other a tall brown people of slender build. These latter were probably the Battas people of Sumatra, who live there at the present day. The greatest battle in Maori history took place between the Polynesians and the two other tribes. According to theiir accounts, some five hundred Arikis or high chiefs of the Polynesians we killed; and they described the dead as being so numerous that they were piled up in the first line of battle so that they made, a wall over which the two parties had to fight. This battle involved a further migration. The story says that from there the Polynesians sailed to the northeast and made another great land, which they called Ta whiti-nui, or great Tawhiti. They landed at the mouth of a. very large river in the south-western part of the island. There can be very little doubt that this island is Borneo, and the river the Kaprias, which falls into the sea. on the south-western side. They proceeded up the river a long

way, and then, being threatened by the natives, they occupied some eaves on the banks of the river. Their traditions give a somewhat minute description of how they fortified the eaves, provided shelter from the rain, provided drainage, and other details. Here they lived for a long time, until their increasing .numbers enabled them to occupy the surrounding country. Then war set in with the people of the land, and, getting the worst of it, the Polynesians again had to migrate. This time they set out on a voyage which exceeded any voyage we know of any raceJin their stage of civilisation. They sailed away east-north-east, before a south-west wind—which no doubt was the south-west monsoon that blows for several months of the year in those seas —and passed through the Caroline group (about 1200 miles in extent), then through the Marshall group. Continuing theiir course in the same direction. they voyaged across an open space about 2500 miles in extent, and then discovered land to which they gave the name Ahu. Undoubtedly this is the O-ahu Island of the Sandwich Group. Their traditions describe all the other islands in the group, giving the names by which they are known now. After some time they passed on, steering to the south, and the next land they made was a group of islands which they called Hawaliki. This was the ancient name of Tahiti and the neighbouring groups. They remained there for a good many generations until troubles which arose in Tahiti gave rise to the final migration by what was called the fleet of canoes. This was about the year 1350, when six large canoes came down to New Zealand and settled at various places on these shores. Some of the descendents of the people' who had made this venturesome voyage across the Pacific to the Sandwich Islands and then to Tahiti came in two canoes named Takitimu and Horouta, and these people became the ancestors of the Maoris of the East Coast of New Zealand, even down as far as Southland. The great voyage from Borneo to the Sandwich Islands extended over 90 degrees of longitude, a quarter of the

earth’s circumference, and over 0001 miles in distance. This showed that these old Polynesians were some of tlx« most accomplished navigators prior to comparatively modern times, as thedr voyages far exceeded in daring those of Columbus.

Detailing how these traditions had become accessible to white students of Maori Mr Smith said that the Maoris, like other branches of the race, had an institution which they called the whare-kura, or whare-wananga. It was in form neither more or less than a college in which the old traditions were faithfully'preserved. ' Many'of the facte he ha-d recounted had only recently become known through" the abrogation of the tapu which for many years had surrounded all the proceedings of the wharekura, rendering it available for the purposes of the historians of the Maori people.