Origin of Maori

Origin of Maori

Introduction

The Maori’s origin has, for a long time, been a complicated issue. Every Pakeha generation has sought for a conclusive explanation of the origin of Maori, as they attempt to penetrate the tale with which the Maori oral accounts convey the tale. Questions have been raised as to whether the Maori are descendants of the Egyptians and Greeks or not. There have also been concerns about whether they are part of the Israelite tribes that were “Lost”, or their motherland was India, or they came to New Zealand in numerous canoes. The origin of New Zealand’s inhabitants has greatly captivated European scholars, from their earliest encounters with Maori. The Europeans hence came up with theories, the majority of which are fallacious or fantastical. In recent times, scientific study has discovered proof of a Polynesian origin for Maori (Orchiston, 2000). This paper discusses some of the hypotheses on the origin of the Maori before arriving in Aotearoa, also known as New Zealand. All the hypotheses will be explained in detail, along with evidence. Finally, according to the provided hypotheses, the most convincing hypotheses will be chosen and expounded.

Different Hypotheses for Maori origin

New Zealand has the briefest human history. Though it is currently comprehended that the Maori initially originated from the eastern part of Polynesia in the late 1200s, it is debatable where the exact location of their settlement was. However, it took the Europeans until 1642 to discover the nation (Carpenter & Colleen, 2008). The first immigrants from Polynesia discovered Aotearoa through exploration, following the stars, ocean currents and wind. In various cultures, Kupe is vouched for as the sole navigator who discovered New Zealand. Subsequently, small groups from Polynesia started arriving. Originally, they did not identify themselves as the Maori. This name came after the Europeans arrived, to ensure absolute distinctiveness between these initial inhabitants and the Europeans.

When the Europeans identified New Zealand, they considered the origin of this group of people. James Cook realized that Maori and Polynesians had similar Culture and appearances (Thoma, 2003). According to James, the Maori movement from South-East Islands of Asia. Many researchers agree that the two groups (Maori and Polynesians) descendants dwelled in the Taiwan area. Early guests carried out studies on items like headdresses as well as carvings and believed that the descendants of Maori could be early Greeks or Egyptians. Maori are regarded as a Roman warrior. Besides, Christian missionaries suggest that descendants of Maori were the Jewish, belonging to the lost Ethnic group of Israel.

In the mid-19^th century, researchers pointed out that the European languages evolved from Sanskrit considered as the first language in India.  Indians and Europeans still share descendants known as the Aryan and Caucasian. Additionally, ethnologists like Edward Tregear suggested that Maori came from India. Tregear obtained comparison between Maori and Sanskrit symbols and words (Lind, 1946). In the course of the 19^th century, a significant number of scholars recorded conflicting stories regarding the movement of Maori to from Polynesia to New Zealand. But then, a man called Percy Smith, made calculations from taking note of the historical information concerning the Maori that they moved together in 1350 AD by using one great fleet consisting of 7 canoes. Smith states that Maori had conquered Morori, the primeval Melanesians race who inhabited New Zealand (Lind, 1946). The explanations provided by Smith were accepted for over 60 years. Smith gained popularity since many people thought that Europeans immigrants were then superior individuals, who could replace Maori.

Since the 1920s, scholars and scientists have given evidence that Chatham Island Moriori just like the Maori were ancestors of the initial Polynesian immigrants of New Zealand. Moriori moved to the Chatham Islands at some point in time between 1300 and 1500 AD (Brett, 2017). But then, in the 1960s, it was discovered that there were faults in Smith’s study about the story of the Great fleet. The latest scientific evidence involves DNA analysis and radiocarbon dating of archeological sites (Hanson, 1989). Currently, people believe that Maori came from various locations in the Eastern side of Polynesia and arrived at a dissimilar time during the late 13^th century.

The descendants of Maori were Polynesian individuals originated from the South East regions of Asia. Hawaiki is the famous homeland of the Maori people of Aotearoa, from where they migrated about 1000 years ago. Most individuals speculate that Hawaiki is located in the Pacific, around Polynesia. According to researchers and scholars, more than 14,000 years ago, this group of people (the Maori) lived on a particular piece of land that is now being regarded as China (Manying, 2013). It is believed that the Maori made a long journey by passing by Taiwan via the South Pacific to Aotearoa.  From China, the group travelled to Indonesia through Taiwan and the Philippines.  Over the past 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, Maori people migrated through Melanesia and reached Fiji approximately over 3500 years ago. Thereafter, they migrated from Fiji to Samoa and then proceeded to Marquesa after around 1000 years (Manying, 2013). Probably, that was the limit of their migration in the eastern region since it seems that about 1, 700 years back, they turned to the south-west region to Tahiti. From there, they proceeded to the Cook Islands and Aotearoa.

The ethnologists came up with the mythical Polynesian Kupe that they believed to have been in the year 925.  They depicted that the mythical Maori figure, Toi made a visit to New Zealand around the year 1150 (Hanson, 1989). In this case, the ‘Great Fleet’ is a crucial segment in the Maori Canoe tradition that exists to date. With this, the Maori have the belief that the Great fleet canoes set out from their mythical homeland of Hawaiki that is located in Central Polynesia that is regraded to be their ancestral home. The Great Fleet Canoes were; the Arawa, Aotea, Kurahaupo, Tainui, Horouata, Takitimu, Tokomaru, and Mataatua (Hanson, 1989).

An anthropologist by the name Thor Heyerdahl suggests that the arrival of the Polynesian people in the Pacific is linked to Movement from America rather than the East as contended by other researchers.  Thor Heyerdahl’s basis of the argument is that Kumara, the staple grown food produce of the Pre-European New Zealand Maori, comes from South America. Polynesians forbearers became the inhabitants of Bismarck archipelago, to the Eastern side of New Guniea about 30,000 years ago. They had a culture referred to as Lapita, which was characterized by earthenware pots, very colourful and distinctive.

The specific pottery was called Lapita Ware, subsequent to an Archeological site discovered in New Caledonia. The pottery first appearance took place in the course of the second millennium (Grouble, 1971). The pottery was traced through Melanesia. Lapita potters later formed part of the population in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. During the first millennium, various characteristics of the distinctive culture of Polynesians developed here. Usage of pottery seemed to extinct by the time New Zealand was identified. Other crafts like fish hooks took over. Such tools are mapped out to New Zealand from eastern Polynesia.

There is a contrary argument from an Anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl who argues that the Maori Migration was from America’s. The anthropologist differs from many scholars who have documented the Maori migration to be from the East. Heyerdahl makes an argument based on the Kumara (McLean, 2014). The Kumara was one of the famous staple crops before Europeans occupied New Zealand, and the origins of the crops are believed to be South America. He depicts that, 30,000 years ago, the forbearers of the Polynesians inhabited the Bismarck Archipelago area and extended up to the East of New Guinea. At the time there was the adoption of the Lapita culture that was famed for creating very beautiful, distinct and colourful earthware pots popularly referred to as the Lapita Ware after the discovery its discovery in New Caledonia (McLean, 2014). Lapita Ware made an appearance in the 1500s and was majorly adopted in Melanesia, East Samoa and New Caledonia (Grouble, 1971). These populations were also depicted to be the first inhabitants in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It was the place that the Polynesian culture was developed and by the time New Zealand was discovered, pottery use was no longer a part of the culture. It was overtaken by other forms of crafts such as the creation of stone fabricated adzes and the fishhooks that can be associated with the populations East Polynesia to New Zealand.

There is also the depiction that the eastward expansion of the Polynesian culture started from the Bismarck around 3500 years ago. However, there are no details to justify the migration, but it is depicted that some of the Polynesians did remain in the South Pacific. The other group migrated through Tahiti to reach areas in South America, and this marks the ancestry home of the Kumara (McLean, 2014). There are still uncertainties in regards to the approximate period in which the Polynesians settled in New Zealand. Various scholars have always differed on the dates, but the most famous arguments associate the migration to be between 950 and 1130 AD. There is the depiction that the first Polynesian settlement was located in the coastline of New Zealand based on the good climate. One of the areas was the east coast that is depicted to have a good climate for humans based on the temperate climatic conditions in the area (McLean, 2014). As the Polynesians settled in the area, they introduced their way of life and brought with them the Polynesian dog and rat. In New Zealand at the time, the most prominent animals were the flightless birds such as the Moa. These birds acted as a major source of food and clothing for the people, they were hunted for their meat and feathers, and people also ate their eggs. Moreover, due to the strength of their bones, they were applied in the fabrication of artifacts (McLean, 2014). Most of these birds were available in the Southern Island and comprised of various species. They included turkeys, the upland moa, giant Moa, the heavy-footed Moa and other birds that would be up to 3.7 meters tall and some could even weigh up to 200 kilograms.

Based on the various theories that were presented by the various anthropologists, researchers and scholars, the “great fleet” theory would be considered as the most reasonable among them. While explaining this theory, European scholars argue that despite the various flaws in the Polynesian traditions, there are various truths behind the theory. One of the dominant aspects was the similarities with the Hawaiian traditions. In seeking the similar elements of Maori and Hawaii traditions, the researchers sourced the various traditional elements from varied sources and made sure that they are well aligned with the genealogies that are crucial to give a time frame of events (Hanson, 1989). Formander Smith and others, used this method in reconstructing the migrations of the Polynesians, thus tracing them to an ancient homeland in India. Smith used the Formander method to combine disparate traditions from several parts of New Zealand and other parts of Polynesia, hence deriving the “Great Fleet” hypothesis. He examined the genealogies of several tribes and came up with a set of precise dates for the Great Fleet and the explores that he and others posited as having paved the way for the fleet (Hanson, 1989).

The “Great Fleet” hypothesis won general approval, its supporters include the respected Maori ethnologists by the name Te Rangi Hiroa, and he was taught in New Zealand schools. However, the hypothesis was effectively demolished in the 1960s by David Simmons, an ethnologist who proved that it was derived from an indiscriminate and incomplete study of Maori traditions as recorded in the 19th century. Simmons also asserted that some of these migrations might have been travelled within New Zealand. Hence, the best explanation of the Maori’s origin is that, in 1350 AD, a “great fleet” of seven canoes, made way from Tahiti together and were used to bring the Maori to New Zealand (Sorrenson, 2013). The Maori having more advanced agricultural skills, were able to destroy the Moriori.

Conclusion

The issue of the origins of the Maori still remains a controversy based on the various hypothesis that has been developed. In this, the origins of the Maori are associated with the various areas across the globe such as India, Americas, China, Egypt and Greece, among others. However, most of these theories remain fallacies or fantastical because they cannot be proven by research. Upon arrival in New Zealand, the European settlers associated the origins of the Maori to be South-East Asia because of the similar traditions and physical appearances with the Polynesians. It has made it one of the prominent hypothesis developed by the various researchers. The ‘great fleet’ theory developed by European scholars remains the main dominant theory for the Maori migration into New Zealand. It is evidenced by the various sources and the presence of certain elements of Maori traditions in Hawaii traditions in spite of cultural erosion from generation to generation