12. What Maori oral evidence exists in New Zealand suggesting human habitation over two thousand years ago? (Part 1)

What are the sources of evidence?

1.      Māori Oral History Evidence Continues

Observations on Pre-Polynesian Inhabitation

J.S. Polack

J.S. Polack, an Englishman who arrived in New Zealand in 1831, became fluent in Te Reo Māori and published two books: New Zealand: Being a Narrative of Travels and Adventures (Vols. I and II, 1838) and Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders (1840). His writings covered a wide range of topics related to the Māori people, including references to pre-Māori inhabitants.

John Macmillan Brown

John Macmillan Brown, a Scottish academic who arrived in New Zealand in 1874, served as a Professor of English and Classics at Canterbury College. In 1907, he published Māori and Polynesian: Their Origins and Cultures, in which he documented Māori accounts mentioning "fair-headed and fair-skinned" people who lived in New Zealand before the first Polynesians arrived.

William Colenso

William Colenso, a botanist and explorer fluent in Te Reo Māori, published On the Māori Races in 1868, arguing that the first "Māori" were remnants of an ancient race.

Pre-Polynesian Settlers

Many Māori people speak of Waitaha, Tūrehu, and Patupaiarehe as fair-skinned pre-Polynesian inhabitants of New Zealand.

The Rangitāne people, originally part of Ngāti Māmoe, included in their Treaty of Waitangi submission that their ancestors had intermarried with pre-Polynesian inhabitants. Furthermore, Ngāi Tahu states:

“Waitaha were the first people of Te Waipounamu, journeying here aboard the Uruao waka. They were followed by the migrations of Ngāti Māmoe and, finally, Ngāi Tahu. By the mid-18th century, through warfare, intermarriage, and political alliances, a common allegiance was formed.”

What are some examples you may know suggesting the possible presence of pre-Polynesian inhabitants in New Zealand?

THE EVIDENCE continues in the next Blog.