So here we are in the last days of our New Zealand travels. We just finished watching the movie Whale Rider with a few students and remembered that we have not made an important blog entry - a short history of NZ!
Who was original?
In the distant past, present day New Zealand was part of a large continent called Gondwana, which broke up into present day Africa, South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica. Debate continues as to what life presently in New Zealand was present on Gondwana, however humans were not one of them.
Who came here first?
Polynesian voyagers first discovered the remote islands of the east and south Pacific. Archeology has shown that the ancestors of Maori and other Polynesian people sailed into the Pacific from the west about 3,000 years ago. New Zealand was one of the last places they found - about 500 years before European "discovery". So, really the history here is very recent.
What is the Maori story that explains the land?
Some Maori legends say that the South Island of New Zealand is Te Waka-a-Maui (the canoe of Maui), although today it is better known at Te Wai Pounamu (greenstone water). Maui was a resourceful person of long ago, credited with finding and fishing up many islands in the Pacific.
Maui is said to have stood on the South Island and fished up the North Island with a special fishhook made from his grandmother's jawbone. Thus the North Island is known as Te Ika-a-Maui (the fish of Maui). His brothers fought over the fish, tramping on it and forming a landscape of mountains and valleys.
Who "discovered" New Zealand?
Many people believe that Kupe was the first human to discover New Zealand. He arrived with his family in his great canoe, Matahoru. The wife of Kupe, Kuramaratini, named the new country, Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud).
Kupe explored Aotearoa and then he and his family then returned to their homeland in the tropical Pacific giving instructions for later voyagers about how to get there. Polynesian voyagers navigated by the stars. When Maori ancestors arrived here they studied the southern skies and learned how constellations marked the season.
The Maori are the descendents of the original Polynesian explores. They developed a thorough knowledge of their environment. This enabled them to survive in a country very different from their tropical homeland. In the Maori belief system, all things are connected through whakapapa (geneology). Living creatures were named and classified in ways that reflected their nature and usefulness.
What about European Arrivals?
A few hundred years after the Maori settled Aotearoa, Abel Tasman encountered the Maori, but was fearful of setting foot in the newly discovered land. In 1769 Captain James Cook and crew sailed to New Zealand putting the islands on "the map". Within 50 years there was active emigration of Europeans to the country, which soon after became a territory of England.
Maori Koru Symbol
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Happy Birthday Brother Bill and Cousin Clare!
Happy Easter to all our friends and family!
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