From the news archives 138 years ago: Tiki in a Maori Charnel House - General Tiki

CN Club Nouméa Member Wanganui Joined: May 03, 2010 Posts: 459	CN Club Nouméa Posted posted on Wed, Nov 16, 2011 3:05 PM As I said; "there may have been exceptions to the rule". Incidentally, I only just looked up Komohana's link to the site on "Ancient Celtic and Viking New Zealand". That site is classic fruitcake stuff. The whole tone of the writing verges on hysterical: "Oh yes you didn't realise...";"Oh yes it did happen"; any my personal favourite - "As of Late August 2000. Maori are now claiming, even in parliament, that they are suffering from "post-colonisation trauma" and this is the justifiable reason that they bash their children to death!". It would take me pages of writing to thoroughly dismantle that link, but there has long been a certain mentality among a certain portion of Pakeha society here that this page typifies. Basically their line of thought goes "well, those Maoris did terrible things back in their day, so it's only right that they were colonised by us civilized Europeans, and anyway, were the Maori REALLY the first occupants of New Zealand? What about the Moriori? Maybe those Maoris had it coming for all those awful things they did." So what about the Moriori? Well, firstly, they lived in the Chatham Islands, an isolated archipelago that is over 500 miles off the coast of New Zealand. Secondly, the 500 or so North Island Maori who invaded the Chathams in 1835 and massacred and enslaved the Moriori were transported there on a British ship, and they used European firearms as well as traditional weapons to carry out their deeds. It could be argued that the event would not have happened had it not been for Europeans facilitating it. Such people have a reductionist view of history with a high level of blame-shifting which does not square with historical details that they prefer to overlook. My hope is that one day, New Zealand society will reach a level of mutual understanding where people will no longer indulge in this sort of thinking. CN Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas ! [ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:09 ] [ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:10 ] [ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:25 ] [ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:36 ]

As I said; "there may have been exceptions to the rule".

Incidentally, I only just looked up Komohana's link to the site on "Ancient Celtic and Viking New Zealand". That site is classic fruitcake stuff. The whole tone of the writing verges on hysterical: "Oh yes you didn't realise...";"Oh yes it did happen"; any my personal favourite - "As of Late August 2000. Maori are now claiming, even in parliament, that they are suffering from "post-colonisation trauma" and this is the justifiable reason that they bash their children to death!".

It would take me pages of writing to thoroughly dismantle that link, but there has long been a certain mentality among a certain portion of Pakeha society here that this page typifies. Basically their line of thought goes "well, those Maoris did terrible things back in their day, so it's only right that they were colonised by us civilized Europeans, and anyway, were the Maori REALLY the first occupants of New Zealand? What about the Moriori? Maybe those Maoris had it coming for all those awful things they did."

So what about the Moriori? Well, firstly, they lived in the Chatham Islands, an isolated archipelago that is over 500 miles off the coast of New Zealand. Secondly, the 500 or so North Island Maori who invaded the Chathams in 1835 and massacred and enslaved the Moriori were transported there on a British ship, and they used European firearms as well as traditional weapons to carry out their deeds. It could be argued that the event would not have happened had it not been for Europeans facilitating it.

Such people have a reductionist view of history with a high level of blame-shifting which does not square with historical details that they prefer to overlook. My hope is that one day, New Zealand society will reach a level of mutual understanding where people will no longer indulge in this sort of thinking.

Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas !

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:09 ]

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:10 ]

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:25 ]

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-11-16 15:36 ]

Post #614240 by Club Nouméa on Wed, Nov 16, 2011 3:05 PM