- MD
38: The first ones
This is written not as an anthropologist would, exhaustively and in minute detail, but simply as a reflection of stories told by those who claim to know the races that existed beforehand. It is more of an anecdotal investigation of accepted Maori lore. In fact it cannot be accurately analysed by an archaeologist or anthropologist due to the obvious lack of proof by which to come to any conclusion. It is by no means compete as all that is told comes from the past, and others have different stories. Interpretations of words occur within old tribal groups so some will say the interperetations are wrong and others will say they are right. Let's just say the purpose is the common interpretation and the obvious conflict of interpretation.
Most names of the earliest inhabitants fall into two groups.
What Maori say
What Waitaha say from the song of Waitaha (produced long after all this information was available)
Maori versions:
Patupaiarehe - The name means ‘those expert with a wooden club’
Turehu - The name means to ‘fight with or distain of ones who played the flute’. A derogatory term Maori used in referring to them. Turehu taught Maori about the flute apparently. My guess is that the Turehu were the ones who were the thorn in Maori’s side longer than any of the other original Tangata Whenua
Urukehu - The name means ‘Hair that is red’
Kiri-puwhero - The names means ‘Skin that is red’
Turehu: This group is split into another three groups...
Pakepakeha The names mans stubborn white people (later to mean foreigners)
Maruiwi The name means the descendants of the Gods of the Sea. They came from Hawaiiki around the time of Toi around 1000 AD – (possibly left behind when Toi returned?)
Ngati-Hotu The name means ‘people of the dawn’ Originating in Taupo and referred to as ‘fairy people’. They are also regarded as the Patupaiarehe who are regarded as tall also as Urukehu who are short.
Confused yet? The answer is that if Maori can’t get their stories right there is no hope of knowing the truth of who was who. However, if we can still prove the existence of ‘a’ group of tall ones with red hair existed, how tall they actually were, and where they originated from (DNA) – therefore what they likely looked like, especially as there are talented people who can produce likely faces from a skull – at least there will be one unnamed group indentified officially.
Maori stories tell of an old race with flat faces and broad noses. These were the Melanesians, the few that got here long before the Polynesians. These ones were said to have come from a land much hotter and larger than Aotearoa.
Elsewhere some say Kiri-powhero had fair skin. What is certain is that there were people here that are different but they were so many different races mixed together the names have become missed up in the telling.
Waitaha versions:
Urukehu Came from the west. Were short/pale/had red or fair hair
Maoriori Came from the east. Tall/dark/black hair
Kiritea Came from the north. Short/White skin/black hair/ green eyes. Double fold over eyelid (which is normal except for Asian people). They were workers of stone.
Commonality:
Urukehu: Description is similar. These are not who we search for because both groups agree the Urukehu were short.
Maoriori: Regarded as tall and were chased out of NZ completely. They were dark and had black hair and we know this because of early photos of Moriori taken by Europeans. Mind you, the writers of the ‘song of Waitaha’ would have known this also at the time of writing. Being tall they might be connected.
Kiritea: Short with black hair. These are not the ones in the cave, although they did work with stone. The tall ones in the caves we know of all carved unusual stone inscriptions on rocks.
Kiri-puwhero: fair hair/reddishblack skin. They were part of Urukehu who are short and also fall under the umbrella of Patupaiairehe. Therefore Kiri-puwhero can’t be part of a short race and be tall. Yet they fall under the umbrella of Patupaiarehe who are supposed to be tall. Once again, Maori lore is confused through too much story telling depending on where in the country you were. (bach/crib – if you get the idea)
Then there is the Kāhui Tipua...
Our search:
There are three locations where the tall ones skeletons exist, and all have or had unusual stonework, inscriptions and rock carving nearby that was unlike early Maori or anyone since. That is because they were here long before Maori. It may, in fact, be that the ones we will reveal will have DNA matching with the Moriori, who are tall, but have black hair. Certainly, their rock carving is more akin to that found in Matira and Karuni. If you read Post No. 36 about the Ngati Hotu you will see something old referring to the Taupo region that suggested the Moriori were, in fact, the tangata Whenua.
One thing is for sure, it is an absolute and indisputable. No group, Maori, Waitaha or modern NZ researchers, archaeologists, or anthropologists have got it accurate. The tall ones are supposed to be workers of stone and have red hair. Yet all workers of stone seem to be short according to Maori and Waitaha. Patupaiarehe worked with wood, they lived in the trees - they hated light. Any group who only came out at night would die of certain deficiencies, so we know those stories are also untrue from the human evolutionary perspective. The legend of the Patupaiarehe might have been referring to the ‘spirits’ of these people as we know that Maori are afraid of spirits. But I believe the Patupaiarehe were once a real people, living outdoors, who were tall, apt with weapons if that was needed and were fair skinned. The stories about their skill with wooden patu’s would have come from early fights were Maori lost to a formidable foe. When the Patupaiarehe were finally defeated the spiritual thinking of the Maori kept the legend alive and turned what was flesh and blood into the legend of fearsome spirits of the mist, luring in victims with the haunting spell of their bone and wood flutes. In every legend there is some small portion of truth.
Our theory, until proven otherwise, is that all those listed above did exist in some shape or form (pun intended) but in small groups, in scattered areas, over a long period of time. That time allowed some intermarriage and new groups occurred so that when the first Polynesian explorers arrived they saw many distinct groups, yet none were warring with each other. When the religious migrations occurred around 1280AD, the aggressive form of Polynesian psyche was what pushed them into the hills and eventually into extinction. That’s not a slight on Maori, it’s just the way Maori were just as early Europeans were the way they were. This is not about race but revealing the truth of who was here first. If some make it about race that will reveal all you need to know.
Since beginning this blog, we have heard from the usual people you will have read about, but more importantly, many who are unknown on the internet, many who are Maori and also have either information, evidence or both but are too afraid to share it. I say they are more important only because it proves a growing ground swell is ready to be revealed when, and only when, some definitive proof is produced; it can no longer be shutdown and a call for the truth to be brought to light will reverberate like a shout in a canyon (gosh, I sound all poetic now).
To date there has been too much conjecture simply based on stone structures as we have said earlier and I take as neutral a stance as I can on those things. But what is needed is authentic physical proof of a people that existed before Maori, who are both male and female in a large group, all much taller than any Maori, and are of a stature that all NZ experts say do not exist. How will some Archeologists react to an 8’ skeleton, just one of a whole group, all ‘giants’ compared to us? Then the information, but not the location, needs to be made available worldwide to anyone who asks and includes every form of media and includes copies of actual DNA and carbon dating.
Personally I am so frustrated at how slow this has all been. I’m also anxious that we may not find what we expect, even with the evidence pointing to a closure of something no one wants to be uncovered, that is not on any public recording as an archaeological find, and is even denied officially. But the delays have allowed me to learn, discover more about things I never knew existed. Some days produce doubt, but last week a single sentence (I can't explain what I mean by that yet but one day I will) proved what we have is real - at least to us. Now all we have to do is convince you guys. We won't do that just with words...we'll do it with clear modern-media evidence.
