MD
- Jan 25, 2019

Sidestep: Moa (the red feathers)

When Europeans first discovered large bird bones the Maori did not know what they were. But when told they belonged to a large flightless bird, the Europeans called it 'moa', as the Polynesian word for many types of bird was Moa. However, An old Maori chief, Urupeni Puhara, was recorded as saying: “The Moa was not the name by which the great bird that lived in this country was known to my ancestors. The name was Te Kura or the red bird." This cannot be right as the name Te Kura means 'the red' and not 'red bird'. It should be Te Kura Manu. In fact the (old word) for 'kura' means red feathers. So Te Kura, as mentioned by Urepeni, correctly means 'the red feathers'. While Maori could not remember the moa some 400 years after they had all been killed, they still had stories of them. In 1838 a chap by the name of J Polack was shown larges bones with the natives saying in times long past these birds existed and were a food source. Some suggestion exists that small bush moa existed in remote parts of Fiordland. Old records reveal that sealers saw some as far back as 1820 and Maori also said they existed down there in the far south.

Others have called this bird the Kura nui and it seems depending on who you talk to and when the stories among Maori differ. Here is the article we did on that name in 2017 - http://tangatawhenua16.wixsite.com/the-first-ones-blog/single-post/2018/10/31/Sidestep-The-Kura-nui

Most believed the moa was related to the kiwi. However, its closet relative is a flying bird from South America - the tinamous. The Kiwi's ancient ancestor is more related to the Emu in Australia. Both had a flying relative at one time, just like the tinamous from South America. Moa are not so much tall as long, and generally the moa's head was held not much far above the level of it's back but it could hold it much higher when needed. This is true of most of the types of moa who have large bone 'necks' of the femur, and posture would have been like the Australian cassowary, according to most (yet here we have a picture showing a different pose for a cassowary; a pose that 'experts' say the moa could not possibly manage! Nothing like a bit of evidence to prove the experts wrong!) . However, the bush moa is likely the only one that stood more erect as the bone structure may hint at.

Tinamous Moa Cassowary Cassowary Bush Moa

When feathers were found on a moa leg in a dry cave they were a reddish brown (hence Te Kura was correct) and may have been tipped with white or black. Feathers have been found with a yellowish central stripe, dark grey with white tips, white with grey, and yellow brown.

We did a previous article on the moa which is worth reading - as much for the possible Maori account of dogs being attacked by a large Moa. The fact their necks were more horizontal than previously thought may make sense in this account of the Kura nui link above.

You may have already know our mission is to dig out a filled cave entrance to find 8' human pre-Polynesian skeletons that were covered up, not for cultural reasons, but for political reasons (after all it would be very embarrassing to produce evidence of a race here before the Polynesians arrived). Why this needs to be done and is important, is because there are lots of stories, or rumors, of people finding tall skeletons and artifacts that are not Maori and being told to destroy them. Well, not all those stories are old - I want to reveal that someone I know found a 7'+ skeleton with a stone orb beside it (not the first stone orb found in the area either!). Archaeologists and Iwi were called in and said the skeleton was "pre-Polynesian" (specific words) and it was unceremoniously placed in a steel container and the area bulldozed over as if nothing happened. However, when a Maori kumara pit was uncovered soon afterward they shut the site down for two weeks. The names of those involved, dates, times and results are all recorded and will be produced once our find is out and it cannot be shut down, so then people have to acknowledge others were here before the Polynesians. It's a bloody crime what archaeologists and iwi have done to old evidence just to keep the (legally appointed) title of Tangata Whenua tightly held so true ancient history can be suppressed and hide the truth from the public. They will be publicly named and shamed one day - and if I had my way; prosecuted. There is much more to be revealed yet, and more names than just that one story believe me, it's all waiting for the right time. But until physical evidence is finally produced to the world that is finally accepted, non of that can happen.

Today's post is the second article on the moa because you know from the last post that we found bones in the fill brought in to seal the cave entrance. There were two such bones (we know of) just above the rock layer and in the clay, so wherever they dug the clay from once held a full bush moa skeleton. A tibia (broken) and a whole femur - both calcified and in perfect condition. There was also one gizzard stone. This site is not on DOC land and is not a recorded 'archaeological' site, nor an assumed one; it is just a phreatic tube proven to be a dump site for soil and rocks according to anything on official record(!) In that regard they belong to those who found them. The end plan is to gift them to a museum, or a local display place, once we complete our task.

The photos below show where they were found, each from a progressive dig. Will we find more?