Wednesday, December 29, 2010

moon in maori shadow

Is it news that they think they have timed when maori arrived on these islands?
"High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia" - The results indicate New Zealand was first colonised by humans between 1210 and 1385 AD.

Apparentlty it is - especially for moon
AUT University History Professor, Paul Moon said the study might have "far-reaching implications for Maori oral history".
Maori oral histories which recall lists of ancestors have been used to date the first arrival in New Zealand as early as 800 AD, Dr Moon said.
"If these Maori whakapapa [genealogies] are out by over five hundred years, then this must raise questions about their reliability.
"If Maori reached New Zealand waters just 300 years before the first Europeans, some people might also start to reconsider the idea of Maori being indigenous. It could be interpreted as a different type of 'indigenous' from the sort that applies to peoples who inhabited countries exclusively for thousands of years. This would be an unfortunate conclusion to draw, but is something that might have to be faced."
What a load of bullshit those paragraphs are - moon doesn't have a clue what whakapapa says. This - trying to unpack whakapapa and imprint it upon some arbitary pakeha historical line - is bogus and up there with percy smith and his fraudulent great fleet myths used to further the colonists aims. And as for the redefinition of indigenous by moon - it tells us all we need to know about him and none of it is good.

IMO the true history of when and where maori arrived is known - contained within whakapapa - there are no discrepancies, no misunderstandings, no mix up of events or their significance. While an inquiring mind is deliberately pretending to be open, it will never see or hear the truth and even if it does, it won't recognise it - but that doesn't mean the truth is not there. These studies and their dubious intrepretations are another form of colonisation - they want to own all of our ideas and beliefs and fit them into their narrow, constricted worldview - but they cannot win - the ideas they slavishly follow are unnatural.

As justin on Te Karere Ipurangi says
And there is Moon at the ready to yet again shit on Maori. Moon needs to ask himself this question. Other than his ever dying quest to expose myth….that is to say, the way scientific, math and historical data are translated into everyday speak….in Maori cultural history, what other contribution to the pool of knowledge has he brought to the table?
The findings from this study are myth Mr Moon, they are interpretations of data into a human story, and its not the data that is flawed, it is your interpretation of their interpretation that is the thing that is flawed.
...That is essentially the issue at hand here. All those people groups are then left out of receiving such a prestigious title of being indigenous. Because they were never first into an area, basically consuming that area then learning to live in balance with it, then being colonised themselves, the only title that many of these groups have been left with those of invaders, colonisers, pillagers and immigrants.
That’s the central core issue with Pakeha myth makers like Moon, and it doesn’t take a psychic to detect this feeling of inferiority through most of what he has to say concerning his interpretation of Maori history. He has sadly joined the line of Pakeha trying to write themselves into a more important role in the history of Te Ika a Maui me tona Waka.
Well said justin.

2 comments:

Ana said...

Tautoko Moon is an egg

Anonymous said...

Maragret Mutu does a good job of challenging Paul Moon

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/professors-discuss-maori-migration-research-6-53-video-3988637