Best. — Maori and Maruiwi. 435 



Art. XL VI. — Maori and Marniivi : Notes on the Original Inhabitants of 

 Neiv Zealand and their Culture ; on the Question of how that Cidtiire 

 affected the Later-coming Maori; and on the Existence in these Isles of 

 Customs, Arts, and Artifacts not traceable to Polynesia. 



By Elsdon Best, Hector Memorial Medallist. 

 [Mead before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 27th October, 1915.] 



The student of tlie history, customs, and arts of the Maori of New Zealand 

 must recognize the existence of some interesting problems connected with 

 those subjects. He knows the Maori to be a member of the far-spread 

 Polynesian race, speaking a dialect of the racial tongue. He knows that 

 the Maori came to these isles from Polynesia in past times, and that he 

 kept up communication with the northern isles apparentlj" for some cen- 

 turies. He also knows that the natives of those far-scattered groups and 

 lone islands were a fairly homogeneous folk in regard to their various arts 

 and customs. But when examining those of the natives of New Zealand 

 he must necessarily be impressed by the fact that in these islands there 

 existed certain customs, implements, and arts not traceable, apparently, 

 to the kindred peoples of Polynesia. It is the desire of the writer to 

 draw attention to some of these discrepant features, and to throw thereon 

 such small rays of light as may be gathered from observation and native 

 tradition. 



In the first place, it may be stated that no attempt will be made in this 

 brief paper to xiphoid any special theories as to origins, or to make arbitrary 

 remarks on any of the debatable subjects discussed herein. There is by no 

 means sufficient evidence available to justify any person in assuming such 

 an attitude. The small amount of such evidence here brought forward 

 may enhance to some extent the interest of these matters, and serve to 

 direct attention to some hitherto unexplored fields of inquiry. 



The Original Inhabitants of New Zealand : Their Origin, Physical 



Peculiarities, and Culture. 



The amount of information available under the above heading is, 

 unfortunately, very limited, and soon quoted. 



According to Maori tradition, the first inhabitants of New Zealand 

 were a people of unknown origin, whose racial or tribal name, if any, has 

 not been preserved. The Maori knows them as Maruiwi, which name is 

 said to have been not a tribal one, but merely that of one of their 

 chiefs at the time when the Maori from eastern Polynesia arrived on these 

 shores. The first of these Maori settlers are shown in tradition to have 

 reached New Zealand twenty-eight to thirty generations ago. At that 

 time the Maruiwi folk were occupying many portions of the North Island. 

 They were the descendants of castaways who had reached these shores in 

 past times, and landed on the Taranaki coast. They had been driven from 

 their own land by a westerly storm. Their home-land, according to the 

 accounts given by their descendants, was a hot country — a much warmer 

 land than this. In appearance these folk are said to have been tall and 

 slim-built, dark-skinned, having big or protuberant bones, flat-faced and 

 flat-nosed, with upturned nostrils. Their eyes were curiously restless, 

 and they had a habit of glancing sideways without turning the head. Their 

 hair in some cases stood upright, in others it was bushy. 



