Thread: Who were "" The original People? "" Maori word for those before Them.

The New Zealand colonisers before the arrival of any European Explorers were Peoples that had left their home islands somewhere in the South Pacific, probably around 1070AD. Now the word, or name, Maori, was used by these settlers to describe the Peoples they found in New Zealand when they arrived in 1070 AD. OK. So who were these people? And from whence did they come? And how long had they been in New Zealand before the arrival of the Polonesians.? Can it be proven that an earlier Culture existed in New Zealand, say by any artifacts, burials, customs taken up by the Polonesians or inter-marriage? Maybe the Hill Forts built by the Polonesian Peoples were first constructed to resist attacks from the Maori, or, the first Peoples? Where did I get this Thread from? Looking at Google sites, evaluating the information contained therein, some History from early New Zealand sources-- everything seems to suggest that the jury is still out on this one. westwind.

Well, they were probably aborigine, those are the only people I can think of who would have pre-dated the polynessians and also been in the area.

I very much doubt that any Australian indigenous people made the sea crossing to NZ.

I'm afraid that googling for pre-Maori occupation is a bit hit and miss at the moment. Someone has done some "research" and concluded that Greeks arrived before the Maori! There's a lot of rubbish to sort through.

But this research into rats is pretty good. Our research: Dating human arrival in New Zealand - Prehistoric Settlement Impacts - Ecosystem Process

A fairly strong indication that Maori arrival is more recent than previously thought. There are other lines of evidence coming together that the Moriori, who were previously thought to have got there first, didn't do so. So all the stuff that we were told when we were there in the mid 70s is also rubbish.

So the 'original people' either didn't exist at all or they are a reference to the communities that Maori came from or it's all mixed up from stories about Maori coming across earlier habitations where they thought there were none - but it was just another group of Maori who'd moved on.

Perhaps this may shed some light on the subject.

File:Polynesian Migration.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you enlarge the round map, you can see the migration patterns and aprox. dates of settlement.

That map is consistent with genetic evidence reported in a book by, I think, Jared Diamond (sorry for vagueness - do not remember the title, and not 100% sure it was JD). The migration route to populate Polynesia and New Zealand apparently was from mainland Asia through Taiwan.

The Maori were the first humans in NZ. No one lived here prior to 1100 to 1200 AD. There are, as always, lots of crackpots who make unsupported claims of earlier residents, but there is no credible evidence.

New Zealand had a large number of animals most suitable for human prey, which thrived until about 1350 AD, when they 'suddenly' went extinct. That is a good indication that humans had arrived just before that date. There are no credible archaeological evidences of earlier peoples, and no signs of hunting before then.

The sensible conclusion is no people before then.