Ancient Celtic NZ (2)

An easy way to determine how to use this term is to equate it's use with the modern term "Western". Our current lifestyle is associated with our belonging to the "Western Society" and we are often generically termed "Westerners", yet there are many variations of culture within this broad classification. The Western civilisation is generally associated with a strong European influence based on cultures from Europe.

The terms Celt and Celtic are also associated with diverse peoples having a common overlay of ancient European / Caucasian influence.

Martin Doutre's book, "Ancient Celtic New Zealand", suggests strongly that the ancient peoples who inhabited these shores before the Maori arrived, had the knowledge and culture of folk with a kindred "Celtic" civilisation. This extended to stonework and standing stones, the working of stone, artstyles (from which current Maori styles appear to have developed along with other contributions), petroglyphs and possibly even into language.

If this seems strange, consider how our NZ European culture is still similar to our homeland European culture, yet is quite different after only 150 years. Depending where your forefathers came from in Europe you may have changed language (eg from Irish [English or Gaelic], Scottish [Doric, English, Gaelic, Scots], Welsh [Welsh/English], Cornish [Kernow/English], a range of English dialects, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, German [German/Bohemian/Swiss/Austrian], Dutch, French, Italian, Croatian, Serbian, Greek, Spanish etc......) to communicate in the English language - well the increasingly different New Zealand variant.

I can recall Dutch immigrant children being strapped for speaking Dutch in the school play grounds during the 1950's. My folks can remember their parents telling of being similarly admonished for speaking Gaelic at school. I daresay this also happened for people who had other languages as well. So Maori did not have this problem to themselves, but the difference seems to be that these other groups got on and integrated and worked hard to assimilate the English "trading" language. Everyone had the same opportunity and access to education. (Having written this, it appears some unfortunates didn't).

Other features that have changed in "our" version of Western society include our outdoors lifestyle, our own developing dialects (regional pronunciation of English from the Southland burr to the Northland Maorified English). Even our values and understanding of knowledge (or lack of knowledge).

Just as there are American, Australian, South African and other variations in the Western society so to there were differences in the Celtic society. It is easy for both sides to argue. For one the similarities may indicate the same "Celtic" society was here; the other side may say there are sufficient differences to indicate there was no link and whatever was here before, was not Celtic.

The book Ancient Celtic New Zealand uses the term Celtic because there are such strong similarities between artifacts, design and structures, here in NZ that some link with the old world is very highly probable.

There are differences, but these may be no more than one would expect after several centuries of change and or isolation. Look how much our own Western society has changed since our European forefathers arrived on these shores in a little over 5 generations. Consider then the changes that have occurred in the NZ landscape in the past 5000-1000 years.

The book covers specifically features in the Maunganui Bluff, Waitapu, Waipoua region of Northland and draws links with features found here to features of the old world. It covers the embargoes and machinations of intrigue DOC, the Government and Iwi get up to to prevent our real history being "open".

NZ archaeology is in a very sad state. Artifacts are hidden or deliberately destroyed, handed to iwi to be disposed of as they see fit. No carbon dating or DNA testing is done before items are handed back. or at least no results are released if they at all contradict the "official" attiudes. To do so is now considered culturally insensitive. Yet modern authorities ride rough shod over modern cultural attitudes to conduct post-mortems and carve our forms up as if they own our very bodies.

Maori were not the first here, and therefore not the indigenous people. Even their own tribal histories acknowledge the previous peoples. Everyone here is an immigrant and none should have any primature over any other group. The Treaty of Waitangi and the Labour Government that imposed it's recognition are largely to blame for the social, economic and the fundamental malaise prevalent in modern New Zealand society. Something that has been continued by both the Labour and National party policies. There are small groups of people with significant power from both European and Maori sources that stand to benefit and are manipulating finance, land ownership and access, public attitudes and society to their own ends. Yes there are still people with a dynastic view of power, property and geneaology. It is what will happen now and in the next generations that are important today.

The past is history and we should not be living under conditions imposed by the past. Yet the very demons that inflicted so much damage on Maori society; utu, cannibalism, tribal conflict and the like, now afflict us today (unto the 7th generation). If people were aware of the history of all peoples that dwelt here they would learn to move on and live for the future unbridled by fantacies of tribal renaisance and racial hatred of Europeans and denial of the massive improvements to life that the modern European brought with them.

In these comments, the extremely derogatory term "Pakeha" has deliberately not been used in place of "European". Any self respecting person of Western origin cannot possibly condone the use of the word "Pakeha". It equates in insult, to the use of the word "nigger", used to describe someone of dark complexion and now fortunately out of favour. How Europeans have been brainwashed into accepting the use of "Pakeha", such that they use it about themselves, is perplexing to say the least. There are a few alternative meanings but none are what the current European is duped into believing is acceptable.

What does the book do for our nation? (And other books of a similar ilk).

You will drive around New Zealand with a new set of lenses on your eyes. As if a veil has been removed from in front of your face.

The book is also an open appraisal of "things" in New Zealand that urgently need more exposure and open, honest evaluation! It is definately not racist.

Another aspect is "why did we throw away the British weights and measurement system?" There is a fascinating insight into how incredible and ancient this system is. Use of the metric system is like trying to view the universe through a window painted over with grey paint and covered by thick jute curtain. The old British system is just amazing and Martin's next book develops this even further. It's not British, it is simply Ancient, sophisticated and entirely relevant to the planet earth and it's dimensional relationships within the universe.

Archaeologists and interested persons should be free to conduct unhindered professional investigation into aspects of New Zealand history. DNA testing of the ethnic make up of people and human remains that abound in caves, graves, sand-dunes, swamps and umu (in ground ovens). Also those bits and pieces such as heads that are returned from overseas collections. Open release of carbon dating data of dwellings, artifacts, ancient sites and the like from around New Zealand. Access to great tracts of land should not be "closed off" by agressive thugs, backed up by tribunals the courts and politicians.

If certain folk are concerned about a few remains from the past and repatriation from overseas museums for cultural reasons, why are they not also making amends for the tens or hundreds of thousands of remains of cannibalised folk that are hidden away in caves to cover up the hiddeous past. Note the split leg bones and caved in craniums of the cannibal victims below.

Exactly who were these folk? Patupaiarehe? Turehu? What is their DNA? Who were they descended from? Ancient Celts, Phonecians, Arabs, Dravidians? Their remains and ancient stone buildings are throughout parts of NZ. But illumination about these folk and their artifacts are aggressively being destroyed, hidden and covered over. By DOC, Iwi and developers who in many cases may be unaware of the real significance of many objects.
In other instances the actions may be deliberate covert activities.

(So Maori can charge what they like for people wanting to go up Mt. Tarawera because they "own it". Perhaps the "owners" may be forced to pay for the distruption and damage that may occur when it erupts again. I wonder what the insurance premiums for public liability cover would be?)

Here are a few snippets, not covered in Martin Doutre's book but which should intrigue you about the strange and ancient country in which we dwell. It would be nice if the following snippets could be proven through the constructive use of archaeology. Unfortunately as artifacts and locations are destoryed, or locked up by various means, all New Zealanders are deprived of truthful knowledge about NZ's past history. These "snippets" are mentioned, deliberately in a vague form to protect various sites and contributors. Contributions are accepted at face value, and often the veracity cannot be checked. The inclusion of such on here does not infer that each item has been investigated in anyway, nor does it infer the webmaster or anyone accepts the contribution unconditionally as fact. What we are concerned about, is that for various reasons there are so many stories of strange artifacts, intrigue, bullying, missinformation, denial, apparent coverups and the like.

Scottish settlement in the 12th century. Around 1120-23. For a more detailed overview refer to internet we-page http://www.kilts.co.nz/mhorruairidh.htm

The saga of Taine Ruaridh Mhor is about a family banished from Scotland and forcibly deposited in South Westland during the reign of King Alexander I of Scotland. Two groups, one in the South Island and one in the North Island were isolated from kinfolk for 8 generations before being found again by Viking voyagers in the 13th century. Some young men were taken "home" to Scotland to get wives and returned to NZ. Others stayed in Scotland. A Hamilton family is descended from those that remained in Scotland and eventually made their way back here in the early 1950's.

Graves under the road north of Greymouth. During realignment of the main coast road several miles north of Greymouth six unusual graves were uncovered.
The bodies were extremely old, being in a crumbling state, however they were very tall, with remnants of reddish hair (obviously very stained but unlike any black polynesian hair colouring), were buried in coffin shaped graves facing out to sea with their arms crossed over their chests. Local iwi knew nothing about them, DOC, the roading engineers and workmen and an archaeologist from Canterbury Museum decided to keep very quiet and rebury them in the foundations of the re-aligned road.

Tunnel under the Grey River. Who built the tunnel under the Grey river? Maori knew of the tunnel and used it but did not construct it. It was there before hand. Who dug it through the rock? To-day it is partially flooded and blocked by the the rail bridge butresses.

News report of find by (moose?*) hunter in South Westland. Reported on TV One news around 3 years ago and now said to be untraceable in TVone archives. Someone came upon what was thought to be a coastal settlement or building constructed from rock. Later written off as a natural rock formation by DOC. What if this was the remnant of the 12th century Scottish settlement? (It may also have been a remnant from some later 19th Century settlers, but who knows? View notes on the Viking method of establishing temporary accommodation by upending their longships. *Moose, gifted by Pres. Roosevelt of the USA, were introduced to NZ and were released in the Dusky sound area. Periodically sign is said to show they still survive in such an inhospitable area.

Stories of tall "giants" skeletons, some in full body armour. Reports come to light of caves containing thousands of skeletons and some dessicated/mummified bodies. Some have armour and European style weapons. A cave exposed by quarrying contained bodies of tall people (woman and youth?). The entrance subsequently dynamited and left to hide it's location. Why do these stories surface and not get followed up? It seems they are deliberately covered up!

Stories of wee folk, some also wearing armour. Stories abound in post European and pre-European times of the white fairy folk, the Patupaiarehe (known by other names as well). On an island in a cave somewhere one is wearing armour. In other places a landslide exposed a whole group incarcerated by a Taupo eruption and this was subsequently buried again by DOC to prevent news of it getting out.

Patu-pai-a-rehe. Some Maoris claim these are a figment of European imagination and were no more than fairy stories and vociferously deny they existed in reality. Other Maoris admit they are descended from Maori intermixing with such people, and furthermore that they were "normal" sized people. Fair skinned, blue eyed, fair to blonde haired and not European(!) and were still alive in pure form this century. Their descendants are still alive. Generally those that know the truth keep quiet about it. Those that are ignorant, deny they ever existed.

Mummies encased in Kauri gum resin. A cave that speleologists regularly visited ended in a pool. One year after a very dry season a visit indicated another channel where the pool had largely dried up. Investigation through the narrow channel and what was an underwater tunnel gave access to an inner chamber. In this chamber were funerary bones, and mummies preserved in completely encasing kauri gum. Local Maori knew nothing of them. Access now closed off by Tainui.

Missing standing stones. An area of standing stones(?), in columns up to 15 feet tall, surrounding a track in an area being prepared for forest planting. An ex-electricity dept. surveyor under contract to survey HT lines noticed the stones and was so taken by them he stopped his vehicle and investigated them. This was in the 1970's, the area is now in pines and there appears to be no sign of the stones. Were these bulldozed into the windrows on which the pines were planted in the late 70's or early 80's. To determine exactly what these stones were, they need to be "found" again, as do many other stones lost somewhere adjacent to the Waikato River.

Petroglyphs on foreshore rocks. Non-Maori designs (acknowledged not to be Maori by the local Maori). Rocks are not same as other rocks on foreshore, are damaged and unpreserved. Subject to further sea damage every year.

DOC controlled land containing caves etc, completely remodelled by bulldozer. Whether Maori or non-Maori archaeological research may not ever be able to determine due to the vandalistic use of bulldozers. Action approved by DOC and local Iwi. Caves buried along with mummies, skeletons etc.

Stories of a river having hundreds of inscriptions on riverbed rocks. Non-Maori writing (acknowledged not to be Maori by the local Maori). Letters are of a currently unknown script on rocks that cover a significant part of the river bed. Too numerous to write down of photograph(?) even if permisson granted by DOC and local Maori iwi.

Ancient settlement became a slave hell hole. On the coast a place showing signs of stone buildings and walls, was later a place of horrific cannibal feasting, murder and imprisonment. Seers claim ancient Gaelic speaking spirits among other unfortunates still inhabit the place. Also spirits of people from earlier times who had a gutteral language - Waitaha? Location of 15 graves of Celtic spirits complaining about a lack of a headstone for their chief! At the very least this is a place known for genocide and cannibalism of Maori by Maori. A place of holocaust every bit as bad as, Auschwitz and other Nazi deathcamps, or the Stalinist progroms in Russia, or excesses of Pol Pot in Cambodia.

Pyramid hills. Why are some hills shaped like made made forms when surrounding hills look natural? Why are these hills on ley lines? There is the suggestion also that Big King, of the Three Kings, (a group of three small volcanic cones) in Auckland was modified into a step pyramid, probably by the earlier people that Maori used to call the "tangata whenua".

Tors with iron doors over caves. There are hills around where there are steel doors covering supposedly Maori burial caves. Understandable for protection but why is access denied to archaeologists or serious researchers when such sites are said not to hold Maori?

Stone walls and bulding remains galore in remote canyons in limestone country. Old pas and construction remnants said to have been built by the people before.

Stone forts and ramparts. Remains in the South Waikato limestone country. Old fortifications and constructions said to have been built by the people before.

Stones in unusual groups in unusual places. There by freaks of nature or by man's creation. Stones removed to build bridge butresses - movement authorised by local county without any concern - if Maori aren't claiming it destroy it.

Phoenician Pottery. Pottery found in recently erroded banks of stream on well used harbour. Written off by regional museum staff and auhtorities as, yes probably Mediterranean but obviously broken and cast out by modern European settler. Subsequently sent to Egypt for analysis. Result. Definately Phoenician. We all know pottery that ancient is often broken and shards are always collected and the object repaired if possible not thrown out. Not now and not in the 19th century either!

Access to "Maori monuments" denied. Locations marked on maps showing public access to monuments. Access denied by thugs. Farm and Public and private (but paper road access) Forest roads and "plantations" (of cannabis) protected by Maori in powerful 4WD vehicles armed with AK47 rifles. Other persons threatened and intimidated. Stone cities now on exclusively Maori land taken under Treaty Claim and access to archaeologists denied or access to data denied and placed under embargo until later this century.

Photographs destroyed. Photographic records of caves containing tall skeletons of 6'6" non-Maori destroyed when photographers accosted by Maoris who forcibly took cameras and removed film. They exposed to the sunlight these films plus all unexposed film as well. A film missed during this incident was later developed only to find that someone during the processing cycle had cut the film short of negatives and removed negatives and prints.

More Burial Caves bulldozed. Why did DOC and local Maori supervise the bulldozing over of burial caves containing tall non-Maori (pre-Maori) caucasian type skeletons?

Old fruit trees. In some places in Northland exist old fruiting trees that existed pre-modern European times. Maori say the trees were always there, even before they came. As the trees are not native to NZ and are not native to other Islands in the Pacific, from whence did they come and who brought them here originally?

Books removed from a small town library and said to have been burnt.. This reeks of the same philosophy as in the middle ages when the church burned many old libraries and hundreds of thousands of books in Europe. Is the same really happening here in NZ in "modern" times? Persons who remember reading the books and later went back to see them again learned the books had been removed and burnt because they were "untrue" and placed "Maori" in a bad light.
One of the stories in these early books written by early settlers is about a school day in the very early days.

More explorers. When did the Mauriyans (from India), the Arabs (from the Yemen), the phonecians (from which of their colonies), all visit NZ and how many settled here? Old tribes with a longer NZ history than Maori record such settlers in their oral history. Why are these not more openly investigated. Why when early 14th and 15th century European explorers to the Pacific and NZ write (yes, written observations) about the European looking natives in the region. They described them as red, fair and blonde haired with blue grey and Euopean coloured eyes, and fair to ruddy complexions (even sun burnt) with many others no darker than the olive complexioned mediterranean Europeans. It is even noted that those in elite positions seemed to be the fairest. Some of the darkest tribefolk are said to be descended from the darkest of folk from the Indian sub-continent. Who was he the Arabs subsequently called Sinbad the sailor? Did he visit the land we now know as New Zealand? Was he NZ's first noted visitor to go "Black Water rafting? If he saw and had a crewmember carried off by the extinct NZ Eagle (by skeletal evidence an enormous bird with a 10-12' (3-4metre) wingspan), then when was he here?

The NZ eagle obviously preyed on the various species of Moa (a large flightless bird), plus no doubt the kiwi, takahe, the Kakapo (a large ground parrot which is close to extinction), and other birds and possibly small people (and children). If the eagle preyed on "foodstocks" of the tanga whenua then it would be no wonder that they became extinct. The tanga whenua would have had to protect their food sources. After all, that is why the wolf, the bear, the lion, and eagles gradually disappeared from Europe. The eagle also for it's prized feathers. Note that these beasts and birds of prey all appear in European heraldry. We know people who fight such animals and birds all take part of the animal as trophies. The North American and South American Indians used eagle feathers (and gaudy parrot feathers too). They also used bear claws and wolf pelts. Africans also took lion and leopards teeth, pelts, and claws as trophies. So too in Europe, lions teeth, bear claws, boar tusks, and eagle feathers were used as trophies and as clan tokens, even to this day.

Strange that the post tangata whenua peoples don't have a mythology and a heraldry that includes the New Zealand eagle. Does this mean that they only arrived (or took over) after the eagle was extinct (yes) and therefore the only feathers they were able to use were those of flightless birds, or birds of limited flying ability, birds such as the kiwi, the Huia, the Kakapo, the Takahe, and of other birds. The eagle alas was not longer available for it's feathers or it's inclusion in heraldry. Even the Moa was almost totally gone, with on record only the odd rare specimen ever kept as a "pet".

The tales of Sinbad the sailor need re-visiting. Where are all the translations of the explorations of the Arab/Yemeni dhow Captains? What about the histories of the ancient Mauriyans from the India? A site worth visiting, that ventures in this direction can be located at http://www.newzealand.org.nz/alternative.htm

Some people get upset at the thought that British Celts may have been (were) here before Maori, and indeed, that we ever returned. What they have to realise is that the British Celt didn't originate in Britain. They were descended from Celtic folk that settled there from places to the east. These early folk traveled from the middle and near east across Northern Africa and Europe. In doing so they displaced people already living there. Kinfolk of these Celtic settlers also moved East. Where these folk encountered sea, they did not stop for seas were merely highways to the next lands. The Phonecians were widely travelled seamen and explorers and had control of sea travel until the Roman Empire finally gained total control of the mediterranean seaways. The Phonecians did not pass on the bulk of their nautical knowledge to the Romans. Rome eventually conquered the Phonecian trading settlements in Britain after defeating the Celtic navy. A navy which Romans described as being made up of large seagoing ships. Presumably these Celtic navies and Phonecian navies had either trade or competitive links. The far flung Phonecian and Celtic colonies were left to their own devices once Rome controlled and indeed destroyed their heartland cities, Carthage, Tyre and Sidon, and many others. The NZ settlement was abandoned to it's own devices.

One day at school in the early days..

"A young Maori girl had joined the class. She wanted to learn and get on in the world. One day a man, a Maori, arrived and forced his way into the classroom. He demanded the girl leave immediately. He said she was a slave and as such was unfit for learning. At first she stood her ground and said that now the British were in control the Maori slaves were under British protection and they were now free to do as they wanted to. The Maori man roared at the girl and pushing people aside dragged her screaming out of the classroom by her hair. The shocked class (any trauma counselling for them?) was stunned but after a while the screaming stopped in the distance. They continued their lessons till lunchtime.

At lunchtime the children usually sat down by the stream at the end of the field in which they grazed their horses. In those days horses were the only transport to school unless they walked. Unfortunately this was the day they saw, down by the stream, the Maori who had dragged the girl out of the class. He was also having lunch. A cannibal lunch. The girl was dead and he was feasting on her body."

Can you imagine the horror and trauma of the children? The sight of their friend, a poor innocent girl, her body broken and dismembered, partly charred and partly devoured by the cannibal who probably thought little of the event and less of the girl he had just butchered. When was this? How long ago and where? Well we won't go into that but to say it was after 1840; after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and in Northland. It was certainly not so long ago.

The curses of cannibalism will still be affecting the offspring and descendants of the cannibal to this very day. And in a sense it affects everyone else in this country too when another Maori or part-Maori murders another unfortunate victim. Most European people have forgiven the Maori such excesses but until some Maori learn to forgive themselves, change their attitudes and start to join modern society they will continue to reap the curses they bring upon themselves. And unfortunately it seems each incident in current times, such as rape or murder, hardens the hearts of many people in the community.
This is really sad.
(Back to Didn't)

This incident of the Maori schoolgirl is but one of thousands perpetrated by Maori against Maori. The Holocaust in NZ was not any event following the Treaty of Waitangi by European against Maori. A holocaust is where one group of people proceed with the intent to annihilate and enslave another race or group of people. Maori perpetrated holocausts regularly. Tribe against tribe. Maori against Turehu, Maori against Patu-pai-a-rehe, Maori against Waitaha, Maori against Moriori. Maori against those who were here before. Sadly the European settler arrived too late save those against whom the Maori perpetrated holocausts were successful!

European settlers NEVER took Maori as slaves. Early European vagabonds who became Pakeha Maori lived as Maori and took Maori ways and so did sometimes have slaves, but this was the exception. Many Pakeha Maori were themselves slaves of their Maori "hosts". A very few made it to a status in Maori society that they could have slaves of their own. Many were eventually eaten. However the post 1830 settler period did not introduce slavery. After 1840 the British laws freed the Maori who were enslaved to other Maori. The introduction of Christian values on life and the relationships of individuals, and the importance of respect for life, caused significant changes. Quite contrary values to the "Old Maori way" as is exampled by the story above. We should not confuse the European settlers with the vagabonds and escapees from Van Diemans Land or Botany Bay. These characters were anti-British, often with good reason because of the harsh conditions and treatments metted out to them by penal authorities.
When considering 19th century British adminstration deeds in relation to Maori in New Zealand, and some were by modern standards quite unacceptable, people should at the same time consider how the same authoritive administration system was treating Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Cornish and indeed their own "English" populations. In truth Maori were treated no worse at all. In reality their situation improved so rapidly that it could be more appropriate to say they received quite a favourable treatment by comparison. But this is all history now. Our forefathers were men of their day. We can't re-live their lives for them, and nor should we, and nor should we be made to. We should all live for now and the future.

Another story. One about a Maori princess from a village on the Auckland isthmus.

A tale about a Maori maiden.

A lovely young Maori princess was invited to a feast in her honour at a neighbouring village. She was warned not to go, but flattered that she had been invited to be the main guest at an important occasion she went anyway. When she arrived there was no place allocated for her to sit at the feast. When she asked why, she was shown to the (umu) oven and told she wasn't going to need a place. Her importance was that she was the main course of the feast. Plead as she might, it made no difference and she was pushed into the umu and cooked, and so took her place as the most important part of the feast.

The cannibals really seemed to take great delight in devouring a person alive, by carving chunks off the persons body and then gorging themselves while the person was forced to watch! To the cannibal this appears to have been an enormously entertaining method of insult. As one person said of stories collected and written in books held by Victoria University, and other institutions in this land (that's if these have not all been burnt or destroyed by now), "If you only believed 10% of what was written, your hair could still turn white overnight". The early settlers and soldiers simply wrote home what they saw and experienced. Indeed my own family has had the sad occasion to know of the recovery of the partly devoured body of a young girl, a close friend of the family, who had been killed by cannibals. How long ago? Only three generations before me.

Many are the old Maori stories of enslavement and terror, genocide and cannibalism - the real holocaust in New Zealand. Not the trumped up concept a current politician would have us believe.

There are tens of thousands of Maori alive today, who are only here because the European stabilised the country and stopped the cannibalism, and the incessant tribal warfare.

This site is not anti-Maori. It is simply pro-truth. Honest history is the retelling of what really happened. The current generations have nothing to fear providing they have learnt to forgive the past and live for today and for the future, with an understanding of the past. Those who dwell in the past reap the actions of the past and are enslaved by their own nightmares.

In case the problem of discussing cannibalism would make you think this is anti-Maori. Muse on the following tales in our own folk tales.
- What was the problem Hansel and Gretel faced in the hut in the deep forest? That's right a cannibalistic old witch!
- What about Little Red Riding Hood. Who was the wolf really? A talking wolf? No. So who was the person that was portrayed as the wolf? For certain he too was a cannibal.
- And what about the drawing of straws among shipwrecked sailors - to see who would sacrifice themselves as food for the others to survive. Oh you mean he who drew the short straw!. This was also the lot of the cabin boy too.
- There is also the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. The giants in this story were also cannibals, or at least eaters of humans.
There is no doubt that in many instances terrible cannibalistic actions did occur, but in our "European" society they, long, long ago, became aberrations, disgusting lapses in civilised behaviour, and were serious transgressions against the laws of God and humanity. For most European people alive today the curses associated with ancestors that were cannibals have long been worked through, but it's still too recent for many in NZ to avoid. A friend told of speaking to old Maori in the early 1950's who could recall eating human flesh even as late as 1940! Impossible, did I hear you say. Much like you I find this hard to accept, except that I also heard a Maori guide explain at the Tarawera Buried village in the late 1950's, that people at the time of the eruption, had to be careful to keep young children away from some of the old people, else they could end up in the umu (earth oven). Another story was that the Maori used to raise the "pale", and slave children to the age of seven as food. These pale children would have been descended from the Turehu or Patu-pai-a-rehe. However I believe the pale girls were generally prized for their beauty and for breeding, so it was the pale boys that may have tended to end up in the umu. This would have varied greatly from tribe to tribe as some tribes once still had far stronger tangata whenua bloodlines and indeed some of the chiefly lineage was almost pure tangata whenua (PatuPaiarehe, Turehu, Waitaha and Moriori. Many explorers recorded the paleness of the ruling families in the polynesian world.
Stories to frighten young children with, or true stories, but too hard to believe in these modern times? Whatever. Some folk in this country have to face up to the truths of the past, drop the ancestral worship, and move on.

Maori design: Celtic design. A book of ancient Celtic designs taken from ancient stone artifacts in Europe and Brittain, and records in "our" British/European history, was accused by Maori involved with current Maori political correctness, of having "stolen" Maori designs. Maori are trying to copyright and patent their designs. Whose designs? Ancient Celtic designs! Of course it is possible the Celtic designs and Maori designs both have another older common origin, but that still doesn't mean either cultural group "own" them. They simply used them, and some groups of modern humans still continue to use them. The Irish "Riverdance" show used celtic desuign and motifs. People have commented how they looked remarkably identical to so called "classical" Maori design.

Is the Haka really exclusively Maori? Old stories tell of the ancient Briton having had a similar dance. Some sources suggest such dances may have been performed in Scotland during some of the highland clearances. As challenges to the Lairds tacksmen and proctors that were forcing people out of their homes, and in times far earlier. In any case it is a most aggressive, rude craft and entirely offensive and unsatisfactory to use as a method for welcoming visitors to any country or culture, celtic or otherwise, including this country.

The term pakeha is one with a variety of meanings. Even if one of it's original meanings was reasonable, there are many others that make it one of the most derogatory terms by which you could refer to anyone. It has nothing to do with the meaning "white person". But in common usage with the common vocal inflexations (some of hate) it equates to the use of "Pommie bastard" for English, "Kraut" or "Boche" for German, "Frog" for French, "Nigger" for Negro and so on. Words change their meaning with usage, and the modern Maori usage of pakeha does not reflect it's possible innocent ancient meaning. New Zealanders that use it to refer to themselves are much like an Englishman using the term "pommie" about their ownself.

Tattooing was something done by many ancient cultures as well as Celts, as is proven by ancient mummies, Roman and Greek historians and other writers of the time. It is now highly probably that the so called Maori moko may have a much earlier origin and was inherited by the current polynesian peoples. Who from? Well we need to know, it certainly is confirmed that the spiral, the fern design, and the tiki are not uniquely polynesian but abound in Europe as well. And from periods long before the accepted modern discovery of these islands. There appears to be some significance in the moko designs that can be traced right back to "our" early European and mediterranean ancestors. Perhaps even further back to the early Aryan races, even Atlantis. The Urumchi head atop this article is thousands of years old and from a region in western China. The owner was "celtic" or at least of a people showing very strong celtic cultural links even down to the use of woven fabric with tartan design! There may be good reason that we are generally no longer burdened by the moko or carving of our visages. The bible is specific in stating we are not to carve our bodies (Lev. 19:28 "Do not cut yourselves for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.". Of course this has not been followed by everyone in modern times and many people do have tattoos. But facial tattoos are akin to placing a cultural and ancestral cage tightly around your being. You enslave yourself to the past and ancestors, to ancestral curses and to cultural attitudes that ensure you can never have the total freedom of choice of being a person in your own right. Bluntly you take on a savage countenance for the rest of your life. Even if you change your values, a full facial tattoo stops you from being acceptable to everyone you will meet during your travel through life. Many are the people who regret having tattoos. Usually they are able to wear clothes that obscure the offending tattoo and so can rejoin society and reclaim their person and acceptability in life.

The chin moko of Maori women, currently gaining some fashion following, IS NOT UNIQUE to Maori. In fact it was once quite common for womenfolk among peoples of the old world, especially those with a phonecian link! It was frowned on by Judeo-Christian and Islamic influences and so fell into disuse. As did facial and full body tattooing of males such as in the Pictish culture. As the cultural advantages of Christianity are neglected in our "modern" society, facial and body tattooing has seen a revival in NZ, and body tattooing is again being done more world-wide. A sad indictment of modern attitudes in modern times.

Cannibalism. In the Bible, Leviticus. Chap.26 verses 14 on refer to punishments for disobedience. Cannibalism of the flesh of sons and daughters (Lev.26:29) is one of the punishments. In fact, the general theme of eating the flesh of a fellow human, and of sons and daughters, is as a most severe punishment for transgressions against the word of God. It is a curse that lingers on for 7 generations and is a curse often renewed. Whether we believe the Biblical directives or not, it is easy to see just how much a curse, was cannibalism upon the Maori. Read "The Musket Wars" by R.G. Crosby, and other books such as "Pakeha Maori" by Trevor Bentley. Cannibalism, especially of consuming the offal organs and the brain, causes severe longterm intergenerational illnesses - a bit like eating cattle infected with "mad-cow" disease. Proper activity of the brain and thought is impaired. Click on web-site for another site on cannibalism in old NZ.

If you want to contribute to this page, and by the time you have read the book "Ancient Celtic New Zealand" you will have noticed anomalous features in your district, please add to the unofficial historical record of our nation. Not all anomalous features will be man made or modified but that shouldn't preclude open investigation.

Ancient NZ Historical Society.

A society to gather and collate ancient NZ archaeological and historical information and to ensure it is distributed widely is beinge formed. If you are in anyway interested, feel you could contribute, or have been doing private research in this topic, please consider joining (or at least contacting us) and sharing the historical and archaeological truth - as best we can determine what it may be. Recent events have highlighted there is a strong interest in the Ancient history of NZ.

Members will be kept apace with news through internet web-sites, e-mail and newsletters. This will be a national oganisation, as interest is obvious the length and breadth of the nation.

Write or e-mail us. Temporarily at "History"
or by smail-mail:
"History" c/- Mitchell, R D 2., Hamilton

The documentary shown on TV One at 8.30pm on Monday 12th September, Documentary New Zealand, included segments from interviews and discussions with authors Martin Doutre, Gary Cook and Barry Brailsford and others. This was made some time ago and finally made it to a scheduled programme time slot. Supposedly balanced between the official and alternative perspectives, a bias to the offical stance seemed very entrenched. Basically the official stance is, "we don't accept that there is anything that indicates anything but our opinion. We're damned sure you won't get a chance to prove otherwise because we'll make sure you cannot go, investigate or analyze anything to the contrary. We have DOC and Maori and our scientists on our side and can stop you going into places, or onto land, or using our laboratories to produce results or findings that conflict with the accepted, and our official viewpoint."
The programme was at least a topical exposure of things that need to be objectively investigated and evaluated without having to be controlled by racial, tribal and conspiratorial dictates.

For example: "There are no artifacts in New Zealand that show man was here before the major volcanic erruptions around 1250AD." So words to that effect were stated by a scientist in the programme. Oh? What about the tree stump of a chopped down tree, and the adze found beside it. It was only beneath many layers of volcanic ash and scoria near Albert Park in Auckland. This was found when deep sewage lines were being dug down Coberg Street! (Read more about this stump). AND, What about the cave found with wee folk who had been incarcerated by one of the Taupo region eruptions, but been exposed by landslip? These were apparently similar to the human forms found in the ancient Roman city of Pompey that was buried by hot ash.! Only instead of being a scientific revelation, the NZ discovery was quietly and secretly buried over so their story could never be told. Tall stories or truth? The best we know is that something was found, and whatever it was, has not been released to the general public, nor been added to the "official" history of this country.
DOC, Department of Conservation? No.
DOC, Department of Coverups? Yes.

Provide a description, map reference, photo if possible. The internet is being used to communicate information freely to as wide an audience as possible. All old NZ history, especially prior to 1300AD, is of interest to this web-site.
Parts of this page were updated on 3/3/2002.