Teaching Module  New Zealand Childhoods (18th–20th c.)   Source
1: The Ancient History of the Maori  Although an aged Horeta Te
Taniwha recounted his boyhood experience several times for
different Pakeha researchers, there was little inconsistency in
his accounts. This excerpt can therefore be explored for the
ways in which a child responded to a people whose arrival was
completely unexpected and whose appearance was different from
anything in his life experience so far. The story unfolds as a
narrative of the event, with the commentary on each phase
reflecting the means by which god-like figures were revealed to
be human.  The points of comparison provide evidence of what was
"normal" in an indigenous context. Maori used waka (canoes)
constantly: the paddlers always looked to the front. All manner
of rituals surrounded the partaking of food, which would not be
touched personally by a person of high rank. The response of the
"strange beings" when offered kumara, fish, and shellfish was
not consistent with tri