INTELLIGENCE VERSUS IGNORANCE

Whaowhia te kete matauranga – fill the basket of knowledge; that was the motto of Rotokākahī Māori School where I began my formal education in 1960.  I think of it whenever I see or hear someone preaching a particularly dumb message.  I also think of Benjamin Franklin who said, “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” 

One of the most persistent pieces of ignorance that regularly comes out in any discourse about race relations in this country are long-debunked theories devised by long dead European observors as to how Māori populated these islands.

The two main means of transmission of history within the European world are by documentation (written history) and by word of mouth (oral history). Both means are well-established, true-tested, interwoven and time-honoured. 

For anyone capable of reading and writing there are screeds of written history compiled by those who "were there" during the first years of European colonisation.  These include the recording of a significant number of oral histories showing that tūpuna Māori came searching for these lands because their science and theory told them they existed exactly where they were discovered. 

But later European commentators, especially 20^th century ones, struggled to accept that evidence. They just could not believe Māori had traversed the largest ocean in the world in anything other than a haphazard fashion. So they developed the drift theory, made up scenarios in which Māori had gone fishing and gotten lost then accidentally washed ashore here, and painted portrayals showing waka filled with emaciated and desperate occupants running aground.

The simple truth is that second millennium Māori, and in fact all Polynesians, had a far more sophisticated marine and astrological knowledge (science) and practice (theoretical application) than their European counterparts.  In short, they were very intelligent.

As further evidence of their intelligence, Dr Evelyn Stokes’ 1996 research paper, Muriwhenua: Review of the Evidence, draws on missionary diaries to show that literacy amongst Māori in Muriwhenua, as elsewhere, spread rapidly during the early years of European colonisation. 

To this day, literacy is treasured by Māori as a means to enhance the teaching, learning and recording of their history.  Most European cultures also hold literacy in high regard.  Which is why it is amazing to see this level of ignorance about Māori still around in the 21^st century.

The knowledge exists.  What seems to be lacking amongst the ignorant is the intelligence to fill their basket with it.