Maori: Heirs of Tane (Echoes of the ancient world)

Published by Orbis Publishing Limited, 1985, softcover, illustrated, index, 128 pages, 22.5 cms x 30 cms, condition: very good.

 'New Zealand, 'the Land of the Long White Cloud', was entirely unpopulated until sea-roving Polynesians from the tropics happened upon it in their frail, storm-battered canoes, some time after AD 750. During their first period of colonization, these people, the Maori, lived mainly by hunting and fishing in a temperate forest-covered land with no large animals. But gradually, during the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the natural resources of the land were depleted, the giant flightless bird, the moa, became extinct, and the Maori became farmers. Their agricultural system brought with it a new way of life, structured around by extended family clans, governed by gods, and marked by constant warfare. Drawing on his considerable knowledge of navigation, archaeology and anthropology, David Lewis tells the story of these creative and warlike people from their origins until the nineteenth century, when the Europeans arrived. He shows how all aspects of Maori life were interconnected. The gods were believed to be related to the people, and even trees had souls. Maori myths, their songs and their art, by turns sensuous and fierce, joyous and tragic, form an integral part of the book.'