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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > SOMEONE FINALLY LISTENS TO THE MAORI
SOMEONE FINALLY LISTENS TO THE MAORI
September 15 2009
Wellington, New Zealand – Throughout history there have been countless tales of monsters and mythical creatures roaming the world. From the Loch Ness monster to Wendigos to Bigfoot virtually every culture has tales of fantastic creatures that either 
live alongside or stalk human beings. For the most part those tales are just that. With no verifiable evidence of creatures such as the Montauk Monster of the Jersey Devil anywhere in the natural world or in fossil record, such creatures are generally dismissed as folklore and spook stories.
Every now and then, though, one of those stories comes to life and as generations pass such creatures become well known and accepted parts of the zoological record. Now scientists believe they have uncovered the truth behind a long standing tale amongst the Maori people of New Zealand. The myth of the Te Hokioi, a giant man-eating bird has been passed down through generations
of Maori but until now no evidence of such a creature had appeared. Now scientists 
believe they have uncovered the truth behind the tale in the form of an extinct raptor, nicknamed Haast’s Eagle. Now that the mystery of the giant bird has been solved many Maori are celebrating with the knowledge that people may actually now listen to what they have to say.
“The tales of the Te Hokioi are very sacred to my people and have been a part of our culture for centuries. The Te Hokioi is a cultural touchstone for all Maori people and now that it’s existence has been verified by science we feel vindicated in a way and can now prove to people that we have not been suffering some massive delusion for centuries,” said Atarata Broughton of the Maori Cultural Institute in Wellington. “We certainly recognize that such a creature is frightening and even ridiculous to some but it is clear now that such a creature did exist. It is also very redeeming for our people that someone has finally listened to us about something.”
The remains of the creature were first discovered in the 1870’s by German geologist Julius von Haast, the namesake of the animal. His discovery of the fossilized remains one of the seminal moments in Maori history, validating what had previously been thought a mass delusion.
“The Maori people have long suffered at the hands of the Europeans. They have been marginalized and brutalized. They have been turned into slaves and even for a time faced extinction much like their venerable eagle. Luckily it was a European who found the fossils and Europeans who re-examined them or nobody would have listened. They owe much to the Europeans and their culture,” said Scrape TV International analyst Gustav Hander. “Really no one believed the Maori themselves in respect to this giant bird but now that they have verification from white people they can rest easy in the understanding that people will in fact listen to them as long as they go through a European. Of course that is true for native peoples all across the world.”
Native North and South Americans as well as Aborigines in Australia are just a few of the indigenous peoples around the world whose lives have been bettered by Europeans.
“This could really give hope to native peoples across the world. All they need to do is find a sympathetic European to listen to their tale, make it their own, and then spread it across the world as fact. That is the path to legitimacy that so many native peoples have been seeking for so long and now it presents itself,” continued Hander. “Of course there are limitations and the Maori people should spend too much effort trying to legitimize themselves because of this one incident there’s something to be said for getting your foot in the door but there’s also something to be said for overstaying your welcome.”
Despite the discovery, it’s believed that most Maori people will remain in desperate poverty and continue to be beset by drug and alcohol addiction, particularly amongst the youth.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > SOMEONE FINALLY LISTENS TO THE MAORI
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