ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on the knowledge, speculations, and debates of tribal thinkers in Aotearoa, as these were first recorded between about 1840 and 1860 in Maori manuscripts and in the correspondence columns of Maori newspapers. 1 It also draws on the early accounts of European explorers, missionaries, and settlers, Elsdon Best’s massive researches into tribal knowledge at the turn of the century, and my own attempts at understanding the knowledgeable talk of tribal elders between 1964 and 1984.
