348
20 Dating the First Migration to New Zealand
Perhaps the most striking consequence of the isolated history of the Chatham
Islands is the preservation of two genealogies which record history over 154 generations. The same isolation, we saw in Chapter 17, preserved in the Chatham
Islands’ ancient Lapita forms of totemic Creation myths linked to tree worship. If
these myths can be thought of as a cultural time capsule, we can think of these two
Moriori genealogies, and the sparse historical notes linking events to specific ancestors in the two lines, as encoding a long prehistory recorded in genealogical time.
The two Moriori genealogies, communicated to Alexander Shand in 1868, together
with the important Rarotongan genealogy communicated to S. Percy Smith by the
Rarotongan high priest Te Ariki Tara ‘Are, are presented in Appendix 1.
The traditional historical notes accompanying the two Moriori genealogies
highlight the extreme isolation of the Chatham Islands. All recorded events of significance are moments at which two and a half thousand years of isolation were
broken by arrivals from outside a closed world.
The first and most important arrival recorded is that of Tu-te-rangi-marama, a
famous early navigator who appears on the main Rarotongan line. It should be noted
that although this line was preserved in Rarotonga, its earliest stages almost certainly
relate to ancestors living in Island Southeast Asia: in the Spice Islands or Wallacea or
possibly Borneo (in Atia-te-Varinga-nui or Avaiki-te-varinga-nui). It is highly likely
that Tu-te-rangi-marama, who is recorded in the Moriori Tamahiwaki line, lived in
Island Southeast Asia and voyaged to the Chathams from this area. Not only did
he leave descendants in the islands but he is credited with teaching the Chatham
Islanders to make flax mats. In Rarotonga he is also remembered as a technological
innovator, though he is most celebrated as an early navigator and explorer.
20.2 A Chronicle of Survivors
A singular feature of the two Moriori genealogies makes them an unusually reliable
source. They reflect a culture that survived against the odds on a tiny group of islands
in the Southern Ocean through creating a strictly controlled and regulated society. In
Section 20.5 we consider at some length Tim Flannery’s discussion of forces driving
small isolated societies towards extinction [1]. He quotes the finding that the minimum size required to ensure the survival of a mammalian population is 500. Smaller
numbers imply lower genetic diversity with attendant risks of genetic disease and
greater risks from environmental disasters which could reduce populations below
the limits needed for survival. Flannery quotes examples from Flinders Island in the
Bass Strait and Kangaroo Island which lies off the coast of South Australia. In both
these islands populations isolated by the last Ice Age floods became extinct.
The size of Flinders Island is about 1,800 km 2 . Flannery estimates that it had a
population capacity of about 400, that is, 4.5 km 2 per person. Its population survived for about 4,500 years before it became extinct. The isolated population on
Kangaroo Island, which has a much greater area (3,890 km 2 ) but more limited food
resources, survived for only 2,250 years. The Chatham Islands have a combined area
of 960 km 2 . Their population in 1835, 44 years after the European discovery of the
20 Dating the First Migration to New Zealand
Perhaps the most striking consequence of the isolated history of the Chatham
Islands is the preservation of two genealogies which record history over 154 generations. The same isolation, we saw in Chapter 17, preserved in the Chatham
Islands’ ancient Lapita forms of totemic Creation myths linked to tree worship. If
these myths can be thought of as a cultural time capsule, we can think of these two
Moriori genealogies, and the sparse historical notes linking events to specific ancestors in the two lines, as encoding a long prehistory recorded in genealogical time.
The two Moriori genealogies, communicated to Alexander Shand in 1868, together
with the important Rarotongan genealogy communicated to S. Percy Smith by the
Rarotongan high priest Te Ariki Tara ‘Are, are presented in Appendix 1.
The traditional historical notes accompanying the two Moriori genealogies
highlight the extreme isolation of the Chatham Islands. All recorded events of significance are moments at which two and a half thousand years of isolation were
broken by arrivals from outside a closed world.
The first and most important arrival recorded is that of Tu-te-rangi-marama, a
famous early navigator who appears on the main Rarotongan line. It should be noted
that although this line was preserved in Rarotonga, its earliest stages almost certainly
relate to ancestors living in Island Southeast Asia: in the Spice Islands or Wallacea or
possibly Borneo (in Atia-te-Varinga-nui or Avaiki-te-varinga-nui). It is highly likely
that Tu-te-rangi-marama, who is recorded in the Moriori Tamahiwaki line, lived in
Island Southeast Asia and voyaged to the Chathams from this area. Not only did
he leave descendants in the islands but he is credited with teaching the Chatham
Islanders to make flax mats. In Rarotonga he is also remembered as a technological
innovator, though he is most celebrated as an early navigator and explorer.
20.2 A Chronicle of Survivors
A singular feature of the two Moriori genealogies makes them an unusually reliable
source. They reflect a culture that survived against the odds on a tiny group of islands
in the Southern Ocean through creating a strictly controlled and regulated society. In
Section 20.5 we consider at some length Tim Flannery’s discussion of forces driving
small isolated societies towards extinction [1]. He quotes the finding that the minimum size required to ensure the survival of a mammalian population is 500. Smaller
numbers imply lower genetic diversity with attendant risks of genetic disease and
greater risks from environmental disasters which could reduce populations below
the limits needed for survival. Flannery quotes examples from Flinders Island in the
Bass Strait and Kangaroo Island which lies off the coast of South Australia. In both
these islands populations isolated by the last Ice Age floods became extinct.
The size of Flinders Island is about 1,800 km 2 . Flannery estimates that it had a
population capacity of about 400, that is, 4.5 km 2 per person. Its population survived for about 4,500 years before it became extinct. The isolated population on
Kangaroo Island, which has a much greater area (3,890 km 2 ) but more limited food
resources, survived for only 2,250 years. The Chatham Islands have a combined area
of 960 km 2 . Their population in 1835, 44 years after the European discovery of the