Story: Ideas about Māori origins

Aryan and Māori language and symbols (3rd of 3)

Aryan and Māori language and symbols

To support his argument for the Indian or Aryan origins of Māori, Tregear listed words in Māori and in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. On the facing page he compared the swastika symbol with Māori chiefs’ signatures on the Treaty of Waitangi. ‘Swastika’ is a Sanskrit word and the symbol is widespread in India.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Reference: Edward Tregear, The Aryan Maori. Wellington: George Didsbury, Government Printer, 1885, pp. 10, 96.

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How to cite this page:

K. R. Howe, 'Ideas about Māori origins - 1840s–1930s: the Aryan theory', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/1759/aryan-and-maori-language-and-symbols (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by K. R. Howe, published 8 Feb 2005