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Story: Ideas about Māori origins

Linking Māori with American Indians

Linking Māori with American Indians

In her book Ettie Rout suggested a connection between Māori and the Haida American Indians because of the similarity of their carved posts. Such comparative study was often flawed – the fact that two things were similar did not necessarily mean they had a similar origin.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: Ettie A. Rout, Maori symbolism. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1926, p. 84.

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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, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/1758/linking-maori-with-american-indians (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by K. R. Howe, published 4 March 2009.

Comments

Reebs
29 January 2018
The LDS church have the same belief that the Native New Zealanders are descendants from Native Americans see full article: https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-alma-testimony-word/15-hagoth-and-polynesians-0
Ariki
16 April 2012
It is not only Haida and Maori 'totem poles' that are similar, but Haida and Maori fish-hooks, short, close-quarters fighting clubs, adze stones (toki), canoe design, housing architecture, and even artwork colour preference (black, red and white) that are near-identical to the two cultures. Even Cpt. Cook was taken by surprise at the similarities he observed between Maori and north west coast American characteristics. It seems it is easy to dismiss such evidence when what it points to is unfashionable.