He tohunga kaimātai whaipara tangata a Geoffrey Irwin kei te whare wānanga o Tāmaki-makau-rau. Whakamahia ai e ia ngā rorohiko ki te wānanga mēnā ka taea ētahi haerenga mā runga i te waka hourua. Mārama ana te whakaatu mai a te rorohiko, ki te heke he waka hourua mai i Kanaki (New Caledonia) mā te tonga huruhuru (south south-east) mō te rua ki te toru wiki te roa, kāore e kore ka tau rātou ki Aotearoa. Mēnā kei te tika te kōrero i tae ētahi tāngata ki Aotearoa i ngā tau e 2,000 ki mua atu, i ahu mai pea ērā tāngata i tētahi o ngā moutere kei Melanesia ki te rāwhiti, ko Kanaki (New Caledonia) tonu pea. Kāore tonu i te mōhiotia mēnā kei te tika tēnei, kei te hē rānei. Heoi, ko te kōrero nui pea, ko ngā tāngata i tau ki Aotearoa i te wā 1250–1300 AD, i haere mai i ngā moutere o Poronihia ki te rāwhiti.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: Geoff Irwin, The prehistoric exploration and colonization of the Pacific. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 169.
Courtesy of Geoff Irwin
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