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Story: Whakapapa – genealogy

Historicised whakapapa

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Historicised whakapapa

This whakapapa given by S. Percy Smith is an example of an over-historicised genealogy. Ancestors from Polynesia and New Zealand have been assigned specific dates gained by averaging out generations – whakapapa that did not coincide with scholarly theories tended to be ignored or reworked.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: S. Percy Smith, Hawaiki: the original home of the Maori, with a sketch of Polynesian history. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1904, p. 175

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How to cite this page

Rāwiri Taonui, Whakapapa – genealogy – Scholars and whakapapa, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/whakapapa/30907/historicised-whakapapa (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Rāwiri Taonui, published 3 May 2011, updated 1 July 2015.

Comments

Aiden Ngarongo
03 July 2023
I don't think these dates are correct kupe discovered nz around late 900s