The Patupaiarehe: How Mystical Beings in Maori Folklore Might Rewrite New Zealand’s History
A story about the Patupaiarehe and the Urukehe and their role in the forgotten history of New Zealand
According to modern day history books, the first inhabitants of New Zealand are the Maori. Everyone who is familiar with New Zealand has heard of the Maori, the indigenous people accounting for roughly 16% of the total population. Not everyone however, is aware of the fact that the Maori have not been living in New Zealand for a very long time.
The Maori arrived in New Zealand, Aotearoa in Maori, in the 14th century during several voyages using large open canoes called Waka, traveling from Eastern Polynesia. Western historians claim that these first settlers encountered a land uninhabited and made it their own, living in isolation until the first contact with European explorers several hundred years later. In addition, archeologists have found no traces of any people living in New Zealand before the arrival of the Maori. The story of the peopling of New Zealand thus seems settled. But when listening to Maori oral traditions we find something curious.
