Word: maori
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...sentry tower above the historic Pa (native Maori fortress) near Auckland, New Zealand, a single Maori warrior stood waiting. When the government car rounded a bend in the road, he called the traditional chant of welcome and challenge. A tall, bronzed man stepped from the car and picked up the ax that the sentry tossed toward him. At this gesture (the time-honored sign to show that a visit is peaceful) hundreds of Maoris in native costume sang their ancient haka, song of welcome...
...white farmer-clergyman sent Peter to the Te Aute College for Maoris, where he made top marks at both books and sports. He graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Otago in 1904 and went back to his mother's people as a government health officer. In 1909, he was elected to Parliament and soon became a member of the cabinet. In World War I, he won the Distinguished Service Order as second in command of the Maori Battalion...
Nakedness Regained. The leading authority on everything Polynesian, Sir Peter has lived in tiny islands where the ancient customs are still in use. Helped by his ancestry and knowledge of the Maori language, he has been able to study and understand them as no mere white man could. In general, he believes, Polynesians are better off if they do not stray too far from ancient ways. Stimulating desire for imported foods, for instance, might prove disastrous. Their traditional houses are perfect for the climate and the life they lead...
...sufferers was the takahe (Notornis hochstetteri), a bird 18 inches tall with a bronze-green breast and rudimentary wings. According to Maori tales, it had once made plentiful good eating, but only four were ever killed by white men. One was dragged out of the bush by a dog in 1898 and sold to the New Zealand government for $1,000. That was the last; for 50 years the takahe was officially extinct...
Everybody else was singing it before Americans even heard of it. It began 35 years ago as the Swiss Cradle Song, written by an Australian. Then a Maori woman who liked the tune made up some words to go with it, sang it at a Maori festival. The natives picked it up; so did white New Zealanders who mistakenly thought it an old Maori folksong...