The Moa Hunters.
The earliest settlers in our country, Aotearoa,
were Polynesian voyagers who came and hunted moa.
Their burial pits with moa bones are found most everywhere
and date from the sixth century till Maori settled here.
The ‘Moa Hunters’ as they’re called, were peaceful to extreme.
their bones show not a trace of any violence. It would seem
no weaponry with their remains was buried anywhere
until the Maori introduced the taiaha and spear.
It's claimed by 1500 they caused moas to disappear
through hunting, to extinction, those great birds with shaft and snare
but, in the 1300’s when the Maori first arrived,
moa still were in abundance in the grasslands where they thrived.
The moas were flightless birds of varied species, height and size;
the largest, the Dinornis. stood twelve feet from claws to eyes
while smaller Euryapteryx which roamed the lower fen
and Anomalopteryx were no larger than a hen!
They browsed on fibrous twigs and leaves, being solely herbivore.
Before Man, Haast’s giant eagle was their only predator
for Harpagornis, (now extinct,) with wing-span of three metres,
was called by Maori: “Pouakai” which means ‘sustenance eaters’.
The Moa Hunters and the Maori hunted moas for food
which, like so many other species now, are gone for good.
Hugh Wyles, June 19th.2008.
Author notes
This is the first of two poems dealing with the history of the indigenous Moa Hunter people of New Zealand and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands.
http://allpoetry.com/poem/4350367
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Comments
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The moa, I remember as a small boy, looking in the old Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia we had and seeing an illustration of the moa. So I've actually heard of them before and of their extinction. Odd how some small moments stick with you for life. You've helped to fill in for me, I never knew how they went extinct.
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Interesting!
I like the fact that the Moa Hunters were peaceful (although this fact didn't help the moas). It's a shame the moas are gone for good. I love birds and animals and always feel sad when I learn that another species is extinct. Did you know that scientists discover new species of animals on a regular basis? Craig Ferguson, the comedian on The Late Late Show on CBS here in the states was showing pictures of the ten most recently discovered animals, insects and birds. Some of them are quite odd (like the horny beatle which has a horn very similar to a rhinoceros' horn on its head).
Love and Hugs,
Maureen
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Magnificent flightless birds my dear Hugh, your poem as always has enthralled me with your tales of Maori history, I can never get enough of them.
What a pity that they are now extinct, they are similar to our flightless Emu's here in Australia.
Thankyou for sharing these wonderful poems with us.
Love Bea
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