Attuned

Genealogical Records Relationship

Condensed from The Honolulu "Star-Bulletin" and Letters to the "Era*' from Duncan McAllister, Temple Recorder, and President E. Wesley Smith of the Hawaiian Mission.

[The "Era" is indebted to Elder D. M. McAllister, recorder of the Laie Temple, for a letter and a copy of the article in the Honolulu Star- Bulletin of June 5, 1920, from which the data embodied in these paragraphs are taken. The distinguished party referred to arrived in Salt Lake City about July 7, and spent a pleasant time here. On July 16, a farewell reception was given in their honor at Liberty Park, on which occasion many of the Church authorities were in attendance. President Heber J. Grant, President Anthon H. Lund, and President Charles W. Penrose made brief addresses in the evening during the banquet at which the Maoris were guests of honor. Editors.]

A recent visit of a distinguished company of fourteen Maoris to Honolulu seems to have attracted unusual attention there. The reason is that two of the gentlemen of the party, Wiremu Karaka and Wiremu Duncan, trace their ancestral lines, through divergent branches, back to Kaitangata, or Aikauaka, the father of Puna and Hema, from whom, according to Fornander's Genealogical Table, King Kamehameha I. descended. This is a remarkable genealogical record, going back for — one hundred and ten generations something over 2,000 years — but interest is added by the fact that it confirms the traditions of the Maoris, that their ancestors came from the Hawaiian Islands. Here are extracts from the three pedigrees, for comparison:

Kamehameha: Wiremu Karaka: Wiremu Duncan:

1. Aikanaka, father of 1. Kaitanagata, same 1. Kaitangata, father of the two following: as Aikanaka. the following:
2. Puna (male). 2. Puna. 2. Puna.
3. Hema (male). 3. Hema. 3. Hema.
4. Kahai, son of Hema. 4. Tawhaki, same as 4. Hapairangi (woman)
5. Wahieloa, son of Kahai. from whom Wiremu Dun- Kahai. 5. Wahieroa, same can has descended, as
6. Laka, son) of Wa* as Wahieloa. evidenced by an unbrokhieloa, from whose fam- 6. Rata, same as en genalogical table in ily line Kamehameha de- Laka. his possession, scended.

In the Maori tongue the Hawaiian "L" is "R" and "K" is "T," which accounts for the apparent divergence in the spelling of some of the names. It may be stated here that in New Zealand the family his-

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tories, as recited from generation to generation before the advent of civilization, are now recorded and filed in official ledgers, and that in the Archives Building in Hawaii are found a number of Genealogical records that go back for scores of generations. It was while Mr. Duncan was running over his record and comparing it with Hawaiian annals that he discovered a family tree identical with his own from Hema upwards, except for minor differences in spelling. That was the family tree of Emma K. Lewis, a native of the Island of Hawaii but now a resident of Honolulu. It was, presumably, while similarly engaged that Mr. Wiremu Karaka found the roots of his family tree in Hawaiian soil. And thus the Maori tradition concerning their origin has received strong confirmation. Ethnologists have adopted various theories regarding the source of the Pacific peoples. One is that they came from India by way of the Malay peninsula. According to another, they are the remnant of the inhabitants of a large continent which at one time sank, leaving only the highest points above the engulfing water. A third holds that the Polynesians came from America by way of the Hawaiian Islands. The proofs of the last-mentioned theory are found in racial characteristics, similarity of languages, tradition, folk lore, and now in genealogical records. 1. Languages. The following list of words points to a common origin of the Hawaiian and Maori languages, and a philologist might be able to tell, without hesitation, which of the two is the stem and which the branch:

English Hawaiian Maori English Hawaiian Maori Love Aloha Aroha Head Poo Upoko Father Makua Matua Stomach Opu Kopu God Akua Atua Sea Moana Moana Heart Naau Ngakau Heavens Lani Rangi Man Kanaka Tangata Above Luna Runga Woman Wahine Wahine Come here....Hele Mai Haere Mai Mouth Waha Waha Outside I waho Ki waho Nose Ihu Ihu Give here Ho mai Ho mai Foot Wawae Waewae Water Wai Wai Face Maka Mata Hawaii Hawaii Hawaiki

2. Tradition. The Maoris, we are told, have a tradition

which they express thus: Tawhiti nui, tawhiti, rao, and tawhiti pamaomao. This phrase is said to mean: "Long distance, longer distance," and "still longer distance," and it is, further, explained that it refers to three different migrations by the forefathers of the Maori race. The first mentioned, though last in history, Tawhiti nui, is thought to refer to a migration from the Hawaiian Islands to New Zealand, some time between the years 400 and 600 of