1500: The Waitaha
May 2, 2019
By AHNZ
The Waitaha people of today’s Canterbury were destroyed or absorbed by invaders from east coast of North Island- Ngati-mamoe. The Waitaha were driven into back country of the Lake District where their rock drawings remain. Happened c.1500 AD.
It is very fitting that the sculptures in Amberley outside the Hurunui District Council should be made from that lime same stone…
“Originating from rock drawings in the Weka Pass, North Canterbury, their inspiration has been captured by sculptor – Warren Thompson.”
“To correct any misconceptions, these drawings are pre-Maori.”- Waitaha Statues “The Three Grandmothers”; hurunui.govt.nz
I’m surprised to be reading this on a State website. Such a politically incorrect thing to acknowledge but I’m in full agreement.
2 thoughts on "1500: The Waitaha"
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thank you i am sad that the real history of new zealand is always writen by the winners and is really true or close to what really went on over time/ a good friend told me what he understood about the Moa Hunters or Moraorwa (cant find correct spelling for there name ) but Waitana people sound much the same if not the same . Peter told me they where kept on the chatam island’s and had no timber to build canons ,as a food source and being filly sorted , pre the treaty so they could not been seen as a signatory on it robing them of having any rights .,by being on it. right down to the ships name they hired to do this unspoken deed .that sailed out of Wellington harbor
You are very welcome. If you can turn up some facts and leads to tell more of this story I’d love to hear about it and deepen our knowledge.