Hi Joe, you make a number of good points, re Maori V's Aboriginal, and I accept them to be so. The Maori language has made a substantial comeback in recent years. My partner spent 4 years around the year 2000 teaching Maori to both Maori and Pakeha adults in NZ, night classes, and on balance she said Pakeha make the better students, not me however I understand many words and phrases but my pronunciation is too Aussie.
Well, tomorrows is Waitangi Day and like several thousand others we will make our way to Merrylands in Sydney, to celebrate a day of culture and entertainment, food stalls, market type stalls, and overdue catching up with friends and relatives. There are 2 other locations around Sydney I know of where Waitangi Day will be celebrated.

Hi Paul,

I hope that tomorrow is a very fulfilling and rewarding Waitangi Day ! I've been to Waitangi two or three times, I tried to translate the Maori on the monument there and marvelled at the massive canoes up the hill - it was great to see a couple of shots of the meeting hall on SBS tonight. I have a couple of nieces over there who will in the thick of it :)

Best wishes,

Joe

Hi Joe,

My partner "T" is from the Bay of Islands and we have visited the treaty grounds at Waitangi many times. "T" is of the IWi Ngapuhi (1/3 of all Maori are Ngapuhi) from up north. To give you an example of how Maori have respect for those that have passed on. "T"'s Mum died in 1969, the family are now working to restore Mums grave to what it was, like all graves it has deteriorated with time, 46 years is a along time, Next month we'll return to the crematory in the bush to have a 2nd unveiling for Mum and spend time with the family, as well a couple of nights at Paihia/Waitangi.

"I tried to translate the Maori on the monument" Will get "T" to do that next month. I believe the Big Waka was lasted used for a "Chief" it was Prince Charles some time ago, made from 3 tree trunks, the Ladies Waka is a good size to.

Paul,
Just as an aside, Maori soldiers that I knew in Japan in the 1950s picked up Japanese at an enviable, indeed sometimes astounding, rate.

I remembered 'maru' being a common word in both languages, so i looked it up just now and it's common to a lot of cultures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maru

Is Mise, Manu in Maori = Bird, Moni is Money.