The inhabitants of the Chatham Islands, the Moriori, had dwindled to about 100 in 1860 due to massacres by Maori warriors, transported from New Zealand on British vessels in 1835. A survivor recalled:
[The Maori] commenced to kill us like sheep.... [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed - men, women and children indiscriminately". A Maori conqueror justified their actions as follows: "We took possession... in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. Not one escaped...." From Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies", p. 53, Jared Diamond, 1997, New York, W.W. Norton. Via Wikipedia.
[The Maori] commenced to kill us like sheep.... [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed - men, women and children indiscriminately". A Maori conqueror justified their actions as follows: "We took possession... in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. Not one escaped...." From Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies", p. 53, Jared Diamond, 1997, New York, W.W. Norton. Via Wikipedia.
1 comment:
Apparently one did.
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