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that the colonial process had
on Māori. He has clearly and
concisely covered the violent
and racist history of the con-
descending and patronising
English. To clarify the reality of
how racism affected Aotearoa
is unimaginably important.
Clare Dudley
(Coromandel)
APOLOGY ACCEPTED
Russell Garbutt (Letters, March
7) asks why the Government
apologised for atrocities on the
Chatham Islands, rather than
those who subjugated Moriori
in the 19th century.
The appalling Māori invad-
ers are long gone. And despite
a Moriori request that the
colonial authorities intervene,
they didn’t act.
That is why redress is the
Government’s responsibility.
Alan Beck
(Dunedin)
EV FIX
Why does the only transport
initiative in response to cli-
mate change seem to be “more
electric vehicles” (Editorial,
March 7). What we really need
is fewer fossil-fuel vehicles.
That is not the same thing.
In the interests of a healthier,
more resilient and cohesive
community, we would do well
to consider all the alternatives
to driving.
The idea that it is good for
Diet to
die for
As a professional chemist/
molecular biologist, I find that
I must comment on the latest
“science-based” story on diet
and health (“Diet busters”,
March 7).
Except for identical twins,
no two people are the same.
Each individual is the unique
end-product of thousands
of years of evolution. For
example, consider the differ-
ence between an Inuit and an
Aboriginal Australian.
This means that we might
not all react in the same way to
some treatment or substance.
Therefore any health study has
to be made on a large number
of individuals to obtain a
meaningful conclusion.
The population of Italy
is about 68 million. Italians
are known to consume large
amounts of pasta, processed
meats, cheese, red wine and
coffee and flavour their food
with herbs such as oregano.
Their life expectancy is about
83 years.
The population of India is
about 1.36 billion and has a
much more plant-based diet
with rice, lentils, beans and
not much meat. They drink
weak beer and lots of tea and
use a wide variety of spices.
Their life expectancy is about
69 years.
Sure, there are social and
health-facility factors to con-
sider, but it does not appear
that pizzas covered with salami
and cheese are killing off the
Italians early, nor does it seem
that tea and spices are prolong-
ing the lives of Indians.
Reuben Leberman
(Palmerston North)
WRITING HISTORY
European colonists of New
Zealand, particularly the
British, did think they were
writing new pages in history
(“Sins of omission”, March 7).
And they did leave out Māori
from those records. But then
Māori didn’t keep a written
account of their culture and
history, only oral records,
which even a critic such as
David Nicholson should admit
are difficult to access. It would
mean going to every village
and important elder and
having a knowledge of tribal
(and personal) conflicts as a
background to the differing
accounts.
Clearly, Pākehā historians
weren’t supermen and to
expect them to be, even today,
is cant.
Simon Rolleston
(Christchurch)
David Nicholson asserts that
New Zealand history should be
taught in schools. I agree, but
I would suggest his account
of New Zealand’s colonisa-
tion has missed some relevant
information. In the endeavour
to accurately teach history, it
is imperative that all available
data is considered.
That should include the
history of the slave trade in
New Zealand in the 1800s,
when captured Pākehā became
the chattels, pets and slaves of
their Māori masters, as detailed
in Trevor Bentley’s book
Pakeha Slaves, Maori Masters.
This book also touches on the
fate of the Chatham Island
Moriori who, in 1835, were
massacred and enslaved by
Taranaki-based Māori.
It is essential for New Zea-
landers to understand how the
colonisation of Aotearoa has
negatively affected modern-
day Māori. It is also important
to acknowledge that in the
1800s, Māori were made up of
many different factions who
commonly would kill, enslave
and eat those they did battle
with.
New Zealand’s history
must be taught in an accurate
and honest way, and should
include all aspects of Māori
and Pākehā relationships.
Ray Calver
(Grey Lynn, Auckland)
LETTER OF THE WEEK
World history is a litany of
how dominant races have
subjugated lesser ones. Hold-
ing the British responsible
for destroying Māori culture
is demonstrably untrue; it is
flourishing and the reason
that so many tourists visit New
Zealand.
Britain may be “a small
island off the coast of
Holland”, as Nicholson
disparagingly refers to it, but
it has the world’s fifth-largest
economy and has won (apart
from the US) the greatest
number of Nobel prizes. The
way this small island nation
stood alone against the Nazi
juggernaut is something of
which they can justly be
proud.
Frank Bailey
(Hamilton)
David Nicholson has bril-
liantly highlighted the need
for awareness of the effect
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