Polynesian origins of the Māori in New Zealand and the supernova RX J0852.0-4622 / G 266.2-1.2 or Mahutonga

Abstract

The initial standard narrative of how New Zealand was thought to be settled by a relatively small number of Polynesian people over centuries of gradual adaption grew from the estimates of genealogical reckoning or whakapapa and formative radiocarbon dating chronology. A new strategic migration model validates a rapid mass translocation from Hawaiiki in the late thirteenth century. The incentive for the migration was likely motivated by charismatic authoritarian “mana” individuals or an unknown “starburst” event. Research retrieved on past cosmogenic structures in southern Africa together with known medieval comparative indigenous knowledge data, reveals evidence that the Great Enclosure structure at Great Zimbabwe was possibly a cosmic reference to a unique astronomical incident with unverifiable sources and mainly non-literate oral narratives that offer inadequate validation. An uncatalogued supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622 / G 266.2-1.2 in Vela has now been verified by a Japanese eyewitness account as visible in 1271 and is most likely Mahutonga – the star that disappeared in the oral tradition. This extraordinary star may have been the primary instigator for extensive translocation south-westwards to New Zealand from Hawaiiki, similar to the formation of Great Zimbabwe that likewise “followed a star” relating to the nearest, brightest and most recent supernova that disappeared.

Keywords:

• Hawaiiki
• RX J0852.0-4622 / G 266.2-1.2
• migration
• New Zealand
• Nichiren
• Mahutonga
• Polynesians
• Māori
• Great Zimbabwe
• indigenous knowledge
• history of astronomy
• Te Manu-i-te-ra
• Korotangi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank the editor-in-chief Prof Klumperman, Deidre Mvula and the reviewers for their kind assistance.I also thank the following for their persistent and patient assistance throughout the past years of research: Robin Catchpole, Karen Kaplan, Bernd Aschenbach, Anatoli Iyudin, Clive Ruggles, Chris Van Vuuren, Alex and Heleen Duffey, Phil Meyer, Bernhard Zipfel, Martha Noyes, Henry Throop, Frikkie le Roux, Pat and Marianne Eriksson, Chrisna Du Plessis, Siep Talma, Tonie Putter, M.E.R. Mathivha, Heather Serfontein, Richard Walter, Brenda Wingfield, Roger Fisher, Bradley Schaefer, Anthony Aveni, E C Krupp, Clive Ruggles, Karl Müller, Hannes C.J. deW Rautenbach, Peter Hayward, Celia du Preez, the Hahn family, Bjorn Heyerdahl, US Mission, The National Research Foundation NRF PhD Part-Time Award 2014 and their Post Graduate Scholarship Co-ordinator – Leanne van Zyl as well as Cathy Sandis, Suzanne Walker, Louise and Billy Wade. I am grateful to Simulation Curriculum – Starry Night: Seth Myers and Pedro Braganza, Landrover SA, Volkswagen SA, Eugene Botha, John Elliot, Henk Dreyer, Anneke Dreyer, Zoë-Jade Dreyer and Zoé van Niekerk, Evert Kleinhans, Ivette Kruger, Marius Labuschagne, Karien Hüsgen, Henry Westerink, Jesse Boynton and Gretta Pengelly, Alan and Marie-Pierre Sharpe, Lawrence Bale, Karl Müller, Francis Thackeray, David & Laurinda Erasmus, Tomohiro Akiyama, Sonja Yonehara, Pius Mokgokong, Tomoko Kawakita, Goichi Takeda, Shumbun Homma and especially Nadine Broodryk van De Wetering.

ORCID

Richard Peter Wade http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2880-8725