Lords of the Soil

Lords of the Soil: The Story of the Turehu - The White Tangata Whenua by Ray Thorsen. Available from Renaissance Press, P.O. Box 1627, Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand. Paper cover, 48p. Price $NZ15 inc. postage.

MAORI land rights in New Zealand have long been a bone of contention among the country’s White population, but few people realise that once Maoris succeed in obtaining tracts of land they set about establishing casinos or selling it on to overseas business interests. So much for the rights of an ‘indigenous’ people. This booklet, however, questions the whole nature of the Maoris and their status in New Zealand. The ‘official’ line is that the Maoris were the original inhabitants of the country, but as this unique exercise in revisionist history points out their own legends tell a quite different story and point towards a huge cover up and the vicious genocide of the White Tureghu folk who actually lived in New Zealand prior to the arrival of the colonists. A fascinating and ground-breaking work. Very highly recommended.