Tribe links Taiwan with Polynesia

Te Matatini, the world’s largest kapa haka festival was held in Christchurch recently, providing an opportunity for thousands of New Zealand Maori to reconnect and reaffirm their ‘Maoriness.’ At the same time, writer Derek Fox was thousands of kilometres away at another reaffirmation, at the home base of the Tsou people in the central mountains of Taiwan. He says these intriguing people in fact have many similarities not just with New Zealand Maori, but with all Polynesian people, including Cook Islanders.

Te Matatini, the world’s largest kapa haka festival was held in Christchurch recently, providing an opportunity for thousands of New Zealand Maori to reconnect and reaffirm their ‘Maoriness.’ At the same time, writer Derek Fox was thousands of kilometres away at another reaffirmation, at the home base of the Tsou people in the central mountains of Taiwan. He says these intriguing people in fact have many similarities not just with New Zealand Maori, but with all Polynesian people, including Cook Islanders.