The Many Ways of Being Human

7.4

The Maori

Fifteen men stand in a row, slap their thighs, and call out Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora. It is no war chant but a song of relief, by a man who hid in a pit meant for storing sweet potatoes. From there the chapter moves to the Maori and a treaty signed in 1840 in two versions that say different things.