Talk:Rongorongo

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I've rewritten most of the article, but occasionally got signed out before saving my changes, and only my IP address was recorded in the page history, so here's my user name in case anyone has issues with what I've done: kwami 20:52, 2005 July 23 (UTC)

Contents 1 Rongorongo, New Zealand 2 our greatest maori 3 Maori and Hotu 4 "Quote" 5 Where to place source 6 Ma'ori 7 Wood?

[edit] Rongorongo, New Zealand

I have placed a link at the top of the article as a link to Rongorongo (wife of Turi), an ancestress of the Māori of New Zealand. This is to save having a disambiguation page. If there is a better solution just let me know. Kahuroa 10:58, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

No, that's good. kwami 11:14, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] our greatest maori

1. Just wondering if we could have a clarification of what 'maori' means in Rapa Nui?
2. Is there a source that this statement attributed to Hotu Matu'a comes from? Kahuroa 00:21, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Maori and Hotu

Dear Kahuroa,

In the first place, maori, in that context, was probably used to designate a very wise man. In the second, these are not attestable by any account. They come from scholarly forms of folklore and it is a quotation of Hotu Matu'a much in the same way Et tu, Brute? is a quotation of Julius Caesar. I'd appreciate if you didn't erase it, though. It's making a point. Hope you can get to Italy.

Sincerely,

Mbrutus 03:50, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

• Actually Et tu Brute is a quote from William Shakespeare, from his play Julius Caesar, Act III, scene 1 - not sure if JC actually said it at all. In the same way there must be a written source (or how else do we know about it?) for this 'quote' from Hotu Matu'a and that needs to be recorded here. I wasn't going to erase 'maori' or the quote, but the meaning of maori needs to be indicated somehow so that the point it makes is clear. Will add 'wise men' and maybe someone will supply a citation for Hotu's remark. Cheers Kahuroa 18:56, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

• I know this is far from the main point here... but if you're curious about the Et tu Brute remark, it's well attested in ancient sources, specifically in De Vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars) by Suetonius. See discussion in the Wikipedia article named Lives of the Twelve Caesars. The original Suetonius quotation can be found in the original Latin at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0061;query=chapter%3D%2382;layout=;loc=jul.%2081.1section  ; click on the link labeled English (ed. Alexander Thomson) for the English version of this passage, and note particularly footnote 3 on that page. Thanks for the article, and regards to you both. (From a bypasser, with as yet no Wikipedia name - 17 June 2006.)

[edit] "Quote"

Dear Kahuroa,

Here's the full alleged quote as recorded by Father Sebastian Englert,

Our ko hau rongorongo are lost! Future events will destroy these sacred tablets which we bring with us and those which we will make in our new land. Men of other races will guard a few that remain as priceless objects, and their maori will study them in vain without being able to read them. Our ko hau motu mo rongorongo will be lost forever. Aue! Aue!

Hope you can use this. Cheers!

Sincerely,

Mbrutus 18:43, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

No, that is not right. That quote is from Englert himself. He never claimed to have recorded it from anyone, and makes it clear that he puts it in Hotu Matu'a's mouth for a rhetorical purpose only, as he writes: "These words that I have placed in the mouth of Hotu Matu'a..."

BTW, there is a truly excellent wikipedia article on the rongorongo, better than this one, there: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongo_rongo

Jacques Guy 2006.11.24

[edit] Where to place source

Dear Kahuroa, Where can I place the source now? I know I should know, but could you tell me? Andrew Robinson, Edited by Brian M. Fagan, The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of Past Civilizations Thames & Hudson, London, 2001 pp. 266-268. Sincerely, Mbrutus 21:11, 23 May 2006 (UTC).

I have done it for you. You could also add this (Robinson 2001:266-268) at the end of the line or paragraph where you added the info from that book into the article. If the references are scattered all over the place tho, that might be a bit messy. If you do decide to add the (Robinson 2001:266-268), you can then take the page numbers out of the citation in the References section, so it just ends with 2001.

[edit] Ma'ori

I found a source with a translation of maori in Rapa Nui. It is actually ma'ori and means 'skilled, old'. Kahuroa 00:19, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wood?

I wonder where the aborigens got the wood for the plates from, since the trees on the island were cut out well before the arrival of Europeans?--Shakura 23:25, 4 December 2006 (UTC)