The Way of Peace for The Moriori
The way of peace is important to the Moriori people and these are the reasons how it came about and the symbols that they used for peace.
Firstly their ancestors were named after peace. one ancestor was called Rongomaiwhenua (Peace on the land) the other was Rongomaitere (Peace on the sea).Both ancestors were very peaceful.
Secondly at one time a man named Nunuku made a law because there was lots of fighting.The law said Moriori must stop war and killing people. Lots of people agreed to it.
The albatross became one of the symbols of peace for the Moriori people.They keep the feather of the albatross with pride. Even a building is shaped like an albatross. The building is a marae.
Their art is beautiful.One of the art works is shaped like the Chatham Islands.The art work shows a Moriori person with 2 albatrosses.
In the middle of the marae there is a memorial post.The post has got all the people’s names who believed in Nunuku’s law and did not fight the invaders. They died because they believed in the law so their names were written on the memorial post. Other people can now remember their names.
The children of the Moriori can be proud that their ancestors are written on the posts because they did not fight.
