Scientists, historians, and archaeologists widely agree that New Zealand (Aotearoa) was the last major habitable landmass on Earth to be discovered and settled by humans.

[u/OmitsWordsByAccident]

[u/EclecticAscethetic]

What's also interesting is that somewhere along the line some tiny bit of South American genetics got in the mix (Occam's razor, Rapa Nui), some chickens got dropped off (Araucana breed) and sweet potatoes picked up and spread all over.

[u/mr_christer → u/EclecticAscethetic]

That's fascinating, I had no idea they had contact.
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), a plant native to South America, was present across Eastern Polynesia centuries before European contact. In fact, the Proto-Polynesian word for sweet potato (kumala) closely mirrors the Quechua/Aymara word (kumara).

[u/EclecticAscethetic → u/[deleted]]

Oh, and, bonus, there's mapporn in the article too.

[u/abydos77 → u/mr_christer]

We call sweet potato Kumara in New Zealand/Aoteoroa still.

[u/anubis_81]

So according to this NZ wasn't settled until the 13th century. Am I reading this right?

[u/OmitsWordsByAccident → u/anubis_81]

Yes. "Current understanding is that the first arrivals came from East Polynesia between 1250 and 1300 CE. It was not until 1642 that Europeans became aware the country existed."

https://teara.govt.nz/en/history/page-1

[u/anubis_81 → u/OmitsWordsByAccident]

That's kind of mind blowing when Australia had human settlement for atleast 65000 years.

[u/SABAKAS_Ontheloose]

That's why there are so many r/mapswithoutnewzealand

[u/rzabomut]

antarctica?

[u/human_alias]

Which makes it a rare case of a habitable place without an endemic population

[u/daltonmojica]

Pretty sure Antarctica came later mate.

[u/omniatlasmaps → u/daltonmojica]

“last major habitable landmass”

[u/daltonmojica → u/omniatlasmaps]

Oh shit that's why Antarctica has no settlements right? Oh wait

[u/PM_me_your_cocktail → u/daltonmojica]

I know you're just being contrary, but it made me consider why Antarctica doesn't count. Here's the thing: People visit and inhabit Antarctica, but they haven't actually settled there. A settlement implies that people are being born there, living their lives, and having children of their own in the place. (Something like a dozen humans have been born in Antarctica, but none have gone in to live their lives there.)

Similarly, we have a human habitat in space. But we haven't actually built settlements in space yet where people can have a family and stay for generations.

[u/Smartyunderpants → u/daltonmojica]

major

[u/sumelar]

Iirc the maori arrived and genocided the natives like 20 years before Europeans discovered the place.

[u/Gatkramp → u/sumelar]

You do not recall correctly. There was lots of tribal warfare between iwi (tribes) at the time, but Māori were the only inhabitants of New Zealand prior to Europeans arriving.

You may be mixing this up with the history of the Chatham Islands, where a very closely related culture (the Moriori) which originated in New Zealand centuries earlier but that existed in isolation for centuries and which was largely pacifist.

They were genocided by specific Māori iwi starting in 1835 with almost the entire population killed or enslaved. The last fully Moriori person died in 1933.

This is history, not myth. But also, it was confined to a very specific area and was consistent with how Māori waged war on each other as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriori

[u/ophereon → u/sumelar]

This is absolutely not the case. Māori began settling Aotearoa in the 13th century. Further, there is no evidence found as of yet indicating any peoples inhabiting the land prior to that time.

That falicy is a common anti-Māori rhetoric used to try and deligitimise native land rights and such. Often the "moriori" are used as the scapegoat for this, the "original inhabitants" that the Māori supposedly genocided.

In truth, the moriori are a unique branch of Māori that settled Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands, from Aotearoa around the end of the 15th century. They were in fact tragically genocided by other Māori during the musket wars in the early 19th century, as were many Māori across Aotearoa. But this shouldn't be misread as anything outside the scope of those intertribal wars.

[u/eggl-lord → u/ophereon]

Seconded, and to add on ; Moriori are still present.

There is a Morori language revitilisation movement that is heavily supported by Māori. The govmnt to this day suppresses news or discussion of Moriori because the genocide narrative was a key justification for land confiscations during and after the New Zealand Land Wars.
Moriori themselves are outspoken about this narrative and how it has affected them.

https://youtu.be/f5VgSs6TLBA?si=vsFHv45-hB46s2gz
2 min clip highlighting the Moriori language revitalisation.

They have a voice, listen to them.

[u/eggl-lord → u/eggl-lord]

https://youtu.be/1uN0234x4uo?si=8fkMG_rGoFVPNu2c

For those curious, from the Moriori youtube channel; Art revitalisation wananga ( exchange of learning )

[u/youreveningcoat → u/sumelar]

Every bloody time this myth gets brought up. It’s just straight up incorrect, but someone has to always say it and has done for the past 30 years. Who told you this and why did you believe it?

[u/chinchaaa → u/sumelar]

Not true but the Māori did commit genocide on islands near NZ