h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi there,

In post 28 of the thread called 'What useful purpose is uniquely served by religion?' (F135418?thread=2184374&skip=20&show=20), you said:

> The Polynesian peoples regarded the sea as the spiritual force.
> In thanks for the birth of a perfect baby, the mother squirts milk
> from her breasts into the sea and floats imperfect babies off
> into the sea on little rafts. No wonder they are so good looking!


This sure is news to me - and I live in Polynesia...

Here in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the indigenous people are known as 'Tangata Whenua', which means 'people of the land' and the two most well-known gods are Rangi and Papa - gods of the sky and the land
see http://www.maoriart.net/rpc.htm
Rangi-nui räua ko Papa-tü-ä-nuku
Sky Father and Earth Mother

However, rather than wanting to discuss the heirarchy of Polynesian gods, I have come to your PS to ask what sources you have regarding:
(1) mother's milk being squirted into the sea
(2) 'imperfect babies' being floated off (to their deaths I presume) on a raft

Cheers
six7s

P.S. The line "No wonder they are so good looking!" is, to my eyes, nauseatingly stereotypical

I'm sorry if the information I posted about Polynesian folks is innacurate. I was describing information contained in a documentary film produced and screened by the BBC.

We in the UK regard non-political, non-fictional material broadcast on the BBC's television and radio stations to be truthful and factually accurate. Perhaps the information was more relevant to those people who live on smaller Pacific islands, rather than those who settled on the mainland. The reference to the people being good looking was an observation based on the material broadcast by the BBC which suggested that a selection process was in operation. The example shown in the BBC documentary showed a Polynesian baby being "returned" to the sea because it had a "strawberry" birthmark across it's face.

The BBC documentary showed footage of the other things I described in my append. I have great respect for the Polynesian people, because of the incredible journeys they have made across a very large ocean, and assumed the information screened by the BBC to be correct and I certainly meant no offence.

Yeah right, I live in the UK and I have not seen or heard of any program about this subject and its the sort ofprogram I would watch if it was on.

Your just another ignorant racist.

Hi DrRodge!

Thanks for your prompt reply - and I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner

> I'm sorry if the information I posted about Polynesian folks is innacurate.

Please don't apologise (at least to me) too soon - cos we (you and I) don't yet know if it is or isn't inaccurate

I acknowledge that my saying its "news to me" sounds like I was suggesting it is b0ll0x, but to be fair, simply because I live in Polynesia doesn't mean I know the truth... which is why I came here to your PS asked for your source(s) - which you have provided, so thanks!

> We in the UK regard non-political, non-fictional material broadcast on the
> BBC's television and radio stations to be truthful and factually accurate

You're not alone! People all around the world hold the BBC in high regard on such matters - and I suspect that, for the vast majority of the time, that trust is warranted

> Perhaps the information was more relevant to those people who live on
> smaller Pacific islands, rather than those who settled on the mainland.

I honestly have no idea - but my hunch is that, as Aotearoa/NZ was settled relatively recently (approx 1,000 years ago), the traditions and practices are likely to be quite similar throughout the SW Pacific

> The example shown in the BBC documentary showed a Polynesian baby being
> "returned" to the sea because it had a "strawberry" birthmark across it's face.

I have googled << bbc birthmark polynesia baby >> without success... Do you remember the name/date of that 'documentary film produced and screened by the BBC'?


> I have great respect for the Polynesian people, because of the incredible
> journeys they have made across a very large ocean, and assumed the
> information screened by the BBC to be correct and I certainly meant no offence.

Well, I for one am NOT offended

"ignorant"
You strike me as a rather intelligent and fair-minded person who - so I very much doubt that you're "ignorant"

"racist"
As with all 'isms', if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. However, a quick skim of a few of your posts here on hootoo suggests (to me) that you're actively thinking about important issues in life - so I suspect that you're much less of a "racist" than some others around here

Cheers
six7s