Jerry Coyne: NZ government spends $2.7 million to test already-debunked indigenous theory about the effect of lunar phases on plants

We’ve already learned that, with respect to some indigenous “scientific” theories, the New Zealand government is willing to commit the “Concorde” or “sunk cost” fallacy, continuing to fund lines of inquiry even though those projects have already been proven wrong or unproductive. A particularly egregious example, which I’ve documented before (see here, here and here) is the NZ government’s handing out $660,000 (NZ) to Priscilla Wehi of the University of Otago to pursue claims that the Polynesians (ancestors of the Māori) had discovered Antarctica in the early seventh century. That claim was debunked by Māori scholars themselves, who discovered it was based on a mistranslation of an oral legend. The real discoverers of Antarctica were members of a Russian expedition in 1820. But Wehi was still given a big chunk of money to pursue a palpably stupid idea—only because it was based on an faulty indigenous legend.

John Porter: Te Ao Maori Is Not How NZ Should Be Governed

Maori oral history narrates how Maori voyaged to Antarctica as early as the 7th century.

Today I’m having a bit of a rant about how Maori researchers believe that their ancestors may have been the first to discover the Earth’s southernmost continent, Antarctica, and how our MSM [mainstream media] fell for the story hook, line, and sinker.

Thus MSM proved themselves to be nothing but propaganda peddlers for the Government. Not a word of criticism did the MSM utter and nor did they attempt to seek out scientist-critics of this unbelievable myth.

Because there were actually credible declaimers and they were Maori!