Re: bark cloth (Re: Polynesian canoes

From: benlizross (benlizro_at_ihug.co.nz)
Date: 07/29/04 

Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 09:04:42 +1200

Yuri Kuchinsky wrote:
>
> benlizross wrote:
> >
> > Yuri Kuchinsky wrote:
> > >
> > > All of this is completely irrelevant.
> > >
> > > To Niblack, these cloaks looked very similar. That's all
> > > that matters here.
> >
> > Again the voice of faith: do not question, only believe.
> > Somebody in the 1880s thought that X looked like Y, and that is all we
> > need to know.
> > Of course Niblack did say that a close examination would show that they
> > were different. It would show, for example, that they were made from
> > completely different plants.
> > So just what was it that made them look so similar? And is that
> > particular aspect of similarity something which could not possibly have
> > been arrived at independently, and therefore must be evidence of some
> > connection between the two peoples?
> > Your lack of interest in such question surprises me.
> >
> > Ross Clark
>
> Either there are similarities or there are none. You have to
> come clean on this one; it's a yes or no question.
>
> But I guess you'd rather keep playing your word games
> instead...

As usual, you completely misrepresent the situation.

Throughout this discussion, everyone has accepted Niblack's testimony
that these things looked similar to him. There have been some
reservations about the fact that he was looking at museum specimens, and
about whether he was an expert observer. But not from me. I am willing
to take his statement at face value. So your remarks about "coming
clean" and "word games" are completely misplaced.

The question now becomes, just what is the nature of this similarity?
And how is it to be explained? These were the questions I asked in my
immediately preceding post, which you have ignored.

Someone has noted that Niblack himself offers an explanation which does
not involve a direct historical connection between the NW Coast and New
Zealand. For some reason you are unwilling to accept this, though you do
not explain why.

I repeat: Your lack of interest in such questions surprises me.

Ross Clark

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