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Page one from the Church of England Catechism in Maori, Kerikeri, 1830. Alexander Turnbull Library. PUBL-0181-01
Page one from the Church of England Catechism in Maori, Kerikeri, 1830. Alexander Turnbull Library. PUBL-0181-01

Description

This is page one from Ko te Katekihama III. The other title is, Church [of England] Catechism in Maori, Kerikeri, 1830.
The Lord’s prayer was first published in Maori in 1820, and the first Maori edition of the New Testament was printed in 1837. In 1868 the first complete Maori Bible was printed. It is claimed that by 1845 around half of the adult Māori population could read some Māori.

Discussion 

Why were parts of the Bible some of the first writing to be translated into Maori?
 

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