Yes. Moriori are a distinct and surviving kin group. Some still live in the Chathams, some live on mainland Aotearoa and overseas. ... His book The Quest for Origins shows how the Moriori myth arose in a period when Pākehā believed Māori were dying out.

Are there any Moriori left?

Currently there are around 700 people who identify as Moriori, most of whom no longer live on the Chatham Islands. During the late 19th century some prominent anthropologists mistakenly proposed that Moriori were pre-Māori settlers of mainland New Zealand, and possibly Melanesian in origin.

What happened to the Moriori in New Zealand?

That the Moriori were primitive, inferior folk. And that eventually, when Māori arrived on these shores, they massacred, ate, and completely wiped out the Moriori people. The myth was busted decades ago - yet it has persisted for generations.