Maori battlefield success was explained via claims of Israelite descent

Evidence

This trope, while elevating certain native peoples, usually for some specific and self-serving reason, had the incidental effect of removing actual Jews from the frame of sacred history. The Masai, remember, were linked with the “oldest Hebrews,” the Shona with “the good old Jews.” — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 339 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Missionaries ignored disconfirming evidence to prove Israelite origins of chosen peoples; Missionaries used the Israelite-r kinship trope to recruit allied minorities against native majorities; Missionary Torrance argued the Ch’iang people were descended from Israelite missionaries to China (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Elevating native peoples as noble Hebrews displaced living Jews from sacred history #complicates (0.78) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 339