Re the Military Funeral on You Tube. If that was a recent clip it was probably covering one of the funerals for some of our soldiers killed in Afghanistan. (we lost 5, including a young female medic in the space of about 2 weeks, to IED's, last month). Maori arrived in NZ about 700 years ago, thought to come from Polynesia. The English and French followed (invaded) about 150 years ago. Capt Cook, from England, discovered and charted NZ. Some areas were settled relatively peacefully but other areas (like where we live) experienced quite bloody battles. The figures you mentioned wouldn't have been on a cemetery gate, they were probably either at the Military Camp or at the entrance to a Marae and would have been Maori carvings. To us, Maori look like Maori and Polynesians, be they from any of the Islands in Polynesia, look like wherever they come from. The soldiers you refer to as looking Polynesian, were probably not Maori but from Polynesia. Our Military, and indeed society, has a rather high percentage of other Cultures from Polynesia (and also Asia).

Cheers