This Horrid Practice

Shortly after the book appeared, it was featured in numerous news reports and on the New Zealand television programme 60 Minutes. The publication of This Horrid Practice was controversial because of the book's determination that cannibalism was widespread among New Zealand Māori until the mid-19th century. Māori cannibalism is a sensitive topic in New Zealand, and Moon anticipated that the book would be negatively received by some.[3]

The book prompted an anonymous but formal complaint to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, arguing that it "describes the whole of Maori society as violent and dangerous. This is a clearly racist view claiming a whole ethnic group has these traits."[4]

One of Moon's critics, Margaret Mutu, acknowledged that cannibalism was widespread throughout New Zealand but argued that Moon, as a Pākehā (white person), "did not understand the history of cannibalism and it was 'very, very hard for a Pakeha to get it right on these things'".[5]

Moon responded by stating that Mutu had "condemned me and announced to the media that I did not understand the history of cannibalism, although she admitted to not having read even a single sentence of the book."[6] Moon also charged his critics with attempted censorship and name-calling.[6] He commented:

What amazes me is that the critics who say I don’t understand the mechanisations of this practice often have not even read the book. Nor do they have evidence to the contrary. While they may not like its content, they can’t deny historical fact. And trying to censor this book is denying the past.[3]

Referring to the book, Dr Rawiri Taonui, New Zealand's first professor of Indigenous Studies, says about the author, "He's looked at no Maori language evidence, nothing from the Māori Land Court. He sets that all aside and makes a giant-sized conclusion about pre-European Maori society that's based on the view of a few Europeans".[7]