Aotearoa: “Land of the long white cloud”
Traveling beyond the great land of Hawaiki, using the vast network of stars to navigate the open seas, the Maori arrive in Aotearoa “the land of the long white cloud”. The “great fleet” marked the great migration from this mythical land, thought to be modern day Tahiti to present day New Zealand. These Polynesian navigators and warriors defended their land and culture from many outside threats. These threats like many indigenous populations included, colonization, immense devastation of diseases, and cultural desecration. Through implementation of modern day government support and preservation of Maori language and cultural values, the Maori are making a relatively positive comeback. The Maori were and still are today are an inherently rich and diverse culture, deeply connected to the ocean and spirit of “Mana”.
Māori are the tangata whenua, the indigenous people of New Zealand. They arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) more than 1000 years ago from their mythical Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. Today Māori make up 14% of our population and their history, language and traditions are absolutely central to New Zealand’s identity. Today, of the 4.4 million New Zealanders (known as Kiwis informally), approximately 69% are of European descent, 14.6% are indigenous Māori, 9.2% Asian and 6.9% non-Māori Pacific Islanders. Significantly three-quarters of the population live in the North Island, with one-third of the population living in Auckland. The other main cities of Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton are where the majority of the remaining Kiwis reside. Hindi is now the fourth most common language in New Zealand, after English, Māori, and Samoan.
Aotearoa (New Zealand) was discovered in A.D. 925 by Kupe, a man from Ra'iatea in the Society Islands. The first settlers, Toi and his grandson Watonga, arrived from Tahiti in the middle of the 12th century. Finally, a fleet of seven canoes-Tainui, Te Arawa, Mataatua, Kurah Tokomaru, Aotea, and Takitumu-set out in about 1350 from a place named hawaiki, which was most likely Ra'iatea or Tahiti. This was known as the great fleet.
Abel Tasman (a Dutchman) was the first known European explorer to have discovered New Zealand in 1642.Abel Tasman’s only interaction with the Maori was violent and brief, four members of his crew were killed in retaliation. In 1643 Abel Tasman left New Zealand, and no European contact with the Maori was recorded for 127 years. Captain James Cook arrived in Poverty Bay in 1769. Over the next 60 years contact grew.
The Musket Wars of 1810, 1820s, and 1830s, about 1/5 of the Maori population was killed. Despite the label, these wars were not about the introduction of technological weapons but about customs (tikanga) of settling scores. Muskets contributed but did not cause the war. Regarded as New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 and the two cultures coexisted as a British colony. The first post-Treaty challenge to the Crown came in 1845, when Hōne Heke’s repeated attacks on the British flag at Kororāreka sparked the Northern War. From the mid-1840s to the early 1870s British and colonial forces fought to open up the North Island for settlement. Diseases such as measles, influenza and small pox devastated the Maori population due to contact from outsiders. Maori lacked immunity to these new infectious diseases.
After the wars, the struggle for land entered a new phase of land confiscations (‘raupatu’). As war stalled progress in the North Island, the South Island became the mainstay of the economy. New Zealand women became the first in the world to gain the right to vote in national elections in 1893.From 1886 the majority of non-Māori people living in New Zealand had been born here. The term ‘New Zealander’ had originally referred to Māori but now took on a new meaning When the Commonwealth of Australia was established in 1901, New Zealand declined to become its sixth state. New Zealand became an independent 'dominion' in 1907.
The Maori are people of the ocean. They refer to themselves as a tribe with a common origin. They refer to themselves as belonging to a waka (canoe) meaning which of the seven ancestors came on from the sacred land of Hawaiki. The tribal origin canoe is also the source of mana (power, prestige, and land ownership) and the focal point of genealogies, because they regard all members of the tribe as descendants from the ancestral canoe crew.
The Maori believed the universe, land, gods, men, and all living creatures are kinfolk, are bound in a tangle of common ancestry. The principle that ordered the apparent chaos of plants, animals, objects, and men in the tribal world was genealogy. In ancient times, the names of the ancestors were taught to the eldest son or the son with the most intelligence. The young man would be taught to recite in a special house of learning called a Whare Waananga. The young man would remain there until the older man, or Kaumatua had taught him his Whakapapa, or genealogy. The Maori would use the art of wood carving to preserve genealogical history. Each wharenui (meeting house) would have a carved wooden statue on the outside roof at the entrance.
The Kaumatua (eldest person) of the family primarily had in his possession a wooden Tokotoko stick (walking stick) which he used as a memory aid while giving the genealogies of the family at meetings. Because the tatai (lineage) is carved into the wood, the older person in the family who has the tokotoko can be useful for genealogical research
As for the Io cult, it has been claimed that although the Maori pantheon contain many gods, over them all presided lo: an eternal being, itself uncreated, and the creator of the other gods and the universe. Maori people define themselves by their iwi (tribe), hapu (sub-tribe), maunga (mountain) and awa (river). Whanau is the name given to family. This term embraces immediate family, in-laws and all those connected by blood ties.
The word Maoritanga is a term often for Māori culture, The Māori language is known natively as te reo Māori, or shortened to te reo (literally, the language).Māori cultural history is deeply tied into the culture of Polynesia as a whole. Aotearoa (New Zealand) is the southwestern corner of the Polynesian Triangle, a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: the Hawaiʻi islands, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and New Zealand (Aotearoa in Māori). Polynesian seafarers were ocean navigators and astronomers.
Researchers often label the time from about 1280 to about 1450 as the "Moa-hunter period" – after the moa, the large flightless bird that formed a large part of the diet of the early settlers. Nine different moa species occurred commonly in the south-east and east of the South Island.
The Maori diet was abundant in seafood, and plants native to the land. Large quantities of tī tubers were eaten that were slow-cooked in large umu or hāngi (earth ovens) to get rid of poison and to produce a slightly sweet pulp. Shellfish, fish, sharks and seals were also common foods. Native dogs (kurī) and rats were brought from the Pacific Islands. Seasonal activities included gardening, fishing and the hunting of birds. Main tasks were segregated for men and women, but there were also a lot of group activities involving food gathering and food cultivation.
Mana is a central aspect of Maori spirituality and interaction. Mana is defined as power, prestige or authority. Tapu is defined as a sacred, untouchable or under spiritual or religious protection. A key concept of social and economic exchange was utu, which is translated as revenge but also translated as "reciprocity" or "balanced exchange". Economically, this took the form of gift exchange. This was governed by three basic principles. Firstly, giving had to have the appearance of being free and spontaneous, without expectation of a return present. Secondly a strict system in which the receiver was required to not only reciprocate but to increase the value of the reciprocated gift. Thirdly the system demanded that additional social obligation had now been established to continue the exchanges. Failure to respond meant loss of mana or influence.
Traditionally Māori viewed disease as a punishment for breaking tribal tapu but they recognized that some families were prone to certain disease. The standard practice was to isolate the victim in a small shelter. Lepers were isolated and avoided as it was recognized the disease was contagious. Two places-a location on Maungatautari mountain, near Cambridge and a cave at Oremu in Taupo. Treatment of leprosy was by mixing two plants, Kawakawa and Ngaio with either dog or human feces.
As for the standard structure of building in traditional Māori settlements, they consisted of a simple sleeping puni (house/hut) about 2 meters x 3 meters with a low roof, an earth floor, no window and a single low doorway. Heating was provided by a small open fire in winter. The warmer climate of the north and northern and central coastal regions allowed better growth of subtropical plants such as yam and gourds. In Auckland, and on Mayor Island, volcanic land was cleared of rocks which were used for low shelter walls.
According to oral information Maori were familiar with the concept of schooling and were taught by mainly by the tohunga (witch doctor/shaman). From the time of their arrival in New Zealand, Māori lived in tribes that functioned independently under the leadership of their own chiefs. Ta Moko or Face carving/tattooing was a traditional practice especially by men of rank but also by women. The facial tattoo gives details of the wearers lineage status, origin. The most appropriate venue for any Māori cultural event is a marae meeting house or wharenui ( "the big house") stands. The haka , a chant, often described as a "war dance", is a chant with hand gestures and foot stomping, originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and power by way of abusing the opposition
For most people, partners were ideally chosen from within the hapū or iwi group. Marriages were often arranged, with children promised in marriage from a very young age. People also sometimes found their own partners, and would then seek agreement from senior members of their family. Extended family would meet and debate the merits of a relationship. In some cases, taonga (treasure) would be given by the family of one of those marrying to the family of the other.
Regulation of sex was not a primary purpose of marriage within Māori society. Most young people were expected to form sexual relationships, and might have more than one before settling down with a partner. The exception to this sexual freedom were( puhi) – young women of rank, who remained virgins before marriage. Wives were expected to bear and rear children, and manage the household: cleaning, making clothes, preserving food and cooking. It was also her responsibility to care for elderly or sick family members. In poorer family’s women would sometimes undertake paid work, and in many family’s wives assisted husbands with their work.