Māori Cultural Overview

The Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa, or New Zealand, an island nation of the South Pacific.

Geography

The Māori homeland is Aotearoa, now known as New Zealand. The country as a whole consists of about 600 islands, dominated by its two largest, North and South. In the past, the term ‘Aotearoa’ was only used to describe the North Island, where the majority of Māori people and now New Zealanders have lived. The North is smaller but warmer and more suited to agriculture, whereas the South is colder and rockier. Both islands see regular geothermal and volcanic activity.

• Climate: Temperate to subtropical

• Capital: Wellington

• Total Population: 600,000 (2013 est.)

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History

The Māori, like other Polynesian peoples, are the descendants of a long tradition of seafaring exploration and settlement. Based on archaeological evidence and Māori histories, their ancestors likely reached the islands around 1300 CE. From there, they spread and diversified into many different tribes, each with its own customs. Like other Polynesian settlers, the early Māori transformed their new homes. They hunted the largest bird ever known, the moa, to extinction by around 1500 and imported crops like taro, gourds, and yams for farming. They built walled fortresses and sailed to war in huge canoes, a complex network of societies expanding within a limited area.

European contact began a few centuries later, when British Captain James Cook landed at modern Poverty Bay in 1769. His arrival heralded a wave of hardship, conflict, and opportunity for the Māori. Aotearoa soon became a popular place for ships to rest and resupply. Sailors brought with them new staple foods like the potato, but also unfamiliar diseases that devastated whole villages. The introduction of firearms encouraged longer and bloodier wars among the Māori.

Despite these challenges, relations between the indigenous people and their guests remained for the most part respectful. In 1840, facing new threats from colonial powers, Māori representatives signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British Empire. Under the treaty, the Māori recognized British authority but retained many legal rights. Uneven enforcement of that treaty, however, led to the gradual loss of Māori lands to white settlers. This led to the New Zealand Wars fought between 1845 and 1872. Though the Māori fought valiantly, each defeat eroded their landholdings further. Activists of the 20th and 21st centuries have focused their efforts on improving Māori rights, recognition, and access to opportunity.

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Daily Life

The Māori are commonly remembered as warriors today, but much of their traditional lifestyles revolved around fishing and farming. The Polynesian explorers were not only master sailors, but also master colonizers. Before their arrival, the islands of Aotearoa were not especially suited to human inhabitation, with few land animals and edible plants to choose from. In response, the ancestors of the Māori imported more efficient crops like the yam, sweet potato, cabbage tree, gourd, and taro root. In addition, men hunted birds and seals and fished to provide meat for their families. These could all be cooked together in sand ovens known as hangi. Most lived in rectangular thatched houses decorated with carved wooden beams. Common clothing included long cloaks made from flax or feathers, worn over breechcloths for men and skirts for women.

The arrival of European and American interests in Aotearoa introduced new food sources like the potato, pork, poultry, and various vegetables. Potatoes and pork have since become staples of Māori cuisine, primarily through the ‘boil-up’ meal still cooked in sand ovens. Today, Māori people for the most part live like any other New Zealanders. The extent to which any individual practices traditional customs is based on personal preference.

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Society

The Māori never unified under a single leader. Instead, communities organized on a local basis around family groups and villages. Iwi tribes traced a common ancestry, typically going back to the original canoes of Polynesian settlers. Smaller families within the iwi, or whānau, lived together in hapu villages guarded by pa forts. People who claimed direct, prestigious ancestry held more important roles in their society, such as rangatira nobles and tohunga craftsmen and priests. All members lived within the tapu system, a spiritual and ethical practice meant to protect sacred people, places, objects, and knowledge. Violations of tapu were often punishable by death.

In 1840, over 500 Māori, both men and women, signed the Treaty of Waitangi with Great Britain. Although the treaty guaranteed their rights as citizens within the empire, it also spurred the destruction of the hapu and Māori way of life. Through warfare, discrimination, and changing economics, the Māori were gradually pushed to integrate with broader New Zealand society. Today, the question of how to preserve and respect Māori culture while encouraging the prosperity of Māori descendants is still a major political issue in New Zealand.

• Major Languages: Te Reo Māori, English

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Economy

For most of their history in Aotearoa, Māori communities produced most of their own foods, tools, and art. Trade was primarily limited to valuable goods like jade, argillite, preserved foods, and obsidian. Within each village, skilled tohunga craftsmen possessed and passed down sacred knowledge for more advanced arts like canoe-building. In addition, gift-giving played an important role in Māori society, reflecting the status of both parties.

The 19th century saw wage labor and global markets disrupt the traditional economies of Aotearoa. Māori men began finding work as skilled sailors and whalers, while others sold crops, water, and other provisions to visiting ships. Their economic position diminished through land loss; as New Zealand’s sheep industry boomed, many Māori families found themselves pushed onto land poorly suited to ranching. Modern Māori communities still face higher rates of poverty than New Zealand as a whole.

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Beliefs

The historic Māori faith bears many similarities to those of other Polynesian cultures. It recognizes a spiritual power within all things, or mana, which moves between living things or objects through an energy called mauri. This power is derived from gods, or atua, who inhabit the natural world and shape the destinies of its people.

Respecting the gods and protecting mana are the primary goals of the tapu system. The more mana a person carried, the more tapu restricted his or her contact with common people and objects. Members of the tohunga class held tapu knowledge related to their trade, only passing it down to worthy apprentices. Both men and women could be tohunga, though they worked in different trades. Rangatira nobles inherited mana from their ancestors and were often physically isolated from commoners.

Today, Māori people are religiously diverse. Christianity is common but not pervasive, and many people still practice their older faith or a mixture of both.

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Arts & Music

Māori arts are perhaps best exemplified by their carvings, commonly seen adorning houses and other buildings. These sculptures are characterized by swirling patterns and exaggerated faces. Nearly all arts were regulated by the tapu system and protected by the tohunga. Carvings, for example, carried spiritual power and family histories for those who could interpret them. In addition, craftsmen worked with materials like jade, argillite, and whalebone to produce ornamental objects, tools, and weaponry. Both men and women received tattoos and performed musically. The haka, a popular dance today, is a group performance staged for a variety of reasons, including war and greetings.

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References

“1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.” Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 13 Dec. 2012, teara.govt.nz/en/1966.

“2013 Census QuickStats about Māori.” Stats NZ, Government of New Zealand, archive.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-maori-english/population.aspx.

Buchanan, Dorothy, and Keri Kaa. “Traditional Māori Music.” Discover Te Kohinga Taonga, National Library of New Zealand, http://digital1.natlib.govt.nz/support/discover/m3essay.htm.

Metge, Joan. Rautahi: The Māoris of New Zealand. Routledge. 2004.

Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History. Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris eds. Bridget Williams Books. 2014.

“The World Factbook: New Zealand.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 May 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html.

White, John. The Ancient History of the Māori, Vol. 1. G. Didsbury, 1887.

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Traditions of the Ancestors

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