Māori Arts & Music
A look at the traditional arts and music of Māori groups.
Traditional Arts of the Māori
For the historic Māori people, artistic works held both a material and a spiritual value. Artists were members of the skilled and priestly class, or tohunga, and followed the strict rules of tapu. They carved canoes, decorated houses, and erected pouwhenua poles similar to the decorated house-poles of America’s Northwest coast. Their work told the histories of families and their gods to those who could read it. At marae, or meeting grounds, ceremonial carved houses are still covered with the ancestral history of an iwi group. Valuable items, including pendant necklaces, weapons, and tools, might be made from materials like jade, argillite, or whale bone. The common Māori carving style is marked by prominent faces and highly detailed spiral patterns. Weaving, a female art, belonged to its own schools of sacred knowledge. Both genders received tattoos, with men’s being larger and more prominent.
Māori Music and Dance
The Māori also possess a strong tradition of music and dance. Traditional instruments, Taonga pūoro, primarily consisted of wind instruments like flutes and whistling gourds. They accompanied recreational and ceremonial dances performed by both men and women. Like many other cultures, the Māori sang songs of joy, prayer, loss, social organization, greeting, and war. The haka, a dance meant to convey emotion, remains popular at tourist destinations and cultural demonstrations today. The haka is not exclusively a war dance and can also be performed by women.
European influence contributed to the music of the Māori, who adopted its tunes, styles, and instruments alongside their existing customs. This led to a proliferation of musical genres within Māori communities.
Modern Māori Arts
Māori art is both a preserved and living tradition. While efforts are made to continue the ancient arts, new generations of Māori continue to develop, refine, and adapt them to their own tastes. Māori artists now work in all media and may perform in musical genres like rock, hip hop, and more.
References
“1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.” Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 13 Dec. 2012, teara.govt.nz/en/1966.
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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