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THE MAORITHE MAORITHE MAORITHE MAORI:

NEW

ZEALAND’S

INDIGENOUS

PEOPLE

Where in the World?

Māori oral history:

•arrival of ancestors from HAWAIKI

• (a mythical homeland in tropical Polynesia)

• large ocean-going canoes.

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Arrival

• Waves of migration

• from Eastern Polynesia

• to New Zealand between AD 800 and 1300.

Theories of Origins

Pacific populations:

TAIWANTAIWANTAIWANTAIWAN

around 5,200 years ago

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Land of New Zealand

• Was forested land• abundant birdlife

– now extinct Moa

species

– the giant Haast’s Eagle

(which preyed upon the moa)

Maori Culture

• developed in geographic isolation

• performing arts such as the haka

• carving and weaving

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Maori Art

Arts & Crafts:

Maori literature, stories and legend were passed down

through weaving and carvings

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AGRICULTURE

North: grew sweet potatoes (kumara), taro, yam, North: grew sweet potatoes (kumara), taro, yam, North: grew sweet potatoes (kumara), taro, yam, North: grew sweet potatoes (kumara), taro, yam, paper mulberrypaper mulberrypaper mulberrypaper mulberry

South: hunted Mao (extinct), seals, whales and South: hunted Mao (extinct), seals, whales and South: hunted Mao (extinct), seals, whales and South: hunted Mao (extinct), seals, whales and caught fish and shell fishcaught fish and shell fishcaught fish and shell fishcaught fish and shell fish

Traditional Tatoos

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• The Maori people used knives and chisels (uhi)

• the ink was applied by incisions

• the uhi was made from an albatross bone

• the black fill was derived from burnt wood

Traditional Tatoos

• tattooing at adolescence

• celebrate important events throughout life

– transition from childhood to adulthood

– series of rites and rituals

• No tattoos, no status or worth

• show of strength, courage and status (it is an insult for other races to wear these!)

Traditional Tatoos

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Myths

• Until the 19th Century, Maori transferred history by

word-of-mouth – ORAL TRADITION– Song and Dance in particular

• The Beginning:“Nothingness and after nine “Nothingness and after nine “Nothingness and after nine “Nothingness and after nine nothingnessesnothingnessesnothingnessesnothingnessesbecame the dawn. From the womb of the darkness became the dawn. From the womb of the darkness became the dawn. From the womb of the darkness became the dawn. From the womb of the darkness came the Sky father and the Earth mother. They came the Sky father and the Earth mother. They came the Sky father and the Earth mother. They came the Sky father and the Earth mother. They had 6 children: god of the winds, god of the forest, had 6 children: god of the winds, god of the forest, had 6 children: god of the winds, god of the forest, had 6 children: god of the winds, god of the forest, etc… They separated their parents and there etc… They separated their parents and there etc… They separated their parents and there etc… They separated their parents and there became light. All the children were male so the sky became light. All the children were male so the sky became light. All the children were male so the sky became light. All the children were male so the sky father created a woman out of soil.”father created a woman out of soil.”father created a woman out of soil.”father created a woman out of soil.”

Myths

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• Spirituality – everyone has an active life force, soul

and spirit, and personal spiritual prestige and power.

• LandLandLandLand – Mountains and rivers delineated tribal boundaries. Mountains were personified and became part of their social identity.

•Hospitality – People are the most important things in the world and showing them a good time is essential

• Ancestors – Proper reverence to ancestors is important. Genealogy has to be committed to memory

• Largely a collective society, not individualistic

Key Values of their Culture

European contact

• European settlement relatively recent

• By 1830, estimates 2,000 Europeans living among the Māori

• European New Zealanders are referred to as Pakeha

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Impact: The Musket Wars

•1805 to 1840 •muskets upset

the balance of power among Māori tribes

•bloody inter-tribal warfare, known as the MUSKET MUSKET MUSKET MUSKET WARSWARSWARSWARS

Population Dropping• European diseases: influenza and

measles

• killed an unknown number of Māori

• estimates vary between 10% and 50%

• 1840: Maori population – 100,000European population – 2,000

• 1896: Maori population – 42,113European population – 700,000

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Empire1800’s:

• Increasing Christian missionary activity

• growing European settlement • lawlessness of Europeans in

New Zealand = pressure for the British Crown to intervene

• Queen Victoria annexed New Zealand by Royal Proclamation in January 1840

Treaty of Waitangi

• Negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi with

northern chiefs

• Land Treaty• Other Māori chiefs later

signed this treaty

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Only a minority sign

• Only 500 chiefs out of the 1500 sub-tribes of New Zealand signed the Treaty

• Influential chiefs refused to sign – Te Wherwhero in

Waikato

– Te Kani-a-Takirau from

the east coast of the North Island

• Made the Māori British subjects• in return for a guarantee of Māori

property-rights and tribal autonomy

• DISPUTEDISPUTEDISPUTEDISPUTE: did it cede Māori sovereignty?

• Māori chiefs signed a Māori-language version of the Treaty that did not accurately reflect the English-language version

Treaty of Waitangi

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The Land Wars

• 1860s • Maori disputes to land

dealings

• viewed as a challenge to the British system of royalty

• led to the New Zealand LAND WARSLAND WARSLAND WARSLAND WARS

• The colonial government

confiscatedconfiscatedconfiscatedconfiscated large tracts of tribal land as punishment

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The Land Court

Between 1840 and 1890 Māori

lost 95 % of their land

CHALLENGES

LOSSLand

Resources

Customary foods

Plant medicines

Extended family

Language

Freedom to roam

Freedom to practice their own customs and religious rites

in a place of choosing

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Survival

• The decline of the Māori population did not continue; instead levels recovered.

• Many Māori retain their cultural identity.

MAORI TODAY

Recently:• the New Zealand government

negotiated with the Māori to

provide redress– failures to honour the

Treaty of Waitangi

• By 2006, NZ$900 million in settlements, much of it in the form of land deals

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Maori Party leaders

• 10% of the parliamentaryseats are reservedfor Maori

• controversial system • may be abolished in

2014 (if all the treatysettlements have been resolved)

MP Tariana Turia