Maori culture in New Zealand

For thousands of years, Maori have been tangata whenua, the indigenous people of Aotearoa. Arriving here from the Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki more than 1,000 years ago, the great explorer Kupe was the first Maori to reach these lands.

Maori legend says that New Zealand was fished out of the sea by the brave demigod Maui.

According to the myths and legends of the Maori and Polynesians, Maui was a gifted and intelligent demigod who won the love of his supernatural parents after a miraculous birth and upbringing.

He was brave and witty and taught useful arts to mankind , although he was not always loved. He tamed the sun and brought fire to the world, but one of his most famous feats was the creation of the islands we know today as Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Maori believe that one night Maui's four brothers decided to go fishing and leave him behind. Hearing their plans and not wanting to be left out, Maui hid under the floorboards of his brother's canoe and waited until they were far from shore before revealing himself. He cut a magical fishhook from the ancestor's jaw and threw it deep into the sea, chanting powerful words.

Soon Maui realized that he had caught something. Something huge! With the help of his brothers, the catch was thrown to the surface of the water. Much to their surprise, the fish they caught was actually a huge piece of land, and they were delighted to discover that they had discovered "Te Ika a Māui" (the fish of Maui), which we know today as the North Island.

Before Maui could thank Tangaroa (god of the sea) for the gift of this land, Maui's brothers began carving out pieces of huge fish, creating the many valleys, mountains and lakes you see today on the North Island.

The "Te Waka a Māui" (Maui's canoe) or what we now know as the South Island is said to have been a waka or canoe from which Maui and his brothers fished. The Kaikoura Peninsula on the east coast of the South Island is believed to be the site of the canoe seat where Maui stood to pull in his giant catch.

Stewart Rakiura Island is believed to have been the canoe's anchor and is called "Te Punga a Māui" (the anchor stone of Maui).

The Maori were the first inhabitants of Aotearoa, New Zealand, guided by the great navigator Kupe.

According to the Ngapuhi people (a tribe of the Far North), the first explorer to reach New Zealand was his fearless ancestor Kupe. Using the stars and sea currents as navigational guides, he set sail across the Pacific Ocean in his waka hourua (floating canoe) from his ancestral Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. Kupe is said to have landed at Hokianga Harbor in Northland about 1,000 years ago.

Where is Hawaiki?

You won't find Hawaiki on the map, but it is believed that The Maori came from an island or group of islands in Polynesia in the South Pacific. There are clear similarities between Maori language and culture and other Polynesian islands, including the Cook Islands, Hawaii and Tahiti.

Over the next few hundred years, more waka-hurua followed Kupe, landing in various parts of New Zealand. The Polynesian migration was planned and purposeful, with many waka gurua returning to Hawaiki. Today Māori are part of iwi (tribes), a group of people who are descendants of a common ancestor and are associated with a particular region or area of ​​New Zealand. Each iwi has its own hapu (sub-tribes). Iwi can trace all of their ancestry and whakapapa (genealogy) back to specific waka hourua. The waka-horua families that arrived in Aotearoa were Tainui, Te Arawa, Mataatua, Kurahaupo, Tokomaru, Aotea and Takitimu.

Maori were skilled hunters, gatherers and farmers. They wove fishing nets from harakeke (flax) and carved fishhooks from bone and stone. They hunted native birds, including the moa, the world's largest bird, using a series of ingenious traps and snares.

The Maori farmed the land and brought vegetables from Polynesia, including kumara (sweet potatoes), and a hangi (earth oven) was often prepared. They also ate local vegetables, roots and berries. Wicker baskets were used to carry food and were often stored in a pataca, a storage facility raised on stilts.

To protect themselves from attack by others, Maori built pā (fortified villages). Built in strategic locations, pā were elaborately constructed with a series of palisades and trenches to protect the inhabitants from intruders. Today, many historical pā sites can be found throughout the country.

Maori warriors were strong and fearless, skilled in the use of a variety of traditional weapons, including the spear-like Taiaha and the club-like Mere. Today these weapons can be seen in Maori ceremonies such as wero (challenge). You can also find these traditional weapons in museums.

Although the first European to see this country was a Dutchman, it was the British who colonized New Zealand.

The first European to see New Zealand was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. He was on an expedition to discover a large southern continent, the "Great Southern Land", which was believed to be rich in minerals. In 1642, while searching for this continent, Tasman saw "a large high-lying land" off the west coast of the South Island.

Abel Tasman annexed the country to Holland under the name "Staten Landt" (later changed to "New Zealand" by Dutch cartographers). Sailing along the west coast of the country, Tasman first encountered the Maori at the top of the South Island in what is now called Golden Bay. Two waka (canoes) full of Maori men spotted Tasman's boat. Tasman sent his men in a small boat, but due to various misunderstandings, it was rammed by one of the waka. The skirmish resulted in the death of four of Tasman's men.

Tasman never set foot in New Zealand, and after sailing along the West Coast, sailed to some of the Pacific islands and then returned to Batavia (now Jakarta) in Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). His mission to New Zealand was considered a failure by his employers, the Dutch East India Company, because Tasman found "no treasure or things of great benefit."

Captain James Cook, sent to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus, was also tasked with searching for the large southern continent, which was believed to be exists in the southern seas. Young Cook's Young Nick spotted a plot of land (now called Young Nick's Head) near Gisborne in 1769. Cook successfully circumnavigated and mapped the country, and led two more expeditions to New Zealand before being killed in Hawaii in 1779.

Early European Settlers

Until 1840, the main people who came to New Zealand were whalers, seal hunters and missionaries. These settlers had significant contact with Maori, especially in the coastal areas. Māori and Pākehā (Europeans) traded extensively, and some Europeans lived among the Māori. The contribution of firearms to Maori intertribal warfare, along with European diseases, led to a sharp decline in the Maori population during this time.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 and was an agreement between the British Crown and a large number of Maori chiefs.

Today Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) is widely accepted as the constitutional document that establishes and guides the relationship between the Crown in New Zealand (embodied by the government) and Māori.

Around this time there were 125,000 Maori and about 2,000 settlers living in New Zealand. The first European settlers were sealers and whalers, followed by missionaries. Traders also came to trade natural resources such as Maori flax and timber in exchange for clothing, weapons and other products.

As more immigrants settled permanently in New Zealand, they were not always honest in their dealings with Maori over land. A number of Maori chiefs sought protection from William IV, King of England, and recognition of their special trading and missionary contacts with Britain. They feared being taken over by countries like France and wanted to end the lawlessness of the British in their country.

As the British settlement in New Zealand grew, the British government decided to make a formal agreement with the Maori chiefs to become a British colony. The treaty was written in English and then translated into Maori.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. Forty-three Northland chiefs signed the treaty that day. More than 500 Maori chiefs signed it as it was driven around the country over the next eight months.

After its signing, many of the rights guaranteed to Maori in the Treaty of Waitangi were ignored. To remedy this, the Waitangi Tribunal was created in 1975. It ruled on several claims brought by Maori tribes (iwi), and in many cases compensation was granted.

Although controversy over the terms of the treaty continues to this day, it is still considered the founding document of New Zealand.

The grounds and buildings where the treaty was signed have been preserved. Today the Treaty of Waitangi Grounds is a popular attraction to learn more about the treaty. Here you can explore the museum, watch a cultural performance inside a carved meetinghouse, and visit a colonial mission house, a historic flagpole, and a beautiful waka taua (Maori war canoe).