Maori Culture

Maori Arts include many artforms that people of European background might not be familiar with. Traditionally, the Maori did not keep a written history. Their history was kept in long and stylised song (waiata) and dance (Haka). The Maori evolved elaborate artistic traditions like in woodcarving (Whakairo Rakau), Tattoos (Moko) for the higher classes and cloting (Kakahu) made of fur, flax, feathers and other materials.

Jade (Pounamu) was highly prized by the Maori. The South Island of New Zealand, where the Jade was found, was called Te Wahi Pounamu (the place of Jade) or Te Wai Pounamu (the water of Jade). Since Jade is predominantly found on the West Coast, expeditions undertaken by the Maori to collect it often took months, following difficult alpine trails. Working the stone with their primitive equipment was no easy task but they managed to produce exquisite items. Traditionally, Jade is bought as a gift for another person, not for yourself.

A Bit of History

Polynesians, who were to become the Maori, arrived in New Zealand in a serie of migrations over several generations from around AD 1000. Driven from their homeland by land shortages or religious wars, the settlers on these great canoe voyages found in New Zealand temperate islands far larger than any islands of the Pacific.

Agriculture was not well developed in this early ´Archaic´period of settlement, perhaps because the climate was so much colder than the Polynesian homeland. Widespread agricultural societies based on the imported crops of kumara, taro and yams came later. This second era of settlement is also known as the Classic Maori period ( approximately 1300-1500) and was only possible with the development of a sophisticated system to protect root crops from frost.

In 1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sailed up the Wetst Coast of New Zealand and christened the land ´Nieuw Zeeland´ after the Dutch province of Zeeland. The Dutch left it alone until British navigator James Cook sailed around it in the Endeavour in 1769. The Treaty of Waitangi signalled the annexation of the country by Britain in 1840. Of New Zealands current population of around 3.8 million, 13.8% is Maori.

Maori society was (and to a large degree still is) tribal - the Maori refer to themselves in terms of their íwi (tribe). The tribe is often named after an ancestor , for example Ngati Kahungunu (the descendants of Kahungunu).

The four essential pillars of Maori society are spirituality, the land, hospitality and ancestors.

Spirituality (Wairu)

Maori religion, like that of other Polynesian cultures, was complex, with a pantheon of Gods representing the sea, sky, agriculture and other departments. Spirituality was expressed in all aspects of the daily life. Essential to Maori beliefs and society were the notions of Mauri (active life force) and Wairu (soul of spirit ) that reside in all things, and mana (personal spiritual power or prestige). All things were filled with Mauri, but upon death it was the wairu which went to the spirit world.

Land (Whenua)

Geographical features such as maunga (mountains) and awa (rivers) often delineated tribal boundaries, and were an important genealogical indicator. Many mountains were personified, featuring in intricate myths and stories. Even today, each tribe of the 160 tribal groups has one or more sacred maunga. Tribal Whakapapa (genealogies) always refer to the names of mountains, as they were an important part of the social grid.

Hospitality (Maanaki)

This is an extremely important pillar of Maori society, based on the principle that people are the most important thing in the world.

Ancestors (Tipuna)

Ancestor worship was important and, in the absence of a written language, long whakapapa, streching back hundreds of years, were committed to memory. Whakapapa