History of Maori, and Introduction to Their Culture and Traditions

Introduction to Maori culture

The history of Māori migration and settlement

The human settlement in New Zealand is new, when compared to other countries. There is an argument about the exact period however in the late 13th century first arrivals came from Polynesia. The Polynesians discovered the land on their exploration navigating by the wind, star and ocean currents. The navigator Kupe is credited with the discovery in some traditions and this first group of Polynesians arrived in New Zealand are known as Māori.

These tribes do not call themselves Māori, which means ordinary, until the Europeans arrived, after they came to know about the new land in 1642.

Māori mythology

Common threads in creation stories

People all over the world are preoccupied by the stories about creation. Every culture has established and continues to establish an explanation of the origin of world that is meaningful to the contemporary experience. These explanations take scientific, artistic and mythological forms.

The nature of life and existence leads to mythological creation traditions. There was a time when mythology was the most common explanation of existence. Every society had a mythical explanation about the nature of human being the origin of life, and the design of the cosmos. Although the wider context can be given to the Māori creation because of its unique content.

Themes in Māori creation myths

The major common things in all Māori narratives about the creation of the world include:

• The movement from nothing or darkness to something or light
• The separation of earth and sky
• The work of the gods in fashioning the natural world.

Apart from these common ideals there are various tribal versions of the story of creation.

Darkness and Light

Most versions use the terms te kore which means nothingness or the void, te pō which means darkness or the night and te ao which means light or the world. The movement between these different states is described in each story. Often the movement is represented by a genealogical chart: like a descent line, one state is born from another. The following example of the progression from darkness to light is adapted from a version given by hūkiki te ahukaramū, a 19th-century Ngāti Raukawa chief:

Te pō (night, darkness)

te ata (dawn)

te ao (light, world)

te ao-tū-roa (longstanding world)

te ao mārama (world of light)

This second example, adapted from te ahukaramū’s version, incorporates the movement from nothing to something:

Aituā (calamity, misfortune)

te kore (nothingness)

te mangu (darkness)

rangipōtiki (the sky)

The separation of earth and sky

Most mythologies speak about the creation of world as we know it. In the biblical tradition, god created the earth over a period of seven days in the navajo tradition, creation is thought of as a series, where worlds emerge from other worlds. In the Māori tradition, drama of the separation of earth and sky is the central act of creation.

The story of Māori creation starts with a explanation of darkness and nothingness, out of which Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatuanuku, mother earth came to be. The story continues stating sky and earth were joined together and their children were born between them. But the children decided to conspire to separate and the sky and this allowed the light to flow into the world. The moment of darkness to the world of light is achieved by the separation of parents by the children.

The basis of the natural world

The story explains how the children of the earth and sky became deities of various domains of the world. For ex, the atua becomes tane which means divine presence of the forest similarly sea is tangaroa, earthquakes is ruaumoko, winds and weather is tawhirimatea. The method for explaining the traditional māori way of natural world and its creation is weaving together this defies in a vast genealogy.

An oral culture

The most of the detailed history and legends about the Māori has been passed on orally. Common ancestors organized groups that traced their descent in the society. Reciting whakapapa meaning genealogies was an important way to communicate knowledge.

Warfare

The warfare was led on by the central factors to the culture such as mana meaning status and utu meaning reciprocity for most of time it was usually peaceful, the māori people lived in unprotected settlement or seasonal camps and not in fortified settlement.

Material culture

carving wood for important buildings and fashioning stone into various kinds of tools and ornaments was greatest achievement of māori material culture.warfare did not obstruct the trade in food and desirable stones but was itself a source by which these resources were taken.

The Treaty of Waitangi - Te Tiripi o Waitangi

There was an agreement made between the British crown and the Māori in1840. Today the treaty of waitangi is considered to be the founding document of New Zealand. With the arrival of Abel Tasman in 1642, the European discovery of New Zealand occured. The contact was extended from 1769 to 1770, when James Cooks expedition mapped much of coast line. There were approximately 125,000 Māori and about 2000 settlers in New Zealand by the late 1830’s. The biggest European settlement was Kororareka now called Russell. The first Europeans settlements on the coast of New Zealand were sealers and whalers later on followed by traders who traded with Maoris for natural resources such as timber and flax in exchange of guns and clothing. Missionaries also travel to New Zealand and introduced the Māori people to the Christian religion.

Pressures on Māori by European settlers

European living in New Zealand wanted to settle there permanently they wanted to buy land for farms and houses. But the Māori had unique concepts of land tenure, law and structures for social cohesions, which caused many misunderstandings. Many other European countries in France in particular found New Zealand to be a very interesting source of trade or a possible colony for settlement. In 1831 a petition was signed by 13 northern Māori chief’s and was sent to King William iv, asking him for recognition of their special trade and missionary contacts with Britain.

In 1833 James Busby was appointed as a representative to be the British resident in New Zealand for Māoris and Europeans to watch over British interest. In 1834 the northern chiefs of Waitangi were invited by Busby to choose a flag which was to be used on New Zealand ships to identify them. The flag of New Zealand was called the flag of “the independent tribes of New Zealand.” This flag was later replaced after signing the treaty of Waitangi the flag of Great Britain.

The British crown was very concerned and worried about the interest of the French in New Zealand. This was worsened by Baron Charles de treaty declaring himself as the sovereign chief of New Zealand. He took possession of land in 1835 and he claimed that he bought it in the Hokianga.

On the 28th Oct 1835, a declaration of independence of New Zealand was signed in a meeting at Waitangi by 34 chief’s and formed a confederation of united tribes of Aotearoa was formed in the declaration the Māori chief’s asked the King of England Willaim IV to act as the protector of the new state against any attempts on its independence. By 1839, 52 Māori chief’s has signed the declaration with the British as the saw it as the guarantee of their independence.

The signing of the Treaty of the Waitangi

A total of 43 chief signed the treaty of Waitangi on the 6th of February 1840. At Waitangi in the Bay of lslands. In 1939 James Busby was replaced as the Lieutenant Governor of the British crown by captain William Hobson. He negotiated he treaty with the Māori by the specific instructions of Lord Normanby the secretary of states for the colonies. By which New Zealand would become a British colony and the sovereignty of the country would be transferred to the British crown. Immediately after arriving in Waitangi on 29 January 1840, Hobson receive invitation to several 100 Māori to come to Waitangi on 5th of February. The Māori after hearing out the treaty debated for the next five hours about it. They weren’t ready to be British colony. The northern chief hone heke and tamti waka nene favored signing the treaty and also convince the other Maori chief to do the same. The treaty was signed the next day and return home.

The meeting was planned for 6th of February and Hobson agreed that those who wanted to sign the treaty should stay back Honbson also agreed that people in New Zealand could follow any religion they chose including the Māori custom. This has been added as the fourth article of the treaty. The treaty was signed at James Busbys house the house later was known to be called the treaty house. The first Māori to be signed was hone heke. Several copies were made in Māori language which was sent around the country the signed by the end of 1840 500 chiefs had signed including 13 women. Only 39 Māori signed an English copy of the treaty. After the official signing several copies were sent around another northland to be signed by more Māori and also else were in New Zealand. The Wai Kato heads and Manu Kau signed the English copy of the treaty.

Interpretations and meaning of the treaty of Waitangi

In 1840 the chief Nopera Pana-Kareao made the people understood about the treaty. Less than a year later, a Panakareao reversed this statement about the treaty.

The treaty read that Māori already had occupation of New Zealand. It records an agreement between chiefs of Māori, and the British crown, represented by William Hobson, with Māori giving the crown rights to govern in the interest of maintaining order and peace and to continue settling the country with British immigrants.

The crown in return guaranteed Māori the full status and rights of British citizenship and full protection of, and tribal authority over, their lands, fisheries, forests, villages, culture and treasures.

Differences in understanding

There are two versions of the treaty –a Māori language version and an English version translated by Edward and Henry Williams.

Only 39, out of the vast majority of Rangatara signed the English version of the treaty there are several fundamental differences of meaning between the two texts, most notably concerning the understanding and translation of the terms:

• Kāwanatanga
• Sovereignty
• Te tino rangatiratanga

New Zealand land wars

Within ten years of the signing of the treaty, māori had begun to appeal to the government with claims about unknown land sales, but with no success. The crown held to the treaty at first, partly because the new settlers needed the help of the māori people for food and other necessities of life, and partly because of the maori populaton.

The Waitangi tribunal

The Treaty of Waitangi act was passed in 1975. This gave the Waitangi tribunal the powers to investigate any crown breaches of the treaty in the future. In 1985 this was extended, so that claims could be brought about cases that had existed since 1840. Up until 1975, many attempts by Māori to get a hearing for their protests and petitions were ignored or dismissed. As settler demand for land grew, and it became more obvious that the British expected Māori to be subject to British law and authority, tension erupted into what is now known as the ‘New Zealand wars’. The conflict took place mainly in taranaki, waikato, hawke’s bay, and Auckland. They were generally fought between 1843 and 1870s with one result being that the government confiscated large areas of land from the Māori people.

How the tribunal works

However the tribunal must also take into account the cultural meanings of words, the circumstances of the time, comments made then, and the objectives of the people who made the treaty, so that practical solutions that support the spirit of the treaty can be found and made to work today. The Waitangi tribunal investigates claims by Māori against any act, policy, action or omission that affects them in a negative way. The Waitangi tribunal is instructed to make its decisions based on both the English and the Māori text, as both were signed, even though by different people. Where there is any doubt about the meaning of the text, according to international law, the indigenous language text (in this case Māori) comes first. The Waitangi tribunal only has the power to make recommendations to the government. It is the government who makes the final decision on what is to happen, and whether the tribunal’s recommendations will be carried through.

Conclusion

Though Māori have a strong postion due to the Treaty of Waitangi, they are seeking for more secure protection of their treaty rights through the constitutional provisions. The government recently announced a review of the treaty to include more Māori representation. Most of them are disadvantaged socially and economically, they are more concentrated on unskilled employments which are less paid. However there have been a significant improvement in the last two decades in life expectancy and employment rates.

A recent data shows ever 6 of 10 Māori prisoners are back in 48 months. Positives initiatives such as Drives of Crimes, a project to reduce the crime rate among Māori have reduced the percentage of youth appearing in the courts by 30%. In the past two decades there has been a steady increase in the percentage of Māori opting for higher education. Making Rotorua a bilingual city in August 2017 was another move in favour. Waves of urbanization amplified the tendency of young generations to go away from their iwi, language and culture.