|
|
|
|
Maori
|
| |
|
| |
The Maori (commonly ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300. The Maori settled the islands and developed a distinct culture.
Europeans came to New Zealand in increasing numbers from the late 18th century, and the technologies and diseases they brought with them destabilised Maori society.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Maori' Start a new discussion about 'Maori' Answer questions from other users |
Recent Posts
Encyclopedia
The Maori (commonly ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300. The Maori settled the islands and developed a distinct culture.
Europeans came to New Zealand in increasing numbers from the late 18th century, and the technologies and diseases they brought with them destabilised Maori society. After 1840, Maori lost much of their land and went into a cultural and numerical decline, but their population began to increase again from the late 19th century, and a cultural revival began in the 1960s.
Naming and self-naming
In the Maori language the word maori means "normal", "natural" or "ordinary". In legends and other oral traditions, the word distinguished ordinary mortal human beings from deities and spirits (wairua).
Early visitors from Europe to the islands of New Zealand generally referred to the inhabitants as "New Zealanders" or as "natives", but Maori became the term used by Maori to describe themselves in a pan-tribal sense.
Maori people often use the term tangata whenua (literally, "people of the land") to describe themselves in a way that emphasises their relationship with a particular area of land — a tribe may function as tangata whenua in one area, but not in another. The term can also refer to Maori as a whole in relation to New Zealand (Aotearoa) as a whole.
The Maori Purposes Act of 1947 required the use of the term 'Maori' rather than 'Native' in official usage, and the "Department of Native Affairs" became the "Department of Maori Affairs".
Prior to 1974 ancestry determined the legal definition of "a Maori person". For example, bloodlines determined whether a person should enrol on the Maori or general (European) electoral roll; in 1947 the authorities determined that one man, five-eighths Maori, had improperly voted in the general (European) parliamentary electorate of Raglan.
The Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1974 changed the definition to one of cultural self-identification. In matters involving money (for example scholarships or Waitangi Tribunal settlements), the authorities generally require some demonstration of ancestry or cultural connection, but no minimum “blood” requirement exists.
Origins
Archaeological and linguistic evidence (Sutton 1994) suggests that several waves of migration came from Eastern Polynesia to New Zealand between AD 800 and 1300. Maori oral history describes the arrival of ancestors from Hawaiki (a mythical homeland in tropical Polynesia) in large ocean-going canoes (waka: see Maori migration canoes). Migration accounts vary among tribes (iwi), whose members may identify with several waka in their genealogies or whakapapa.
No credible evidence exists of human settlement in New Zealand prior to the Polynesian voyagers; on the other hand, compelling evidence from archaeology, linguistics, and physical anthropology indicates that the first settlers came from East Polynesia and became the Maori. Language evolution studies at the University of Auckland suggest that most Pacific populations originated in Taiwan around 5,200 years ago.
Development of Maori culture
The Eastern Polynesian ancestors of the Maori arrived in a forested land which featured abundant birdlife, including now extinct (due to mass hunting) moa species weighing from 20 to 250 kg. Other species, also now extinct, included a swan, a goose, and the giant Haast's Eagle which preyed upon the moa. Marine mammals, in particular seals, thronged the coasts, with coastal colonies much further north than .
In the mid-19th century, people discovered large numbers of moa-bones alongside human tools, with some of the bones showing evidence of butchery and cooking. Early researchers, such as Julius von Haast, a geologist, incorrectly interpreted these remains as belonging to a prehistoric Paleolithic people; later researchers, notably Percy Smith, magnified such theories into an elaborate scenario with a series of sharply-defined cultural stages which had Maori arriving in a Great Fleet in 1350 AD and replacing the so-called "moa-hunter" culture with a "classical Maori" culture based on horticulture. anthropological theories, however, recognise no evidence for a pre-Maori people; the archaeological record indicates a gradual evolution in culture that varied in pace and extent according to local resources and conditions.
In the course of a few centuries, growing population led to competition for resources and an increase in warfare. The archaeological record reveals an increased frequency of fortified pa, although debate continues about the amount of conflict. Various systems arose which aimed to conserve resources; most of these, such as tapu and rahui, used religious or supernatural threats to discourage people from taking species at particular seasons or from specified areas.
As Maori continued in geographic isolation, performing arts such as the haka developed from their Polynesian roots, as did carving and weaving. Regional dialects arose, with minor differences in vocabulary and in the pronunciation of some words. However, the language retains close similarities to other Eastern Polynesian tongues, to the point where a Tahitian chief on Cook's first voyage in the region acted as an interpreter between Maori and the crew of the Endeavour.
Around 1500 AD a group of Maori migrated east to Rekohu (the Chatham Islands), where, by adapting to the local climate and the availability of resources, they developed a culture known as Moriori — related to but distinct from Maori culture in mainland Aotearoa. A notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Maori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship.
Interactions with Europeans before 1840
European settlement of New Zealand occurred in relatively historical times. New Zealand historian Michael King in The Penguin History Of New Zealand describes the Maori as "the last major human community on earth untouched and unaffected by the wider world."
Early European explorers, including Abel Tasman (who arrived in 1642) and Captain James Cook (who first visited in 1769), recorded their impressions of Maori. From the 1780s, Maori encountered European and American sealers and whalers; some Maori crewed on the foreign ships. A trickle of escaped convicts from Australia and deserters from visiting ships, as well as early Christian missionaries, also exposed the indigenous New Zealand population to outside influences.
By 1830, estimates placed the number of Europeans living among the Maori as high as 2,000. The newcomers had varying status-levels within Maori society, ranging from slaves to high-ranking advisors. Some remained little more than prisoners, while others abandoned European culture and identified as Maori. These Europeans "gone native" became known as Pakeha Maori. Many Maori valued them as a means to the acquisition of European technology, particularly firearms. When Pomare led a war-party against Titore in 1838, he had 132 Pakeha Maori mercenaries among his warriors. Frederick Edward Maning, an early settler, wrote two lively accounts of life in these times, which have become classics of New Zealand literature: Old New Zealand and History of the War in the North of New Zealand against the Chief Heke.
During the period from 1805 to 1840 the acquisition of muskets by tribes in close contact with European visitors upset the balance of power among Maori tribes, leading to a period of bloody inter-tribal warfare, known as the Musket Wars, which resulted in the decimation of several tribes and the driving of others from their traditional territory.
European diseases such as influenza and measles also killed an unknown number of Maori: estimates vary between ten and fifty per cent.
Economic changes, such as the export of flax, also took a toll.
1840 to 1890: The marginalisation of Maori
With increasing Christian missionary activity, growing European settlement in the 1830s and the perceived lawlessness of Europeans in New Zealand, the British Crown, as a world power, came under pressure to intervene. Ultimately, Whitehall sent William Hobson with instructions to take possession of New Zealand. Before he arrived, Queen Victoria annexed New Zealand by royal proclamation in January 1840. On arrival in February 1840, Hobson negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi with northern chiefs. Other Maori chiefs subsequently signed this treaty. In the end, only 500 chiefs out of the 1500 sub-tribes of New Zealand signed the Treaty, and some influential chiefs — such as Te Wherowhero in Waikato, and Te Kani-a-Takirau from the east coast of the North Island — refused to sign. The Treaty made the Maori British subjects in return for a guarantee of Maori property-rights and tribal autonomy.
Dispute continues over whether the Treaty of Waitangi ceded Maori sovereignty. Maori chiefs signed a Maori-language version of the Treaty that did not accurately reflect the English-language version. It appears unlikely that the Maori-language version of the treaty ceded sovereignty; and the Crown and the missionaries probably did not fully explain the meaning of the English-language version.
Maori set up substantial businesses, supplying food and other products for domestic and overseas markets.
Among the early European settlers who both learnt the Maori language and also recorded Maori mythology, George Grey, Governor of New Zealand from 1845 to 1855 and from 1861 to 1868, stands out.
In the 1860s, disputes over questionable land purchases and the attempts of Maori in the Waikato to establish what some saw as a rival to the British system of royalty led to the New Zealand land wars. Although these resulted in relatively few deaths, the colonial government confiscated large tracts of tribal land as punishment for what they called rebellion (although the Crown had initiated the military action against its own citizens), in some cases taking land even from tribes which had taken no part in the war. Some tribes actively fought against the Crown, while others (known as kupapa) fought in support of the Crown. After most of the active fighting had ceased, a passive resistance movement developed at the settlement of Parihaka in Taranaki, but Crown troops dispersed its participants in 1881.
The Native Land Acts of 1862 and 1865 set up the Native Land Court, which had the purpose of breaking down communal ownership and facilitating the alienation of land. As a result, between 1840 and 1890 Maori lost 95 per cent of their land (63,000,000a of 66,000,000 -55,000,000a in 1890).
With the loss of much of their land, Maori went into a period of numerical and cultural decline, and by the late 19th century a widespread belief existed amongst both Pakeha and Maori that the Maori population would cease to exist as a separate race or culture and become assimilated into the European population.
In 1840, New Zealand had a Maori population of about 100,000 and only about 2,000 Europeans. By the end of the 19th century, the Maori population had declined to 42,113 (according to the 1896 census) and Europeans numbered more than 700,000.
Revival
The decline of the Maori population did not continue; instead levels recovered. Despite a substantial level of intermarriage between the Maori and European populations, many Maori retained their cultural identity. A number of discourses developed as to the meaning of "Maori" and to who counted as Maori or not. (Maori do not form a monolithic bloc, and no one political or tribal authority can speak on behalf of all Maori.)
From the late nineteenth century, a number of successful Maori politicians emerged. These men, such as James Carroll, Apirana Ngata, Te Rangi Hiroa and Maui Pomare showed skill in the arts of Pakeha politics; at one point Carroll became Acting Prime Minister. The group, known as the Young Maori Party, cut across voting-blocs in Parliament and aimed to revitalise the Maori people after the devastation of the previous century. For them this involved assimilation — Maori adopting European ways of life such as Western medicine and education. However Ngata in particular also wished to preserve traditional Maori culture, especially the arts. Ngata acted as a major force behind the revival of arts such as kapa haka and carving. He also enacted a programme of land-development which helped many iwi retain and develop their land.
The New Zealand government decided to exempt Maori from the conscription that applied to other citizens in World War II, but nonetheless Maori volunteered in large numbers, forming the 28th or Maori Battalion, which performed creditably, notably in Crete, North Africa, and Italy. Altogether 17,000 Maori took part in the war.
Since the 1960s, Maoridom has undergone a cultural revival
strongly connected with a protest-movement.
Government recognition of the growing political power of Maori, combined with political activism, have led to a limited redress for unjust confiscation of land and for the violation of other property-rights. The State set up the Waitangi Tribunal, a body with the powers of a Commission of Enquiry, to investigate and make recommendations on such issues. Significantly, because of the manner in which the Government empowered it, the Tribunal cannot make binding rulings. However, as a result of the redress paid to many iwi (tribes), Maori now have significant interests in the fishing and forestry industries. Tensions remain however, with complaints from Maori that the settlements occur at a level of between 1 and 2.5 cents on the dollar of the value of the confiscated lands. The Government need not accept the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal, and has rejected some of them, with a and widely-debated example in the New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy.
The urbanisation of Maori proceeded apace in the second half of the 20th century. A majority of Maori people live in cities and towns, and many have become estranged from tribal roots and customs.
Once Were Warriors, a 1994 film adapted from a 1990 novel of the same name by Alan Duff, brought the plight of some urban Maori to a wide audience. It became the highest-grossing film in New Zealand that year and received international acclaim, winning several international film-prizes. While some Maori feared that viewers would consider the violent male characters an accurate portrayal of Maori men, most film-critics praised it as exposing, on an international stage, the raw side of domestic violence. Some Maori opinion, particularly feminist, welcomed the debate on domestic violence that the film enabled.
In many areas of New Zealand, the Maori language lost its role as a living community language (used by significant numbers of people) in the post-war years. In tandem with calls for sovereignty and for the righting of social injustices from the 1970s onwards, many New Zealand schools now teach Maori culture and language, and pre-school kohanga reo (literally: "language-nests") have started which teach tamariki (young children) exclusively in Maori. These extend right through secondary schools (kura tuarua). In 2004 Maori Television, a government-funded television channel committed to broadcasting primarily in te reo, began broadcasting. Maori language enjoys the equivalent status de jure as English in government and law, although mainstream monoglot New Zealand culture continues to marginalise te reo. At the time of the 2006 Census, Maori figured as the second most widely-spoken language in New Zealand after English, with 4% of New Zealanders able to speak Maori to at least a conversational level.
As of 2008, Maori politicians have seven designated Maori seats in the Parliament of New Zealand (and they may and do stand in and win General-roll seats), and consideration of and consultation with Maori have become routine requirements for many New Zealand councils and government organisations. Debate occurs frequently as to the relevance and legitimacy of the Maori electoral roll, although neither of the two "major" political parties intend to abolish it quite just yet.
Despite significant social and economic advances during the twentieth century, Maori tend to cluster in the lower percentiles in most health and education statistics and in labour-force participation, as well as featuring disproportionately highly in criminal and imprisonment statistics. Like many indigenous cultures around the world, Maori suffer both institutional and direct racism. For example, in December 2006, vandals sprayed racist graffiti on ancient Maori rock-art at the Raincliff Historic Reserve in South Canterbury.[, Human Rights Commission, March 2007. ISBN 0-478-28625-2. Accessed 2007-12-21.]
Treaty of Waitangi settlements
During the 1990s and 2000s, the New Zealand government negotiated with Maori to provide redress for breaches by the Crown of the guarantees set out in the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. As of 2006 the government had provided over NZ$900 million in settlements, much of it in the form of land deals. The single largest settlement, signed on 25 June 2008 with seven Maori iwi, transferred nine large tracts of forested land to Maori control.
Intellectual property
Trademark of Ka Mate haka
Between 1998 and 2006, the Ngati Toa iwi attempted to trademark the Ka Mate haka and to forbid its use by commercial organisations without their permission. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand turned their claim down in 2006, since Ka Mate had achieved wide recognition in New Zealand and abroad as representing New Zealand as a whole and not a particular trader. In 2009, this was overturned, when the New Zealand government acknowledged that Ka Mate belongs to the Ngati Toa tribe. Ngati Toa were compensated for its decades of use by the All Blacks, and wider grievances dating more than 150 years, with a multi-million dollar settlement.
Bionicle
In 2001 a dispute concerning the popular LEGO toy-line "Bionicle" arose between Danish toymaker Lego Group and several Maori tribal groups (fronted by lawyer Maui Solomon) along with several members of an on-line discussion-forum (Aotearoa Cafe). The Bionicle product-line allegedly used many words appropriated from Maori language, imagery and folklore. The dispute ended in an amicable settlement. Initially the Lego Group refused to withdraw the product, saying it had drawn the names from many cultures, but later agreed that it had taken the names from Maori and agreed to change certain names or spellings to help set the toy-line apart from the Maori legends. This, however, did not prevent the many Bionicle users from continuing to use the disputed words, resulting in the popular Bionicle website BZPower coming under a denial-of-service attack for four days from an attacker using the name Kotiate.
"Maori" cigarettes
In 2005 a New Zealander in Jerusalem discovered that the Phillip Morris cigarette company had started producing a brand of cigarette in Israel called the "L & M Maori mix". In 2006, the head of Phillip Morris, Louis Camilleri, issued an apology to Maori: "We sincerely regret any discomfort that was caused to Maori people by our mistake and we won't be repeating it."
Jean Paul Gaultier's appropriation of the Moko
In 2007 the French fashion designer, John Paul Gaultier, used ta moko inspired designs on the faces of models appearing in ads for the European editions of the magazine Vogue.
Maori Russian-dolls, made in China
In 2008 the discovery of Chinese-made Maori Russian dolls in gift shops throughout New Zealand caused offence to both Maori and Russians.
Maori and conservation
Pop culture
According to Tania Kopytko, Maori youth have always had a difficult time maintaining ties with the traditional Maoritanga culture, especially lacking "the commitment and effort necessary for a knowledge of [it]".
For this reason, Maori youth import mainstream and popular cultural icons, identities, and lifestyles in considerable quantities. Most typically, these Maori youth will take after the African-American hip hop culture, as its perceived mainstream status makes it readily accessible to them. Kopytko also says that the socio-political position of African Americans resisting a dominant white culture mirrors the situation of Maori, Polynesian, and even poor-white youth resisting the oppressive white forces which occupy the higher economic strata of society in New Zealand. Finally, the mass consumption of British punk in 1982 marked the first real establishment of a youth culture and, more importantly, paved the way for such a warm reception of foreign forms with the influx of what Kopytko calls the "breakdance package".
In this way, facilitation by a pre-existing youth culture and identification with the African-American cause have both made importing the associated hip hop culture quite easy. One feature of this youth import culture, breakdancing, arrived in New Zealand as early as 1983 from Western Samoa, confirms Kopytko. Indeed, "breakdance provided a very strong and positive identity that did much to raise [Maori] self esteem and realize their capabilities." Maori youth utilize the social space that breakdancing provides them in a very dynamic fashion, she says, gaining recognition and notions of increased self-worth in the process. Kopytko suggests that this appropriation of breakdancing allowed the later arrival of rap to become "a vehicle for vernacular expressions of Maori militancy".
The white upper class of South Auckland's suburbs views breakdance as inextricably bound to gangster ideologies and violence, as practised in the African American hip-hop scene, which gains breakdance aficionados infamy and, conversely, intensifies the level of defiance implied on behalf of Maori in both the politics of breakdancing and rapping. Ultimately though, these black cultural styles have provided Maori youth with an avenue for free expression, where a more rigidly applied Maoritanga culture could make no such offer.
In years, indigenous peoples in general have made attempts to reconnect with their youth. A 1992 song by the group Moana and the Moa Hunters called out to young Maori to learn the language and to accept their heritage.
The music video for this song shows images of Maori in traditional dress doing traditional dances, yet it has a modern-hip hop beat. The video targets youth through its rhythms while it educates them about their heritage.
Commerce
The New Zealand Law Commission has started its own project to develop a legal framework for Maori who want to manage communal resources and responsibilities. The voluntary system proposes an alternative to existing companies, incorporations, and trusts in which tribes and hapu and other groupings can interact with the legal system. The foreshadowed legislation, under the proposed name of the "Waka Umanga (Maori Corporations) Act", would provide a model adaptable to suit the needs of individual iwi. It seems likely that the Government coalition will not support the Bill in its un-amended form and if the final Act should pass into law, it will presumably depart significantly less radically from the current legal personalities afforded by British/New Zealand law.
Religion
Maori "tend to be followers of Presbyterianism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), or Maori Christian groups such as Ratana and Ringatu", but with Catholic, Anglican and Methodist groupings also prominent.
Modern socio-economic issues
Maori on average have fewer assets than the rest of the population of New Zealand, and run greater risks of many negative economic and social outcomes. Over 50% of Maori live in areas classed in the three highest deprivation deciles, compared with 24% of the rest of the population.
Although Maori make up only 14% of the population, they make up almost 50% of the total prison-population.
Maori have higher unemployment-rates than other cultures resident in New Zealand
Maori have higher numbers of suicides than non-Maori.
"Only 47% of Maori school-leavers finish school with qualifications higher than NCEA Level One; compared to a massive 74% European; 87% Asian."
Maori also suffer more health problems, including alcohol, drug-related problems, cervical cancer, diabetes per head of population than any other culture living in New Zealand.
Maori also have considerably lower life-expectancies compared to non-Maori: Maori males 69.0 years vs. non-Maori males 77.2 years; Maori females 73.2 yrs vs. non-Maori females 81.9 years. Also, a recent study by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse showed that Maori women and children are more likely to experience domestic violence than any other ethnic group in New Zealand.
See also
Further reading
- Biggs, Bruce (1994). "Does Maori have a closest relative?" In Sutton (Ed.)(1994), pp. 96 - 105.
- Hiroa, Te Rangi (Sir Peter Buck) (1974). The Coming of the Maori. Second edition. First published 1949. Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs.
- Irwin, Geoffrey (1992). The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonisation of the Pacific. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- King, Michael (2003). History of New Zealand ISBN 0-14-301867-1 Penguin.
- Simmons, D.R. (1997). Ta Moko, The Art of Maori Tattoo. Revised edition. First published 1986. Auckland: Reed.
- Sutton, Douglas G. (Ed.) (1994). The Origins of the First New Zealanders. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1869400984
External links
- , directory of important Maori websites.
- ; provides summaries of major aspects of Maori culture.
- , an interactive Maori language resource site.
- , a large website covering a wide range of Maori topics.
- , from the Te Karere Ipurangi news portal.
- , by Michael Shirres.
- , Study of the date of Maori arrival in New Zealand.
- , a website about moko (Maori body art).
- ; includes information on Maori New Zealanders.
|
| |
|
|
