The Maori People of New Zealand

The Maori people are the indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and first arrived here in waka hourua (voyaging canoes) from their ancestral homeland of Hawaiki over 1000 years ago. Today, Maori make up over 14 percent of the population. Their language and culture has a major impact on all facets of New Zealand life.

Maori performance art is known as ‘kapa haka’. Regional and national competitions inspire extremely high standards, even at the junior level. “While we’re on stage performing our heart and soul out, all our hearts are beating as one at that moment in time”, explains a kapa haka performer. Tim Whittaker (www.tim.co.nz) Click on the image for larger version

Rich and Varied Culture

Maori culture is a rich and varied one, and includes traditional and contemporary arts. Traditional arts such as carving, weaving, kapa haka (group performance), whaikorero (oratory) and moko (tattoo) are practised throughout the country. Practitioners following in the footsteps of their tipuna (ancestors) replicate the techniques used hundreds of years ago, yet also develop exciting new techniques and forms. Today Maori culture also includes art, film, television, poetry, theatre, and hip-hop.

Te Reo Maori — the Maori Language

The visitor to New Zealand will become immediately aware of the Maori language as the vast majority of place names are of Maori origin. At first, visitors may be puzzled by the seemingly impossible- to-pronounce names. In fact, Maori has a logical structure, and, unlike English, has very consistent rules of pronunciation.

The facial tattoo on this carved figure is known as a ‘Moko’. Moko are designed to display ancestral and tribal messages that apply to the wearer. These messages narrate the wearer's family, sub-tribal and tribal affiliations, and their placing within these social structures. This carving would be have been created to commemorate an ancestor. Photo by Adventure Films (www.nzphotography.com) Click on the image for larger version

How Do You Say nehunga, Whangamomona, Kahikatea, and Nguru? Maori consists of five vowel sounds: a e i o u (‘a’ as in ‘car’, ‘e’ as in ‘egg’, ‘i’ like the ‘ee’ in ‘tee’, ‘u’ like an ‘o’ in ‘to’). There are eight consonants in Maori similar to those in English — ‘h’, ‘k’, ‘m’, ‘n’, ‘p’, ‘r’, ‘t’, and ‘w’. There are also two different consonants — ‘wh’ and ‘ng’. Many Maori pronounce the ‘wh’ sound similar to our ‘f’. The ‘ng’ is similar to our own ‘ng’ sound in a word like ‘sing’, except that in Maori, words can start with ‘ng’.

Fishing Up An Island

The creation of New Zealand is described by the legend of Maui. This god was a cheeky trickster who managed, among other things, to harness the sun in order to make the days longer. However, his biggest claim to fame was his fishing up of the North Island, which is described as Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui). A look at an aerial map of the North Island will show how closely it resembles a fish. Maori believe the far north to be the tail of the fish and Wellington Harbour the mouth. Maori describe the South Island as Maui’s waka (canoe) and Stewart Island (Rakiura) as his punga (anchor).

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