99-589: Māori ( Māori: [ˈmaːɔɾi] ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand ( Aotearoa ). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia , who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture , whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to
198-587: A pōwhiri (welcoming ceremony). Since 1972, there has been a regular national kapa haka competition, the Te Matatini National Festival, organised by the Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Society. There are kapa haka groups in schools, tertiary institutions, and workplaces, and it is performed at tourist venues across the country. Whare tapere (entertainment houses) were
297-588: A Marae ) in Sydney . This was seen as disrespectful to Aboriginal Australian landowners, as the Māori are not indigenous to Australia. [REDACTED] Africa [REDACTED] Eurasia [REDACTED] North America [REDACTED] Oceania [REDACTED] South America Aotearoa Aotearoa ( Māori: [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa] ) is the Māori-language name for New Zealand . The name
396-467: A bilingual island, where both Spanish and their native language is spoken. Despite this, the inhabitants still view themselves as Polynesians, and by extension Indigenous Oceanians, not South Americans. Linguistics in Oceania (1971) and Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama (1974) both have broad definitions of Oceania, and define eastern Pacific settlers and post-colonial Easter Islanders as making up
495-420: A 1994 film adapted from a 1990 novel of the same name by Alan Duff, brought the plight of some urban Māori to a wide audience. It was the highest-grossing film in New Zealand until 2006, and received international acclaim, winning several international film prizes. While some Māori feared that viewers would consider the violent male characters an accurate portrayal of Māori men, most critics praised it as exposing
594-525: A Māori-language newspaper published on 8 February 1893. It contained the dedication on the front page, " He perehi tenei mo nga iwi Maori, katoa, o Aotearoa, mete Waipounamu ", meaning "This is a publication for the Māori tribes of the North Island and the South Island". After the adoption of the name New Zealand ( anglicised from Nova Zeelandia ) by Europeans, one name used by Māori to denote
693-539: A Spanish-speaking segment of Oceania. The Bonin Islands , located about 1,000 to 2,000 kilometers from Tokyo , are commonly thought to have been uninhabited during pre-Columbian times, even though there may have possibly been a Micronesian presence on the islands approximately 2,000 years ago. The islands are still sometimes associated with Oceania, despite now having become politically integrated into Japan . Today, they are sparsely inhabited by Japanese citizens, with
792-676: A book called Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race . In a reference to Māui , the culture hero , Grey's translation from the Māori reads as follows: Thus died this Maui we have spoken of; but before he died he had children, and sons were born to him; some of his descendants yet live in Hawaiki , some in Aotearoa (or in these islands); the greater part of his descendants remained in Hawaiki, but
891-422: A few of them came here to Aotearoa . The use of Aotearoa to refer to the whole country is a post-colonial custom. Before the period of contact with Europeans, Māori did not have a commonly used name for the entire New Zealand archipelago . As late as the 1890s the name was used in reference to the North Island ( Te Ika-a-Māui ) only; an example of this usage appeared in the first issue of Huia Tangata Kotahi ,
990-455: A gradual evolution of culture. In the course of a few centuries, the growing population led to competition for resources and an increase in warfare and an increased frequency of fortified pā . Various systems also arose aimed to conserve resources; most of these, such as tapu and rāhui , used religious or supernatural threats to discourage people from taking species at particular seasons or from specified areas. Warfare between tribes
1089-471: A historical continuity with pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories. With the notable exceptions of Australia , New Zealand , Hawaii , New Caledonia , Guam , and Northern Mariana Islands , indigenous peoples make up the majority of the populations of Oceania . This differs from the term Pacific Islanders , which usually excludes Indigenous Australians , and may be understood to include both indigenous and non-indigenous populations of
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#17327797535391188-639: A large Micronesian population (including Guamese Chamorros ), with many Micronesians having experienced discrimination at the hands of the native Polynesian Hawaiians. Migrants from areas such as the Federated States of Micronesia have also faced discrimination in Guam itself, despite both being ethnoculturally Micronesian. New Zealand has the largest population of Polynesians in the world; it consists not only of their native Māori population, but also of immigrants from other Polynesian islands, including
1287-477: A means to assimilation and to facilitate greater sales to European settlers. By the late 19th century, a widespread belief existed amongst both Pākehā and Māori that the Māori population would cease to exist as a separate race or culture, and become assimilated into the European population. From the late 19th to the mid-20th century various laws, policies, and practices were instituted in New Zealand society with
1386-633: A particular area of land; a tribe may be the tangata whenua in one area, but not in another. The term can also refer to the Māori people as a whole in relation to New Zealand ( Aotearoa ) as a whole. The official definition of Māori for electoral purposes has changed over time. Before 1974, the government required documented ancestry to determine the status of "a Māori person" and only those with at least 50% Māori ancestry were allowed to choose which seats they wished to vote in. The Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1974 changed this, allowing individuals to self-identify as to their cultural identity. Until 1986,
1485-647: A period of particularly bloody intertribal warfare known as the Musket Wars , in which many groups were decimated and others driven from their traditional territory. The pacifist Moriori in the Chatham Islands similarly suffered massacre and subjugation in an invasion by some Taranaki iwi . At the same time, the Māori suffered high mortality rates from Eurasian infectious diseases, such as influenza , smallpox and measles , which killed an estimated 10 to 50 per cent of Māori. By 1839, estimates placed
1584-446: A person". The Māori population around the late 18th century was estimated by James Cook at 100,000. Historian Michael King suggests a slightly higher figure of 110,000 is more likely. Their numbers declined during the 19th century, to as low as 42,000; the decline has been attributed to the impact of European colonisation, including new diseases. Thereafter the population grew rapidly. There were 887,493 people identifying as being part of
1683-441: A population of Indigenous Americans or Indigenous Oceanians, which helped them form their own unique ecosystems. Author Don Macnaughtan wrote in 2014, "The last places to be reached were in the southwest Pacific, and in the far eastern Pacific. Settlers reached all the way to Easter Island, 2,300 miles from the coast of South America, by about 700 AD. In the southwest Pacific, voyaging canoes reached New Zealand around 1250 AD, and
1782-505: A profound impact on their environment from their first settlement in New Zealand and voyages further south, with definitive archeological evidence of brief settlement as far south as Enderby Island . Some have speculated that Māori explorers may have been the first humans to discover Antarctica : According to a nineteenth century translation by Stephenson Percy Smith , part of the Rarotongan oral history describes Ui-te-Rangiora , around
1881-457: A promising start, du Fresne and 26 men of his crew were killed. From the 1780s, Māori also increasingly encountered European and American sealers , whalers and Christian missionaries . Relations were mostly peaceful, although marred by several further violent incidents, the worst of which was the Boyd massacre in 1807 and subsequent revenge attacks. European settlement in New Zealand began in
1980-730: A proportion having European and European American ancestry. The European proportion are not recent immigrants, but rather descendants of early settlers, as the islands were not always within the sphere of Japanese colonial influence. Islanders primarily speak Japanese , and like with those in the eastern Pacific, they could be interpreted as one of the smaller linguistic groups in Oceania. Remoter and more uninhabitable islands adjacent to Micronesia may have had fleeting contact with Indigenous Oceanians, with Howland Island and Wake Island being examples. Norfolk Island (adjacent to Melanesia ) and Pitcairn Islands (adjacent to Polynesia ) were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans, but there
2079-620: A referendum on the same change, is needed". In September 2021, Te Pāti Māori started a petition to change the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa. The petition reached 50,000 signatures in two days. In September 2021, Hobson's Pledge , a lobby group that opposes specific rights for Māori (led by former leader of the National Party Don Brash ), initiated a petition to eradicate "Aotearoa" from official use. Hobson's Pledge spokespersons Casey Costello and Don Brash called on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to publicly affirm that
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#17327797535392178-666: A site of story-telling, dance, and puppetry in pre-European Māori culture. Māori theatre and contemporary dance flourished in the 1970s and 1980s with groups such as Te Ohu Whakaari , Te Ika a Maui Players and Taki Rua . Contemporary Māori stage writers, actors and directors include George Henare , Riwia Brown , Hone Kouka , Nancy Brunning , Jim Moriarty , Briar Grace-Smith , and many others. Contemporary performing arts include theatre companies Taki Rua, Tawata Productions who run an annual playwriting festival for indigenous writers called Breaking Ground, and dance companies, Atamira Dance Company and Okareka Dance Company. In Auckland there
2277-494: A synthesis of archaeological and genetic evidence concludes that, whether or not some settlers arrived before the Tarawera eruption, the main settlement period was in the decades after it, somewhere between 1320 and 1350. This broadly aligns with analyses from Māori oral traditions, which describe the arrival of ancestors in a number of large ocean-going canoes ( waka ) as a planned mass migration c. 1350 . They had
2376-425: A total population of just over 5 million. The PNG Constitution and other Acts identify traditional or custom-based practices and land tenure , and explicitly sets out to promote the viability of these traditional societies within the modern state. However, several conflicts and disputes concerning land use and resource rights continue between indigenous groups, the government and corporate entities. Hawaii boasts
2475-492: Is "land of the long white cloud", or variations thereof. This refers to the cloud formations which helped early Polynesian navigators find the country. Beginning in the late 20th century, Aotearoa has become widespread in the bilingual naming of national organisations and institutions. Since the 1990s, it has been customary for particular parties to sing the New Zealand national anthem, " God Defend New Zealand " (or "Aotearoa"), in both Māori and English, which further exposed
2574-496: Is Te Pou, a kaupapa Māori performing arts venue that develops and partners with Māori theatre makers. Traditional Māori instruments are taonga pūoro . They fulfilled various roles including storytelling, religious traditions and also daily functions such as the beginning of a new day. Taonga pūoro fall into two areas, melodic instruments such as the flute and rhythmic instruments such as poi "balls of dried flax on string that are swung and tapped". Like other cultures, oral folklore
2673-529: Is a Māori performance art believed to have originated with the legendary figure Tinirau . It was performed for tourists following European contact, starting in the 1880s; this sometimes involved adaptations to make it more familiar to European audiences. It was used in the First World War to raise money for the Maori Soldiers' Fund encouraged by Āpirana Ngata . A haka is often performed in
2772-433: Is a matter of debate. There may have been some exploration and settlement before the eruption of Mount Tarawera ( c. 1315 ), based on finds of bones from Polynesian rats and rat-gnawed shells, and evidence of widespread forest fires in the decade or so prior. One 2022 study using advanced radiocarbon technology suggests that "early Māori settlement happened in the North Island between AD 1250 and AD 1275". However,
2871-598: Is also ongoing (see Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements ). Māori are the second-largest ethnic group in New Zealand, after European New Zealanders (commonly known by the Māori name Pākehā ). In addition, more than 170,000 Māori live in Australia. The Māori language is spoken to some extent by about a fifth of all Māori, representing three per cent of the total population. Māori are active in all spheres of New Zealand culture and society, with independent representation in areas such as media, politics, and sport. In
2970-598: Is common practice, for instance, to remove one's shoes before entering a wharenui (meeting-house), a token of respect for the ancestors who are represented and spiritually present within the wharenui . Another spiritual ritual is hurihanga takapau (purification), practised when fishing to ensure there is no tapu on the fish. Cultural performance of waiata (song), haka (dance), tauparapara (chants) and mōteatea (poetry) are used by Māori to express and pass on knowledge and understanding about history, communities, and relationships. Kapa haka
3069-986: Is generally considered the least decolonized region in the world. In his 1993 book France and the South Pacific since 1940 , Robert Aldrich commented: With the ending of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands , the Northern Mariana Islands became a 'commonwealth' of the United States , and the new republics of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia signed compacts of free association with Washington . Britain 's high commissioner in New Zealand continues to administer Pitcairn, and
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3168-458: Is known for its distinctive "reel necklaces", and also remarkable for the lack of weapons and fortifications typical of the later "Classic" Māori. The best-known and most extensively studied Archaic site, at Wairau Bar in the South Island, shows evidence of occupation from early-13th century to the early-15th century. It is the only known New Zealand archaeological site containing the bones of people who were born elsewhere. Factors that operated in
3267-462: Is mostly European Australian , some are also Euronesians; these individuals are descended from Pitcairn Islanders that were relocated to Norfolk in 1852 because of overpopulation. The Micronesia adjacent islands became unincorporated territories of the United States, and they all have no permanent residents. The United States government restrict access to outsiders on some islands. Oceania
3366-593: Is not known. The word can be broken up as: ao ('cloud', 'dawn', 'daytime' or 'world'), tea ('white', 'clear' or 'bright') and roa ('long'). It can also be broken up as Aotea , the name of one of the migratory canoes that travelled to New Zealand, and roa ('long'). The most common literal translation is 'long white cloud', commonly lengthened to 'the land of the long white cloud'. Alternative translations include 'long bright world' or 'land of abiding day', possibly referring to New Zealand having longer summer days in comparison to those further north in
3465-443: Is substantial evidence of prehistoric Indigenous Oceanian settlement. Pitcairn currently have a population of around 50, who are entirely mixed-race Anglo Euronesians . They are descended from an initial group of Anglo and Polynesian settlers in the 18th century. Pitcairn was later annexed by Britain , while Norfolk Island became an external territory of Australia, who are over 1,500 kilometers removed. Norfolk's present population
3564-492: Is the continuation of a dynasty that reaches back to the inaugural king, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero . The movement arose among a group of central North Island iwi in the 1850s as a means of attaining Māori unity to halt the alienation of land at a time of rapid population growth by European colonists. The movement sought to establish a monarch who could claim status similar to that of Queen Victoria and thus allow Māori to deal with Pākehā (Europeans) on equal footing. It took on
3663-552: The Kīngitanga in Māori , is a Māori movement that arose among some of the Māori iwi (tribes) of New Zealand in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the British colonists, as a way of halting the alienation of Māori land. The Māori monarch operates in a non-constitutional capacity with no legal or judicial power within
3762-530: The 2018 New Zealand census , 7.7 per cent of Māori were affiliated with Māori religions, beliefs, and philosophies; 29.9 per cent with Christian denominations and 53.5 per cent of Māori claimed no religion . Proportions of Christian and irreligious Māori are comparable with European New Zealanders. Many Māori people observe spiritual traditions such as tapu and noa . Certain objects, areas, or buildings are tapu (spiritually restricted), and must be made noa (unrestricted) by ceremonial action. It
3861-539: The 28th (Māori) Battalion in WWII). Māori were also badly hit by the 1918 influenza epidemic , with death rates for Māori being 4.5 times higher than for Pākehā. After World War II, te reo Māori use declined steeply in favour of English. Since the 1960s, Māoridom has undergone a cultural revival concurrent with activism for social justice and a protest movement . Kōhanga reo (Māori language pre-schools) were established in 1982 to promote Māori language use and halt
3960-497: The Aboriginal peoples of mainland Australia and Torres Strait Islander peoples . Of the total 'Indigenous Australian' population, 90% identified as Aboriginal only, 6% identified as Torres Strait Islander and the remaining 4% identified as being of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a majority population of indigenous societies, with some 700+ different tribal groups recognised out of
4059-571: The Anglican Church is divided into three cultural streams or tikanga (Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia), with the Aotearoa tikanga covering Māori-speaking congregations within New Zealand. In 2015, to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), the Black Caps (the New Zealand national cricket team) played under the name Aotearoa for their first match against Zimbabwe . A petition initiated by David Chester
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4158-885: The Chamorros of Guam and the Northern Marianas , and the Marshallese of the Marshall Islands , and the Native Hawaiians of Hawaii . In the pre-Columbian era , humans never reached the handful of oceanic eastern Pacific islands beyond Easter Island , which itself was settled by the Polynesian Rapa Nui people . Eastern Pacific islands such as the Galápagos and Juan Fernández Islands , while inhabitable, did not have
4257-638: The Chatham Islands , where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori . Early contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in
4356-485: The Cook Islands , Samoa and Tonga . Australia has the third largest Polynesian population, in addition to having the largest Fijian population outside of Fiji . Australia's Polynesian population consists of Māoris, as well as immigrants who originate from the same countries as the ones who migrated to New Zealand. In 2022, there was controversy over proposals to build a traditional Māori meeting house (known as
4455-578: The Cook Islands , through a compact of free association. Chile rules Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and Ecuador rules the Galápagos Islands. The Aboriginals of Australia , the Māori of New Zealand and the native Polynesians of Hawaii, despite movements demanding more cultural recognition, greater economic and political considerations or even outright sovereignty, have remained minorities in countries where massive waves of migration have completely changed society. In short, Oceania has remained one of
4554-546: The Devonport-Takapuna local board area (6.2%) and the Howick local board area (6.3%), The Queenstown-Lakes District had the lowest concentration of Māori outside Auckland at 6.4%. Of those identifying as Māori at the 2018 census, 352,755 people (45.5%) identified as of sole Māori ethnicity while 336,174 people (43.3%) identified as of both European and Māori ethnicity, due to the high rate of intermarriage between
4653-429: The Māori language , the word māori means "normal", "natural", or "ordinary". In legends and oral traditions, the word distinguished ordinary mortal human beings— tāngata māori —from deities and spirits ( wairua ). Likewise, wai māori denotes "fresh water", as opposed to salt water . There are cognate words in most Polynesian languages , all deriving from Proto-Polynesian * ma(a)qoli , which has
4752-792: The Pacific Islands alike. Australia and most of the islands of the Pacific Ocean were colonized in waves of migrations from Southeast Asia spanning many centuries. American , European and Japanese colonial expansion brought most of the region under foreign administration, in some cases as settler colonies that displaced or marginalized the original populations. During the 20th century several of these former colonies gained independence and nation-states were formed under local control. However, various peoples have put forward claims for indigenous recognition where their islands are still under external administration; examples include
4851-492: The Wairau Affray , Flagstaff War , Hutt Valley Campaign and Wanganui Campaign , it was generally limited and concluded with a peace treaty. However, by the 1860s rising settler numbers and tensions over disputed land purchases led to the later New Zealand wars , fought by the colonial government against numerous Māori iwi using local and British Imperial troops, and some allied iwi . These conflicts resulted in
4950-483: The 1860s, and subsequent land confiscations, which Māori resisted fiercely. After the Treaty was declared a legal nullity in 1877, Māori were forced to assimilate into many aspects of Western culture . Social upheaval and epidemics of introduced disease took a devastating toll on the Māori population, which fell dramatically, but began to recover by the beginning of the 20th century. The March 2023 New Zealand census gives
5049-489: The 1960s. However, disproportionate numbers of Māori face significant economic and social obstacles, and generally have lower life expectancies and incomes than other New Zealand ethnic groups. They suffer higher levels of crime, health problems, imprisonment and educational under-achievement. A number of socio-economic initiatives have been instigated with the aim of " closing the gaps " between Māori and other New Zealanders. Political and economic redress for historical grievances
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#17327797535395148-526: The 1990s the New Zealand government has negotiated and finalised treaty settlements with many iwi across New Zealand. By June 2008, the government had provided over NZ$ 900 million in settlements, much of it in the form of land deals. There is a growing Māori leadership who are using these settlements as an investment platform for economic development. Despite a growing acceptance of Māori culture in wider New Zealand society, treaty settlements have generated significant controversy. Some Māori have argued that
5247-784: The 2010s Māori actor-director Taika Waititi rose to global fame directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and the Academy Award -winning Jojo Rabbit (2019), in which he played Adolf Hitler in a supporting role. Waititi's previous films Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople , both feature young Māori protagonists. Indigenous peoples of Oceania The Indigenous peoples of Oceania are Aboriginal Australians , Papuans , and Austronesians ( Melanesians , Micronesians , and Polynesians ). These indigenous peoples have
5346-620: The 20th century. Influential Māori politicians such as James Carroll , Āpirana Ngata , Te Rangi Hīroa and Māui Pōmare aimed to revitalise the Māori people after the devastation of the previous century. They believed the future path called for a degree of assimilation , with Māori adopting European practices such as Western medicine , while also retaining traditional cultural practices. Māori also fought during both World Wars in specialised battalions (the Māori Pioneer Battalion in WWI and
5445-444: The Māori ethnic group at the 2023 New Zealand census , making up 17.8% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 111,657 people (14.4%) since the 2013 census , and an increase of 288,891 people (48.3%) since the 2006 census . The large increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was mainly due to Statistics New Zealand starting to add ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to
5544-451: The New Zealand government. Reigning monarchs retain the position of paramount chief of several iwi and wield some power over these, especially within Tainui . The current Māori monarch, Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō , was elected in 2024. Her official residence is Tūrongo House at Tūrangawaewae marae in the town of Ngāruawāhia . She is the eighth monarch since the position was created and
5643-699: The Ngāti Maniapoto tribal region of the North Island that became known as the King Country . The Māori monarch's influence has not been as strong as it could be, partially due to the lack of affiliation to the Kīngitanga of key iwi, most notably Tuhoe , Ngāti Porou , and the largest iwi of all, Ngāpuhi . Under the Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1974, a Māori is defined as "a person of the Māori race of New Zealand; and includes any descendant of such
5742-455: The North Island at the 2023 census and 133,656 (15.1%) lived in the South Island. Five districts had a majority Māori population: Chatham Islands territory (68.6%), Wairoa district (68.5%), Ōpōtiki district (66.2%), Kawerau district (63.2%) and Gisborne district (54.8%). The Upper Harbour local board area in Auckland has the lowest concentration of Māori people at 6.1%, followed by
5841-435: The Pacific Ocean. In some traditional stories, Aotearoa was the name of the canoe ( waka ) of the explorer Kupe , and he named the land after it. Kupe's wife Kuramārōtini (in some versions, his daughter) was watching the horizon and called "He ao! He ao!" ('a cloud! a cloud!'). Other versions say the canoe was guided by a long white cloud in the course of the day and by a long bright cloud at night. On arrival,
5940-466: The United Kingdom (approx. 8,000), the United States (up to 3,500) and Canada (approx. 2,805). Māori culture forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture and, due to a large diaspora and the incorporation of Māori motifs into popular culture , is found throughout the world. Contemporary Māori culture comprises traditional as well as 20th-century influences. Archaeological record indicates
6039-483: The anthem is sung in Māori. Additionally, William Pember Reeves used Aotearoa to mean New Zealand in his history of the country published in 1898, The Long White Cloud Ao-tea-roa. Since the late 20th century Aotearoa is becoming widespread also in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa . The New Zealand province of
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#17327797535396138-498: The appearance of an alternative government with its own flag, newspaper, bank, councillors, magistrates and law enforcement. But it was viewed by the colonial government as a challenge to the supremacy of the British monarchy , leading in turn to the 1863 invasion of Waikato , which was partly motivated by a drive to neutralise the Kīngitanga's power and influence. Following their defeat at Ōrākau in 1864, Kīngitanga forces withdrew into
6237-480: The census data to reduce the number of non-responses. The median age of Māori was 26.8 years, compared with 38.1 years for New Zealand as a whole. 262,422 people (29.6%) were aged under 15 years, 223,860 (25.2%) were 15 to 29, 336,486 (37.9%) were 30 to 64, and 64,725 (7.3%) were 65 or older. At the 2018 census, there were 383,019 males and 392,820 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.975 males per female. In terms of population distribution, 753,384 (84.9%) Māori lived in
6336-486: The census required at least 50 per cent Māori ancestry to claim Māori affiliation. Currently, in most contexts, authorities require some documentation of ancestry or continuing cultural connection (such as acceptance by others as being of the people); however, there is no minimum ancestry requirement. No credible evidence exists of pre-Māori settlement of New Zealand ; on the other hand, compelling evidence from archaeology, linguistics, and physical anthropology indicates that
6435-462: The colonial government confiscating tracts of Māori land as punishment for what were called "rebellions". Pākehā settlers would occupy the confiscated land. Several minor conflicts arose after the wars, including the incident at Parihaka in 1881 and the Dog Tax War from 1897 to 1898. The Native Land Court was established to transfer Māori land from communal ownership into individual title as
6534-484: The country as a whole was Niu Tireni , a respelling of New Zealand derived from an approximate pronunciation. The expanded meaning of Aotearoa among Pākehā became commonplace in the late 19th century. Aotearoa was used for the name of New Zealand in the 1878 translation of " God Defend New Zealand ", by Judge Thomas Henry Smith of the Native Land Court —this translation is widely used today when
6633-629: The decline in its use. Two Māori language television channels broadcast content in the Māori language, while words such as " kia ora " have entered widespread use in New Zealand English. Government recognition of the growing political power of Māori and political activism have led to limited redress for historic land confiscations. In 1975, the Crown set up the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate historical grievances, and since
6732-451: The early 19th century, leading to an extensive sharing of culture and ideas. Many Māori valued Europeans, whom they called " Pākehā ", as a means to acquire Western knowledge and technology. Māori quickly adopted writing as a means of sharing ideas, and many of their oral stories and poems were converted to the written form. The introduction of the potato revolutionised agriculture, and the acquisition of muskets by Māori iwi led to
6831-483: The effect of inducing Māori to conform to Pākehā norms; notable among these are the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 and the suppression of the Māori language by schools, often enforced with corporal punishment. In the 1896 census, New Zealand had a Māori population of 42,113, by which time Europeans numbered more than 700,000. The decline did not continue and the Māori population continued to recover in
6930-903: The far North. There is a stereotype that Māori were 'natural warriors'; however, warfare and associated practices like cannibalism were not a dominating part of Māori culture. Around the year 1500, a group of Māori migrated east to the Chatham Islands and developed into a people known as the Moriori , with pacifism a key part of their culture. The first European explorers of New Zealand were Abel Tasman , who arrived in 1642, Captain James Cook , in 1769, and Marion du Fresne in 1772. Initial contact between Māori and Europeans proved problematic and sometimes fatal, with Tasman having four of his men killed and probably killing at least one Māori, without ever landing. Cook's men shot at least eight Māori within three days of his first landing, although he later had good relations with Māori. Three years later, after
7029-419: The first settlers migrated from Polynesia and became the Māori. Evidence indicates that their ancestry (as part of the larger group of Austronesian peoples ) stretches back 5,000 years, to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan . Polynesian people settled a large area encompassing Tonga , Samoa , Tahiti , Hawaiʻi , Easter Island ( Rapa Nui ) – and finally New Zealand. The date of first arrival and settlement
7128-553: The least completely decolonized regions on the globe. In New Zealand , according to the 2018 census , 16% of the population identified as being of Māori descent. Many of those same people also identified as being descended from other ethnic groups, such as European. The indigenous peoples of Australia are the Indigenous Australians , who account for 2.5% of the total population according to 2011 census figures. The term 'Indigenous Australians' refers to both
7227-590: The name to a wider audience. New Zealand English speakers pronounce the word with various degrees of approximation to the original Māori pronunciation, from / ˌ ɑː ə t eɪ ə ˈ r ɔː ə / [ˌɐːɘtæeɘˈɹoːɘ] at one end of the spectrum (nativist) to / ˌ eɪ ə t iː ə ˈ r oʊ ə / [ˌæeɘtiːɘˈɹɐʉɘ] at the other. Pronunciations documented in dictionaries of English include / ˌ eɪ ə t eɪ ə ˈ r oʊ ə / , / aʊ ˌ t eɪ ə ˈ r oʊ ə / , and / ˌ ɑː oʊ t iː ə ˈ r oʊ ə / . The original meaning of Aotearoa
7326-593: The number of Europeans living in New Zealand as high as 2,000, and the British Crown acceded to repeated requests from missionaries and some Māori chiefs ( rangatira ) to intervene. The British government sent Royal Navy Captain William Hobson to negotiate a treaty between the British Crown and the Māori, which became known as the Treaty of Waitangi . Starting from February 1840, this treaty
7425-404: The number of people of Māori descent as 978,246 (19.6% of the total population), an increase of 12.5% since 2018. Efforts have been made, centring on the Treaty of Waitangi, to increase the standing of Māori in wider New Zealand society and achieve social justice . Traditional Māori culture has enjoyed a significant revival, which was further bolstered by a Māori protest movement that emerged in
7524-671: The ocean – they rank as amongst the last places on earth discovered by humans. These include the Galápagos Islands, Cocos Island , the Revillagigedos Archipelago , and the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of South America; Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand; and Midway Island , northwest of Hawaii. They are some of the few places on the planet which have never had an 'indigenous' population." Lord Howe Island
7623-432: The official name of the country is New Zealand, not Aotearoa New Zealand or Aotearoa. The petition also called on the prime minister to instruct all government departments to use the current official name only. Costello claimed that the name Aotearoa was not "culturally or historically recognised by Māori as the name of our country" while Brash claimed that the name New Zealand was an identity and brand that had been built over
7722-797: The other former British colonies remain members of the Commonwealth of Nations , recognizing the British Queen as their titular head of state and vesting certain residual powers in the British government or the Queen's representative in the islands. Australia did not cede control of the Torres Strait Islands , inhabited by a Melanesian population, or Lord Howe and Norfolk Island, whose residents are of European ancestry. New Zealand retains indirect rule over Niue and Tokelau and has kept close relations with another former possession,
7821-541: The past 180 years. The petition gained over 115,000 signatures by February 2023. In September 2021, Winston Peters , leader of the New Zealand First Party launched a petition "Keep It New Zealand". Peters called Aotearoa a "name with no historical credibility". As of August 2022 the petition gained over 21,000 signatures. By early June 2022, Te Pāti Māori's petition to rename New Zealand "Aotearoa" had received over 70,000 signatures. On 2 June,
7920-408: The petition was submitted before Parliament's committee. Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi argued that the proposed name change would recognise New Zealand's indigenous heritage and strengthen its identity as a Pacific country. Waititi objected to the idea of a referendum, claiming it would entrench the " tyranny of the majority ". National Party leader Christopher Luxon stated that renaming New Zealand
8019-778: The raw side of domestic violence . Other major films with Māori themes or subjects include Utu (1983), The Piano (1993), Whale Rider (2002), River Queen (2005), Boy (2010), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) and Muru (2022). The Maori Merchant of Venice (2002) was notable as a complete Māori language translation and performance of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . Prominent Māori actors include Temuera Morrison , Cliff Curtis , Jemaine Clement , Lawrence Makoare , Manu Bennett , Keisha Castle-Hughes , James Rollenston , Rena Owen and Julian Dennison . In most cases their roles in Hollywood productions have them portraying ethnic groups other than Māori. In
8118-413: The reconstructed meaning "true, real, genuine". Early visitors from Europe to New Zealand generally referred to the indigenous inhabitants as "New Zealanders" or as "natives". The Māori used the term Māori to describe themselves in a pan-tribal sense. Māori people often use the term tangata whenua (literal meaning, "people of the land") to identify in a way that expresses their relationship with
8217-718: The region to act as an interpreter between Māori and the crew of the Endeavour . Traditional Māori beliefs have their origins in Polynesian culture . Concepts such as tapu (sacred), noa (non-sacred), mana (authority/prestige) and wairua (spirit) governed everyday Māori living, and there are also many Māori deities . Today, some Māori follow a variety of Christian faiths such as Presbyterianism , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Māori Christian groups such as Rātana and Ringatū , and also Catholic , Anglican and Methodist denominations. At
8316-473: The remote, cool and windy archipelago of the Chatham Islands around 1500 AD (New Zealand was in fact the last major land mass on the planet settled by humans – Iceland was settled about 800 AD, and Madagascar some hundreds of years earlier.) After New Zealand, the Pacific was full, and long-range voyaging began to decline quite rapidly. A few habitable Pacific islands were never found until Europeans entered
8415-566: The seafaring technologies required for Antarctic voyaging. Regardless of these debates, the Māori were sophisticated seafarers and New Zealand has a strong association with Antarctica, and a wish by some for Māori values to be integral to human presence there. The earliest period of Māori settlement, known as the "Archaic", "Moahunter" or "Colonisation" period, dates from the time of arrival to c. 1500 . The early Māori diet included an abundance of moa and other large birds and fur seals that had never been hunted before. This Archaic period
8514-440: The settlements occur at a level of between one and two-and-a-half cents on the dollar of the value of the confiscated lands, and do not represent adequate redress. Conversely, some non-Māori denounce the settlements and socioeconomic initiatives as amounting to race-based preferential treatment. Both of these sentiments were expressed during the New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy in 2004. The Māori King Movement , called
8613-496: The sign of land to Kupe's crew was the long cloud hanging over it. The cloud caught Kupe's attention and he said "Surely is a point of land". Due to the cloud which greeted them, Kupe named the land Aotearoa . It is not known when Māori began incorporating the name into their oral lore . Beginning in 1845, George Grey , Governor of New Zealand , spent some years amassing information from Māori regarding their legends and histories. He translated it into English, and in 1855 published
8712-415: The significance of the name "Aotearoa" and that it is increasingly being used to refer to New Zealand. The committee also noted that there are references throughout legislation to both "Aotearoa" and "New Zealand" and that while not legislated, the use of bilingual titles throughout Parliament and government agencies is common. The final report stated, "at present we do not consider that a legal name change, or
8811-811: The transition to the Classic period (the culture at the time of European contact) include a significantly cooler period from 1500, and the extinction of the moa and of other food species. The Classic period is characterised by finely made pounamu (greenstone) weapons and ornaments, elaborately carved war canoes and wharenui (meeting houses). Māori lived in autonomous settlements in extended hapū groups descended from common iwi ancestors. The settlements had farmed areas and food sources for hunting, fishing and gathering. Fortified pā were built at strategic locations due to occasional warfare over wrongdoings or resources; this practice varied over different locations throughout New Zealand, with more populations in
8910-756: The two ethnicities. The largest iwi by population at the 2013 census was Ngāpuhi (125,601), followed by Ngāti Porou (71,049), Ngāi Tahu (54,819) and Waikato (40,083). However, over 110,000 people of Māori descent could not identify their iwi . Outside of New Zealand, a large Māori population exists in Australia. There were 170,057 Australians identifying as Māori at the 2021 Australian census , with 65,031 living in Queensland , 39,714 living in New South Wales and 31,044 living in Western Australia . Smaller communities also exist in
9009-626: The two versions (in English and Māori), as well as misunderstandings of different cultural concepts; notably, the Māori version did not cede sovereignty to the British Crown. In an 1877 court case the Treaty was declared a "simple nullity" on the grounds that the signatories had been "primitive barbarians". Nevertheless, relations between Māori and Pākehā during the early colonial period were largely peaceful. Many Māori groups set up substantial businesses, supplying food and other products for domestic and overseas markets. When violence did break out, as in
9108-691: The year 650, leading a fleet of Waka Tīwai south until they reached, "a place of bitter cold where rock-like structures rose from a solid sea". Based on interpretations by Wehi and her colleagues, subsequent commentators speculated that these brief descriptions might match the Ross Ice Shelf , or possibly the Antarctic mainland , or icebergs surrounded by sea ice found in the Southern Ocean . Other scholars are far more sceptical, raising serious problems with Smith's translations, and noting
9207-547: Was a constitutional issue that would require a referendum. Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson expressed concerns that a potential name change would create branding issues for the country's tourism industry. A 1News –Colmar Brunton poll in September 2021 found that 58% of respondents wanted to keep the name "New Zealand", 9% wanted to change the name to "Aotearoa", and 31% wanted the joint name of "Aotearoa New Zealand". A January 2023 Newshub-Reid Research poll, showed
9306-493: Was common, and Māori would sometimes eat their conquered enemies or enslave them. Performing arts such as the haka developed from their Polynesian roots, as did carving and weaving. Regional dialects arose, with differences in vocabulary and in the pronunciation of some words but the language retained enough similarities to other Eastern Polynesian languages for Tupaia , the Tahitian navigator on James Cook 's first voyage in
9405-469: Was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island , with the whole country being referred to as Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu – where Te Ika-a-Māui means North Island, and Te Waipounamu means South Island . In the pre-European era, Māori did not have a collective name for the two islands. Several meanings for Aotearoa have been proposed; the most popular translation usually given
9504-821: Was politically integrated into the Australian state of New South Wales , despite being nearly 800 kilometers removed, and Midway is now an unincorporated territory of the United States . All oceanic islands of the eastern Pacific (excluding Clipperton ) were eventually annexed by Central America and South America , after going unclaimed for a few hundred years following their initial discoveries. They are now politically associated with those regions, in addition to sometimes being associated with Oceania. The sparse number of current inhabitants are primarily Spanish -speaking Mestizos . A percentage of Easter Islanders have race-mixed with Mestizo settlers from their current political administrators, Chile , and it has gradually become
9603-650: Was presented to the parliament on 13 April 2018, requesting legislation to change the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa – New Zealand . A further petition initiated by Danny Tahau Jobe for a referendum on whether the official name of New Zealand should change to include Aotearoa , received 6,310 signatures. The petition was presented to Parliament by the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand co-leader Marama Davidson on 1 May 2019. The petitions were considered together by Parliament's Governance and Administration Select Committee which responded that it acknowledged
9702-462: Was signed by the Crown and 500 Māori chiefs from across New Zealand. The Treaty gave Māori the rights of British subjects and guaranteed Māori property rights and tribal autonomy, in return for accepting British sovereignty and the annexation of New Zealand as a colony in the British Empire . However, disputes continue over aspects of the Treaty of Waitangi, including wording differences in
9801-474: Was used by Māori to preserve their stories and beliefs through many centuries. In the 19th century, European-style literacy was brought to the Māori, which led to Māori history documentation in books, novels and later television. Māori language use began to decline in the 20th century with English as the language through which Māori literature became widespread. Notable Māori novelists include Patricia Grace , Witi Ihimaera and Alan Duff . Once Were Warriors ,
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