Indigenous Group - Moari

The Maori is the native New Zealanders who were the first inhabitants of the land. It is believed that they came from Polynesia in canoes around the 9^th century to the 13^th century AD. In the 1600s and 1700s, two explorers, Abel Tasman and James Cook made contact with the Maoris. Abel Tasman was met with hostility by the natives but James Cook was a bit more fortunate and managed to establish some friendly relations with them. But in the 1800s, many Europeans came over to the country and brought with them diseases and war which brought the Maori population down to about 100,000.

A drawing of the meeting between the Maori tribe and James Cook and his team

Legend talks about Maoris coming from the legendary land of ‘Hawaiki’ which many speculate to benear Hawaii. They canoed to New Zealand which they lovingly called Aotearoa which means Land of the long white cloud as New Zealand’s weather was much colder compared to ‘Hawaiki’ and had many volcanoes and big snow capped mountains. Many people think that the Maori people found New Zealand by chance, but in depth studies show that they actually have ancient methods of navigation which uses the help of stars and ocean currents.

Before the Europeans came, Maori literature, such as legends and waiata (songs), were passed down from generations to generations by word of mouth. The most noticeable of these literatures is the Haka dance (war dance) which Maori always perform before going to battle. This fearsome war dance was immortalised by the New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks who perform it before every game. 

Another distinctive culture of the Maoris is their powhiri (traditional welcome) which involves a hongi which is a greeting that involves pressing noses. 

Lastly, their traditional tattoos catch you eye whenever you a Maori. For the men, their whole face would be covered in the tattoos while the tattoos would be restricted to the chin area, the upper lip, and the nostrils for the women.

Traditional tattoo on a men's face

Traditional tattoo on a women's face