European Arrival
Treaty of Waitangi
Maori Wars
Traditions of the Maori
History of the Maori People
The Maori people were undoubtedly the first permanent settlers of New Zealand. There are still many unanswered questions: How did they get to the Islands? Where did they come from? Recently scientists have been able to analyze maternal DNA (extracted from the mitochondria of female remains) and have linked the Maori people, along with other Polynesians, to the ancient people of Asia. There is suggestive linguistic and cultural evidence that suggests that the Maori people migrated from the Cook Islands between the years 800 and 1,000 AD.
If this hypothesis is correct however, the implications of the voyage from the Cook Islands to New Zealand are rather impressive. It has been suggested that although these original travelers did not know for certain that there was land in the direction of New Zealand, that they inferred that there was by studying the migration patterns of birds. These people would have been traveling hundreds of miles in a Southeasterly direction at a time when the prevailing winds would have made the voyage extremely difficult. If this is the case, then the Maori people have a spectacular feat of which to be proud.
According to Ngapuhi, one of the most populous tribes, Maori ancestors sailed from Hawaiki aided by the gods (signified by the fact that the sun did not set for three days). Hawaiki is essentially the motherland for Maori people: it is where they come from and it is the final resting place after they die. Historians believe that a possible explanation for the sun not setting for three days is that the Maori voyage to New Zealand occurred at the same time that the Crab Nebula (shown below) supernova which was recorded by Chinese historians to be bright enough to be seen in daylight for several days.
The structure of Maori society seems complex and a bit backwards. Before the arrival of European Settlers in New Zealand, Maori Society was based around tribal units. The most expansive affiliation was a group called the waka, which was based on descent from original Maori settlers. Then came the iwi, which is the Maori name for tribe, which is much more important in modern society than it was before colonization. After the iwi came the hapu, the sub-tribe, who had the most power over the daily lives of their Maori fellows.
There were two types of political leaders, the ariki and the rangatira. Mostly the ariki were male, with the occasional female leaders, called ariki tapairu. Rangatira could be either male or female. The ariki lead the iwi, and were put in position of ariki by their geneology-in other words, like father, like son. The more distinguished and ariki's ancestors were, the more distinguished an ariki. The rangatira were the aristocrats of Maori society, and the senior rangatira ran the hapu. If a Maori were the child of an ariki, he or she was considered a rangatira, but also a person could become part of the aristocracy if he or she had been acknowledged as a significant figure in the governing of a hapu.