The Maori people have become internationally famous both thanks to the haka – the ritual dance performed by the All Blacks before each rugby match – and thanks to the animated blockbuster Oceania. But their story, in reality, is much more detailed and complex than that and has its roots in Oceania.
How did the Maori people arise?
We don’t know for sure how the Maori population was born but in all probability it was some Polynesian community that sailed around the South Pacific Ocean until around 1300 they discovered that island which, today, we call New Zealand but which at the time was baptized as Aotearoawhich can be translated as “big white cloud”.
Once these ancestors of the Maori arrived on this splendid Pacific island they had a great priority, that is to eat, and therefore first of all they devoted themselves to fishing and hunting, in particular the hunting of seals and moas. These are – or rather, were – the largest birds in the world. They were similar to ostriches so to speak… at least until the Maori hunted so many of them that they became extinct.
Obviously, as time passed, the Maori understood that they could not move forward only by hunting, and therefore slowly from the coasts they began to advance towards the hinterland, hunting other animals, gathering berries and cultivating sweet potatoes. These first Polynesian explorers therefore gave life to small communities, forming many fortified villages scattered throughout the island, the so-called pa.
How Maori villages were made
Each pa was built in strategic positions, often on top of small hills and surrounded by several series of palisades and trenches, so as to defend themselves from possible enemy attacks. If these defense systems were not sufficient to stop the enemies, weapons were used, such as the mere, a sort of stone truncheon, or the taiaha, a long wooden stick. In general we can say that the Maori were quite warlike and hostile towards each other, therefore they often formed alliances and counter-alliances to resolve disputes of various types.
An interesting thing is that they, often, before going into battle, did a particular dance where they shouted, stamped their feet and made faces, i.e. the haka. Yes, the same haka that the New Zealand All Blacks also do before starting their matches. This dance had the objective of both charging the warriors and scaring the enemy. And unlike what we might think, there was not just one haka, but several. So much so that, for example, even today the Black Ferns, the New Zealand women’s rugby team, do a different haka from that of the All Blacks.
In short, we understood that battle was an important part of their culture, so much so that even in their beliefs war was a recurring theme.
The Maori religion
One of the major Tūmatauenga deities, who was both the god of humanity and that of War. Although among all the multitude of deities in which they believed, the one that is still most famous today is undoubtedly that of Maui, the demigod who became famous thanks to Oceaniathe Pixar cartoon. Maui is so important because according to tradition he is the one who gave fire to men and made the island of New Zealand emerge from the seabed – although in reality the characteristics of each deity could vary slightly from island to island.
But religion was also part of the very appearance of the Maori, given that the famous tattoos they got were considered sacred.
The meaning of Maori tattoos
These tattoos, called tāmokoand reserved in particular for members of the aristocratic social classes, were done especially on the face, since this was considered the most sacred part of the body. In the case of men, they often had their entire face tattooed, while for women it was usually only the chin and possibly also the lips that were tattooed.
To make tattoos, the Maori used chisels that cut into the skin and created grooved scars, while as ink they used a mix of dried caterpillars or clay, with water, fish oil and resins. Each tāmoko was unique and created specifically to tell the story and successes of its owner. For example, the koru, which is a fern that grows there, was used to symbolize new life and growth and often represented a family member or loved one.
Well. We then gave an overview of the Maori, their culture and their religion. But these villages, apparently so isolated, in reality soon came into contact with other civilizations: those of the Europeans.
The arrival of the Europeans
One of the very first contacts with Europeans dates back to 1642, when Abel Tasman arrived on the island (from which the island of Tasmania takes its name), although the decisive meeting was with the British captain James Cook in 1769, who reached New Zealand from Thailand. After his journey the island began to become an economically interesting destination and, in fact, around 1800 numerous English settlers began to arrive in New Zealand, followed by a multitude of Christian missionaries. The objective was twofold: to convert the people and establish commercial links, so as to make their assimilation and colonization easier.
At first everything seemed to be going well, for the Europeans I mean, since they managed to convert many of them, teach them to read and write in English and raise pigs. All this allowed him to impose a British government in 1840… but this was obviously not accepted by the population. The Maoris in fact went to war against the English, but in the end they won and the Maoris were deprived of almost all their assets, which came under the direct control of the English crown.
So much so that the New Zealand flag has been in use since 1869 and you can clearly see that the flag of the United Kingdom is inside it.
The Maori today
During the first half of the twentieth century, however, the Maori spirit returned to the surface and after the Second World War new protests began by Maori groups who, especially in the cities, demonstrated to regain the rights to their lands, and to promote their language and culture. Since then, small steps forward have been made, even if today there are still millions of Maori who live in the less wealthy areas of the country and who do lower-paid jobs. In short, they are a minority and unfortunately they have all the disadvantages that this entails, even if the increasingly high presence of Maori in parliament could in the future lead to a change in their conditions and to a fair recognition.
