Māori

Māori is a term used to describe the Indigenous tribes or nations of Aotearoa (New Zealand) whose Polynesian ancestors migrated on huge ocean-going canoes hundreds of years ago from Hawaiiki.

Māori possess a rich and dynamic culture, one in which their daily lives were in constant communion with the spiritual world. Karakia (prayer), poetry, oratory and music was, and still is a vital part of the Māori society. Stories were recorded in the songs, carvings, weavings, paintings and crafts abundant in the community.

Māori sovereignty was challenged by the arrival of the first white man, Captain James Cook in 1769. Missionaries began a campaign to erode traditional notions of Māori spirituality. Wars over land and power were fought between

Māori, settlers and the British troops.

In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between Māori chiefs and Hobson (representing the British Queen). It followed an 1835 Declaration of Independence by the Norther United Confederation of Tribes. Both He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni and Te Tiriti o Waitangi reaffirmed Māori sovereignty. Resistance and the ongoing fight for justice continued - on the battlefield, in the courts, parliament, the media, even at the United Nations today – by Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti.