Who are the Maori? Maori. Tribe from New Zealand Indigenous people of New Zealand Maori
Part 6. Maori (New Zealand).
The long and mysterious history of the origin of the indigenous Maori people can be traced back to the 13th century. It features the mythical land of Hawaiki, located in Eastern Polynesia. Thanks to centuries of isolation, the Maori have created an independent society with a peculiar art, their own language and unique mythology.
"My tongue is my awakening, my tongue is the window of my soul."
The defining aspects of traditional Maori culture are painting, dance, legends, tattoos and communication. Although the arrival of European colonists in the 18th century had a profound effect on the Maori way of life, many aspects of the traditional society have survived to this day.
Haruru Falls, North Island
As adherents of polytheism, Maori worship various gods, goddesses and spirits. Maori believe that ancestors and supernatural beings are omnipresent and able to help the tribe in times of need. Myths are rooted in the distant past. They tell about the origin of the universe, gods and people.
Mythology is permeated with natural phenomena, the weather, the stars and the moon, the fish in the sea, the birds in the forest, and the forests themselves. The understanding of the development of the universe is expressed by Maori in genealogical form.
Ta moko (Ta moko)
Defining aspects of traditional Maori culture include art, legends, tattoos (Ta Moko), stage performances (called Kapa Haka), customs, hospitality and communication.
Tattooing has always been an important part of Maori culture. Getting a tattoo is an important step in the maturation process, so there are many rites and rituals associated with this event. Each member of the Maori tribe plays a special role and holds a special place in the social order.
Robert Davis
Traveling incessantly, the Maori proved to be bold and resourceful adventurers and one of the greatest seafarers of all time. Through centuries of isolation from the rest of the world, the Maori have created a unique society with a distinctive art, original language and peculiar mythology.
Huka Falls
While the arrival of Europeans had a profound effect on the Maori way of life, many aspects of traditional society have survived into the 21st century.
Maori participate fully in all areas of New Zealand's cultural and social life, leading a largely Western way of life and at the same time not losing touch with their centuries-old traditions.
Traditional family ties are actively maintained. In particular, the so-called “extended family” (Whanau) remains an integral part of Maori life. Although many Maori have migrated to larger villages and cities, they continue to live almost exclusively in remote rural areas.
Taupo village
Kai is the Maori word for food. The Maori diet is based on poultry and fish and supplemented with seasonings from wild herbs and roots. Maori also grow root vegetables and vegetables in their tribal gardens, including yams, pumpkins and kumara (sweet potatoes).
Maori usually cook their food in underground ovens called hangi. To this day, this traditional method is used on special occasions, allowing the creation of festive delicacies made from traditional ingredients.
Dr. Pita Sharples (Dr. Pita Sharples)
The Maori are the original inhabitants of New Zealand. Their history is long and mysterious. Based on oral history, archaeological finds and genetic analysis, we can date the arrival of the Maori in New Zealand to the thirteenth century AD.
The origin of the Maori can be traced back to the islands of East Polynesia. Their migration to New Zealand from the mythical land of Hawaiki took place during several epic voyages on waka boats (a type of canoe) over a fairly long period of time. Legend has it that twelve large canoes transported the 12 tribes (iwi) that made up the Maori people. Even today, most Maori representatives remember exactly which original tribe they are descended from.
Taniwha's Testament
By the end of the 19th century, the effects of early colonization, wars and epidemics reduced the Maori population to 40,000. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Maori population began to recover. Maori culture revived.
Currently, about 650,000 Maori live in New Zealand.
Simple
The early Maori were very peaceful compared to the later generations, whose militancy was developed in the process of skirmishes between the tribes.
The early settlers did not call themselves Maori until the arrival of European colonists in the 18th century. They needed their own name to distinguish themselves from the newcomers - and they called themselves Maori ("simple"). In their religion, the gods are divided into simple (“Maori”) and powerful.
Taupo Village, North Island
Maori society is especially visible on the marae. In the past, the marae was the central meeting place in traditional villages. Events such as weddings, funerals, and large gatherings were often held there, with mandatory protocol and etiquette. Such events are a great celebration, where you can show off colorful national clothes, jewelry, intricate tattoos, dances and chants - in other words, show the Maori traditions in all their glory.
War of Haka (Haka)
The haka war dance, designed to intimidate the enemy, is one of the most famous Maori cultural traditions. This dance is accompanied by song and bodily percussion: clapping hands, stamping feet and hitting the hips. The dance itself includes expressive postures symbolizing militancy and aggression.
Maori singing follows very strict rules. To interrupt the penalties in mid-sentence means to bring disaster or even death to the community. These chants are often about
family traditions or the deeds of ancestors.
Connie Adam
The individual's place in society was often indicated by their attire and tattoos. People of high social status always covered themselves with tattoos, while fellow tribesmen who did not have tattoos were considered worthless people.
For centuries, the people we are going to talk about now have been one of the most, let's not be afraid of this word, sinister on earth. His refined cruelty was combined with great deceit, composure and courage. Its regressive development did not follow the path of the Australian aborigines, who turned into an unorganized human herd. The regression of this people also followed the path of turning a person into an animal, but a predatory, aggressive animal. The people we are going to talk about are the Maori, the natives of New Zealand.
Unlike other parts of our planet, this land remained uninhabited until the 10th century. X. e. It is thanks to this that today it has preserved much better than other parts of the world, pristine nature, intact, created by God and not spoiled by human activity. No wonder travelers of all ages spoke of this land as one of the most wonderful corners of the world.
The discovery of New Zealand is associated with the name of the fisherman Kupe in the islands of Hawaii (this is probably the island of Raiatea, northwest of Tahiti), who once, while catching squid, found himself far south of his native island, until he saw the land with high banks, shrouded in mist. Returning home, he told his fellow tribesmen about his discovery, and soon some of them were carried to this land during a storm, which they liked very much and they stayed there. A little more than a hundred years have passed since then, until new boats sailed to the island. Legends say that the reason for this was the loss by a certain person named Toi of his grandson Watong, who was blown away by the wind during a boat race. After many adventures, the grandfather and grandson finally met in New Zealand. There, this small group, who had no women, met and made contact with the settlers, whose ancestors arrived here in the 10th century, forming a single people.
The third wave of resettlement dates back to the 14th century, sometimes even the exact year is called - 1335. The reason for this was the intertribal wars in Hawaii, as a result of which part of the population had to leave their homeland in search of a new land, which became New Zealand, known in Hawaii since Coupe times. Arriving on the island, the newcomers were amazed by its beauty. They divided his lands among themselves and settled at some distance from each other in order to avoid possible strife that forced them to leave their homeland. The land was divided among seven chiefs who arrived on separate boats. They entered into an armed clash with the descendants of Toya, eventually subjugating them to their power, and then assimilating them.
Modern ethnography says that the Maori (Polynesians) were a transitional race that absorbed the features of various races. “The originality of the Polynesians is not expressed in some predominantly developed feature that distinguishes them from a series of other racial types, or developed incomparably stronger or weaker than in other cases. This originality lies in the exceptional combination of features that mark other races, even the main ones, which makes it difficult for the Polynesians to approach anthropologically with representatives of even the main racial branches. From Caucasoids, even in the southern Mediterranean version, they are distinguished by darker pigmentation and poor development of the hairline, from Negroids, on the contrary, by lighter pigmentation, a larger protrusion of the nose, large face sizes, from Australoids by lighter pigmentation, from Mongoloids by a relatively strong Mongolian the scale of the protrusion of the nose; from Americanoids - wavy hairiness” . Of course, these features were influenced by a long and isolated stay on the islands. However, the main role in the formation of the Polynesians was played by the Australoid and Mongoloid components.
In terms of language, Polynesians (and their Maori component) are part of the Austronesian (old name Malayo-Polynesian) family of languages. These languages are spoken in Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Madagascar (!), part of the tribes on the island of Taiwan and in Vietnam (Chai language). Also, the Japanese language is very close in phonetic aspect to Polynesian (!). By the way, the Austronesians were the first to come to the Japanese archipelago. Today, Indochina is considered the homeland of the Austronesians, from where they came to Indonesia, and then settled on the Pacific islands from Japan to New Zealand. So, let's sum up the general results of the origin of the Maori (Polynesians). Basically, they originated, of course, from Ham (which is also confirmed by the similarity of the groups of languages of peoples of Hamitic origin), which gave rise to the Negroid and Mongoloid race. However, the original homeland (Indochina) was located near the lands of the descendants of Japheth in India, where they could partially mix with them, hence the appearance of the Polynesians, which is not quite typical for Negroids.
The first settlers of New Zealand (the first two waves) are classified as typical negroids. So in your own way appearance, language, kinship and cultural ties, the Maori were descendants of Ham. Having become full owners of the island, the settlers of the third wave did not create a single state. Their formation was a kind of confederation, consisting of seven (then five) main tribal groups (“waka”). They, in turn, were divided into smaller iwi cells, and those - into clans (khapuu). Each hapuu clan had its own leader and occupied a separate village, more precisely, a fortress (pa). New Zealanders built their fortresses on impregnable, well-protected places. Pa was surrounded, as a rule, by three belts of fortifications; formed by two rows of a multi-meter palisade and a willow fence with loopholes. Many pas also had ditches. The tops of the stakes “decorated” the heads of the enemies, from which the brain was previously scraped, the skin was removed, the noses were strengthened with small planks, and the mouths and eyelids were sewn together. Then such a head was smoked for thirty hours, which ensured its long-term preservation on the stakes of the palisade, to inspire awe and respect for enemies.
The Maori people, who live on the islands of New Zealand, sailed here from East Polynesia by canoe sometime between 1250 and 1300 AD. Over the centuries, they created a rich and complex society that included a fierce and fearsome warrior cult. Europeans began to call Maori men - warriors, although women could also be warriors who had tattoos on their faces.
- Their tattoos were carved
Tattoos were of particular importance to the Maori people. They were applied to both men and women. The most common place where tattoos were applied was the face, but some Maori did them on the neck, torso, and tattooed the arms. Most Maori got their first tattoos as teenagers.
Each tattoo pattern is unique, but in general, they were made in the form of a spiral. They were tattooed during the ceremony, and each line meant a manifestation of the courage and strength of a person. After all, these tattoos were not done with a needle gun. Instead, they were carved using a hammer and a chisel, which was made from animal bone. Ink was made from ash and fat. This left scars in the form of patterns on the skin, instead of being smooth, like modern tattoos.
- War Dance
One of the most notable traditions used by the Maori warriors, and still used in many national sports teams, is a traditional dance called Haka. During the dance, the participants speak, chant, stomp their feet, stick out their tongues, and bulge their eyes.
The dance was used for various occasions. First, it was used to intimidate their opponents. In another case, it was performed before the battle during the ritual. If something went wrong with the dance, then the elders were sure that it was a bad omen. This gave them the option to either give up or change their plans.
- The baton was used to crack skulls
The club was the most common weapon used by Maori warriors. It was made in the form of a drop of bone, jade or stone. They were often beautifully decorated and considered family friendly.
The batons do not have cutting edges and were used in close combat. Often the Maori warriors attacked the enemy and beat him with a baton from above on the shoulder. They sought to break the collarbone, dislocate or break the shoulder. Then their opponent would not be able to protect himself from a blow to the head; often in the back of the head. Behind the skull is the pterion, the weakest point of the skull. Therefore, the Maori needed one blow to this area to kill the opponent of the warrior.
- The dead were buried, then dug up and then reburied.
The Maori have a very unusual way of burying their dead. Since the beginning of their culture, the Maori people have buried people twice. First, a week after death, the body was wrapped in mats and then buried and allowed to decompose. Then, a year later, the bodies were dug up and the remaining flesh removed from the bones. Then the bones were dyed with red ocher, which is a natural pigment, and taken to different settlements, where people once again mourned the dead. Then another ceremony was held before the bodies were buried in the Sacred Place. After this second burial, it was believed that the human soul would go to the mysterious afterlife.
- War strategy
The armies of the Maori, who were called hapu, as a rule, never had more than 100 men, and in some cases women fought as well. Sometimes several hapus united, but then they became poorly organized.
From a very young age the boys were trained in the art of war and every man was trained as a warrior.
Maori attacked other tribes. They usually attacked enemy settlements at dawn. All men were killed because it eliminated the possibility of revenge. Women were captured as a prize of war.
- The heads of the dead were taken as trophies
The heads were of particular importance to the Maori people, and they are known to have taken the heads of their fallen enemies. The brain and eyes were removed from the heads of Maori enemies. Further, all holes were sealed with flax fiber. The heads were steamed or baked over a fire. The heads were then dried in the sun for several days and then treated with shark oil.
Why did the Maori collect the heads of their enemies? One of the reasons for such a ritual is mockery and mockery of the memory of enemies. For the same purpose, a bizarre head game was developed. They were piled up, and then the head of the deceased chief leader was placed on top. Then, using stones or sticks, the Maori tried to knock the head off on top of the pile.
- James Cook's first meeting was terrible
The first meeting between Europeans and Maori took place in December 1646, when a Dutch ship was shipwrecked near the island of Maori. Both sides were unfriendly to each other and this led to a small fight, which resulted in deaths on both sides. After the departure of the Dutch, Europeans did not want to return to the island until 1767, when the English navigator James Cook set off to look for the legendary fourth continent.
When Captain Cook first encountered the Maori, they sent two war canoes to meet the Europeans. As the canoe approached, two Maori warriors, with face tattoos, stood up and raised the withered heads of their last enemies, who were also covered in tattoos. Cook and his team immediately noticed the details in the faces.
Cook wanted to communicate peacefully with the Maori, but the Maori acted aggressively. As a result, the Europeans were forced to kill several Maori in self-defense.
To convince the Maori that they came in peace, Cook and his men treated the Maori captives kindly and let them go. This has led to improved relations between Maori and Europeans, which will play important role in the formation of New Zealand.
- The Most Famous Warrior Khunji-Nika
It is believed that the most famous Maori leader is Hunzhi Nika, who was born in 1778. He was a fierce and agile warrior. Its leader cooperated with the Europeans, as he understood the value of muskets in war. In 1808, the tribe got involved in a war with another tribe, but due to the fact that in those days muskets needed at least 20 seconds to reload, the enemy tribe used this time to attack. Many members of the Ngapui Iwi tribe, including the chief, were killed. Khunzhi Nika was one of those who were lucky enough to escape the slaughter.
Khunzhi Nika was the oldest, so he became the leader of the tribe. He had the foresight to see that muskets could be incredibly important weapons in war. He made trips to Australia and England. He even converted to Christianity and set up the first Christian mission in New Zealand.
This attitude towards the church gave Khunzhi-Nik access to more guns because he vowed to become the protector of the church. Khunzhi Nika was able to accumulate more than 3,000 guns and a large amount of ammunition and gunpowder during his 10 years as a leader of the tribe. Beginning in 1818, his tribe slaughtered other tribes and captured their women. Within a year, he had taken full control of Northern New Zealand. However, other tribes followed in the footsteps of Khunzhi-Nik and bought their own weapons. Khunzhi-Nika, having killed in battle, received a bullet in the lung in 1828.
- Infanticide
Like other warrior cultures, the Maori committed infanticide. Women were less in demand in society because the tribes needed more men, since every man was a warrior and there had to be a decent number of warriors to ensure security. In fact, there were five ways to kill babies. Their skulls could be crushed, they could be drowned in a rock pool, suffocated, and finally mothers would press the soft spot on the baby's skull and kill the baby instantly.
- They practiced cannibalism
Maori warriors committed cannibalism. Some historians believe that Europeans are simply trying to paint the Maori as savages. However, in addition to evidence of cannibalism, tribal oral tradition and archaeological evidence also strongly suggests that Maori warriors ate their defeated enemies.
There are several reasons why the Maori ate their enemies. One of the reasons was the need to assimilate their spirit, which they call Manu. Another theory is that cannibalism was part of their battle rage. Also, another reason was considered the humiliation of enemies. The greatest humiliation that can be done is to kill the enemy, chop up the enemy, eat him, and then turn him into feces.
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Maori is one of the peoples of Oceania. Its population is currently about 750 thousand people (half of all Polynesians). Maori live in New Zealand (about 600 thousand), the Cook Islands and Australia. They settled in New Zealand relatively recently - in the 13-14 centuries AD. Their language belongs to the Polynesian group of the Austronesian family.
Maori character
New Zealand was the last of the large habitable territories to be settled. According to a number of theories, it follows from this that the Maori were losers, outcasts who could not find a place in their former place, and they were forced to look for new house. At the same time, however, mAori are considered a warlike tribe. They gained such a reputation among Europeans from the first meeting that took place on November 24, 1642, when the Tasman expedition set foot on the shores of New Zealand. The meeting ended in a skirmish, killing and eating several members of the expedition. Since Tasman, virtually every European navigator has had skirmishes with the Maori. Although Cook was still not eaten by them (which is a common misconception), but by Hawaiians related to them.
Maori ritual dance
Maori culture
According to some reports, the Maori did not always profess the cult of war. They acquired militancy as a result of climate change and a series of tectonic catastrophes that led New Zealand to a sharp reduction in bioresources. However, perhaps the main reason was the Maori themselves, who exterminated or reduced local populations, that they did not know such large and predatory mammals before the arrival of man, and therefore did not develop protection.
Resource constraints led to wars that quickly became ingrained in the culture and social structure. Maori began to build fortified settlements, develop tactics, improve weapons. Contact with Europeans, especially with whalers who did not particularly care about ethical issues, opened up new horizons for the Maori. The culture of potato cultivation made it possible to create strategic food reserves, and firearms led to revolutionary changes in military affairs. The so-called "musket wars" began - an endless series of internecine skirmishes that lasted from 1807 to 1847. In 1835, several groups of Maori raided Chatham Island, exterminating or enslaving the related Moriori tribe living there.
Musket wars ended only with the advent of a new enemy - the British crown. The stubborn resistance to colonization, although doomed to defeat in the military sense, in the political sense led to the result. The tribes retained land holdings, and the Maori themselves received equality with the colonists, which was rare for the 19th century. Property stratification for a long time left the indigenous inhabitants out of political life, but in 1867 four constituencies were created on the Maori lands (later their number increased to 7), and the people received representation in parliament.
Maori mythologists
The Maori did not worship animals. Their gods were mostly human in appearance and coexisted with the heroes - the ancestors, the ancestors of the tribes. Maori remember the names of the founders, who, according to legend, arrived in New Zealand (Ao Thea Roa) on seven boats.
Some researchers believe that the supreme deity Io, the creator of all things, was invented by the Maori before the arrival of Europeans. However, most likely, this is a late Christian layering caused by missionary activity, and the name itself comes from Jehovah. Too obvious parallels can be traced in the descriptions (for example, the knowledge of good and evil is associated with Io).
Tanya is much more suitable for the role of the supreme deity. He is the god of fertility, the god of forests and birds, but he, according to the cosmogonic myth, created women by separating the feminine (Earth) from the masculine (Heaven), which became an act of creation. In the modern interpretation, however, Tanya occupies a modest place. He is the son of Papa (Earth) and Rangu (Sky), although he separated his parents at the beginning.
A special place in the Maori pantheon is occupied by the god of war, Tumatauenga. In the cosmogonic myth, he opposed Tanya, intending to kill his parents instead of separating them. Interestingly, it was from the god of war Tumatauenga that the Maori originated, according to their ideas.
The concept of mana, a magical substance, also reflects the militant Maori paradigm. Magical power that can be accumulated or spent, it can be lost as a result of directed actions of the enemy. It also gives you the opportunity to harm another person. Tapu (taboo) is a system of protection against the harmful effects of mana, and moko tattoos are designed, among other things, to control magic.
Maori - the indigenous people, the main population of New Zealand - before the arrival of Europeans. The number in New Zealand is more than 526 thousand people, approximately 10 thousand people each. live in Australia and the USA. In the Maori language, the word maori means "normal", "natural" or "ordinary". In legends, oral traditions, the word Maori distinguished people from a deity and a spirit.
The Maori themselves believe that they arrived in New Zealand on 7 canoes from their ancestral home of Gawaiki. Modern research indicates that then uninhabited New Zealand was settled by Polynesians around 1280 AD. By that time, all the current habitats of mankind were already inhabited. The ancestral home of the tribe and all Polynesians is the island of Taiwan near mainland China. People came directly to New Zealand from the islands of East Polynesia.
Society was arranged in the same way as in the rest of Polynesia. The same classes stood out here: nobility (rangatira), ordinary community members (tutua), captive slaves (taurekareka). Among the nobility, the leaders (ariki) stood out in particular. Priests (tokhunga) were held in high esteem. The word "tokhunga" was also used to refer to artists (carvers). The community (hapu) consisted of one village and was divided into groups (vanau), that is, 1-2 houses.
In general, Maori culture is different from that of other Polynesians. The reason for this is other natural conditions. In the field of spiritual culture, they preserved a lot of Polynesian, but they also created their own, original heritage.
Meeting with Europeans
Less than 4 centuries after the settlement of New Zealand, the first Europeans appeared here. The name of the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman remained famous. The meeting of the Maori and Europeans, which took place in 1642, ended tragically: the locals attacked the landing Dutch, killed several sailors, ate them with pleasure (the Maori practiced cannibalism) and disappeared. Frustrated by the incident, Tasman named the place Killer Cove.
Again, the foot of a European set foot on New Zealand only 127 years later: in 1769, the expedition of James Cook arrived here, which marked the beginning of the colonization of New Zealand by the British. James Cook himself escaped Maori teeth, but was killed and eaten by another Polynesian people, the Hawaiians.
