Prof. Harvey

BRIEF SUMMARY OF MAORI HISTORY 

--about 500,000 Maori now in New Zealand, 14% of New Zealand population

--migrated around 1200 from Marquesas and other islands

--initially relied upon non-farming resources—fish/dolphin/whale if on coastline; birds, rats. etc. if in interior

--specialists in carving, tattooing

--very much into ancestor worship and genealogy

--also very clannish

--depletion of hunting foodstocks led to transition to farming, but difficult

--led to a lot of inter-clan wars and "military" rituals/postures /fortified villages over scarce farming territories

--chants you will see in "Once Were Warriors"

--held same basic belief as other Polynesians: in tapu, mana (honor or prestige), mauri (life force), utu (revenge)

--polytheistic: a number of gods (a lord of the forest and a Polynesian ocean god)

--also spirits, or atua, who responded to magic spells and punished taboo breakers

--Cook established sort of friendly relations with them

--1841 became an official colony of Britain, with many European settlements established

--between 1843--1872 much violence between Maori and British settlers

--atrocities committed on both sides

--quite grisly: a Maori head, ritually tattooed, became something of a collector's item

--after war period, much Maori land confiscated, increasing impoverishment, death from European disease

--population fell from about 120000 in 1769 to 42000 in 1896

--in 20^th C a cultural/political revival and a much stronger cultural/political force in New Zealand today than U.S. Native Americans, although often still second-class citizen status

--most of Maori now live in urban areas: combine Native Americans and African-Americans in inner cities and you sort of get a picture of the Maori

--debates over land stolen are still actively going on