maori identity

Iwi

In Pre-European times,

before colonisation

Maori had their own unique identity.Tribes of Maori were called Iwi and everybody belonged to one.

Your iwi name was usually the name of a person who rankedhighly within the tribe, a rangatira.

E.g. Ngati (meaning, belonging to) Porou are the descendants of Porourangi who ruled most parts of the East Coast of the North

Island.

Much like other people, Maori identity could be defined as having certain qualities that

made them unique.

Reo

Iwi

Maori had a language unique from any other country in the world. Although there were slight differences in dialects between tribes, the messages and meanings were never

lost.

Proverbs and genealogy were transferred through song, prayers and chants.

Native speakers were great orators and story tellers. The native language was described by some as a ‘poetic’

language.

Reo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Maori had a strong and unique culture. Customs and protocols of the people, influenced their way of thinking

and their way of living.

Tribal differences were very slight. Visiting tribes always followed the tikanga of their hosts if they wished to

return home safely and be welcomed again for a return visit.

The language is the vehicle which drives tikanga and kawa. Without it, what is our culture?

Mana TureReo

Iwi

Maori had control and power over their destiny.

They were their own authority. They had their

dignity, power and prestige intact.

Maori had their own laws. They had a system in which rules were made. They had lines of authority from the

Rangatira (Chief) and Tohunga (Expert*) to the

Mokai (slave).

Kawa / Tikanga

AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Maori had a system of learning that ensured that every person in the tribe became loyal and hardworking

members of the tribe for the benefit of all.

The system valued both male and female genders and at times separated learning areas to cater for extensive or

sensitive learning of their gender roles and responsibilities within the tribe.

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Maori had their land.

To the Maori, your genealogy doesn’t start from your grandparents and ancestors but to which mountain you

bow to. What river/lake or sea you feed from. What marae shelters you. What sub-tribe you wear the cloak of. And what tribe you will one day stand to fight for.

Land was and is owned by the tribe. It was never for personal gain but more for the welfare of all members of

the whanau, hapu and iwi.

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

As tribal numbers grew, some families broke away from the main village to build their own. This became a sub-tribe and was named after the

ancestor that moved away.

E.g. Ngati Konohi based themselves at Whangara, a tiny settlement in the East Coast of the North Island. The people there now are descendants of Konohi who moved his wives and children away from the main tribe. Porourangi is the first

ancestor so this sub-tribe is still part of the larger tribe, Ngati Porou.

Some Iwi have more than twenty different sub-tribes whilst some have as few as two.

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Within each hapu a family exists. This is the whānau.

Unions between men and women by arrangement were generally to defuse a war, trade for land or integrate into another tribe thus gaining land and

resources (much like a dowry).

Marriages of choice were rare but great love stories have been important enough (and told enough) to become part of the Maori myths and legends of

today.

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Mauri is the life force. Maori believe that it exists in all things. Carvings, food, physical objects all have their own mauri, their reason for being.

When Tane Mahuta breathed life into Hineahuone, part of his mauri passed through to her and she came to life.

Hence the Tihei Mauri ora at the end of speeches. The sneeze of life.

Wairua

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Maori had their own spiritual beliefs. They believed in a supreme being and also that each area of the universe was under the guardianship of a caretaker.

They prayed (Karakia) to the different guardians for good crops, safety, well-being, to give thanks etc, and sang their own waiata (songs) in chants much the same as other religious groups.

WhakaauteWairua

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Maori showed great respect for each other and their tribe. Men, women and children all knew their place. Elders were considered very wise and were cared for until their death. Their knowledge was passed down via oral stories and waiata.

Whakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Maori believed that whakamā played a major part in the discipline process and many proverbs are based around this concept.

Whakamā has many meanings such as shy, embarrass, shame, guilt, sensitive, degrade, remorse etc… depending on how it is used in a sentence.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Like whakamā, aroha also has many meanings. The most common is love. Some other meanings are: sorry, compassion, charity, mercy, pity, tenderness, endearment.

Aroha was another value that Maori treasured.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

All of these qualities remained strong under the umbrella of Tino Rangatiratanga.

Tino Rangatiratanga means independence. Maori were an independent race with strong values and an identiy.

What Happened?

What effect has colonisation had on Maori Identity?

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

New laws were set by European,

changing at whim to suit

the European. Maori laws

were disregarded

.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua

AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

Land confiscations

saw Maori lose millions of

acres of land.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua

AkorangaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

The mana of the Maori was

weakened with the loss of a major part of their sense of

belonging.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

Missionaries were opening

Native schools and Maori were being trained

(hardly educated) to

become ‘domestic’ help.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

It becomes ‘illegal’ to speak Maori language in schools and Maori children were being punished for speaking in

their native language.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

Iwi

Kawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

Customs and traditions were

being compromised as the language was diminishing. The

less Maori language, the

less the transfer and

understanding of these qualities

became.

Maori Identity and their foundations are becoming unstable.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

As land is confiscated or

sold, iwi head for the towns to

work or to try to take their

grievances to court. While

away from their homes, more land is lost. They fight as independents

and the connections between the

people start to unwind.

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Mauri

Tino Rangatiratanga

Hapu almost become non-existent as

tribes struggle to stay together.

Many sub-tribes go back to the larger

tribe and some become a forgotten people.

Mauri

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Tino Rangatiratanga

Whānau become

independent of the tribe and

continue to co-exist in towns and cities with the many new

immigrants coming into the

country. A whole

generation misses the

teachings of their elders due

to the assimilation

into the European

world.

Mauri

ArohaWhakamā WhakaauteWairu

a

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Tino Rangatiratanga

The old spiritual world of the

Maori is almost lost. Only the

Maori who didn’t leave their

homelands have maintained some of the ‘old ways’.

Esteem and pride of Maori are faltering.

Missionaries continue to oust

the ‘heathen ways’ of the

Maori and teach them to be ‘civilised’.

Mauri

ArohaWhakamāWairu

a

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Tino Rangatiratanga

PukuririMamae

Respect has been replaced by anger

and hurt.

Mauri

ArohaWhakamā

Wairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Tino Rangatiratanga

PukuririMamae

Aroha only means LOVE and SORRY

now. But there is little to give outside of the

nuclear whānau.

Mauri

ArohaWhakamā

Wairua

Whenua Akora

ngaMana TureReo

IwiKawa / Tikanga

Hapu

whānau

Tino RangatiratangaPukuriri

Mamae

And what of Independence?

PukuririMamae

Wairua

Mana

Hapu

Ture

Akoranga

Reo

Whenua

Kawa / TikangaIwi

Tino Rangatiratanga

Aroha

MauriWhakamā

whānau

To ponder…• With all of the qualities of Maori falling away, what

happens to Independence?• Tino Rangatiratanga has no foundation, no solid

walls and only a life force holding it up…. But can it do it alone?

• Can Independence be supported by Shame and Embarrassment? Should it?

• And what of the whānau. Are they able to maintain the values of their whole identity as a people without the beginning (tribe)?

• If we call the loss of culture ‘Evolution’, who or what do Maori become?

• If we accept to call it Evolution, whose beliefs and values become the ‘new’ Maori identity and will Maori be known by that new identity?