Maori Tribe of New Zealand

                                         Maori tribe
   
    The article I found online taught me a lot of things I did not know about Maori people of New Zealand. Maori people make up about 14% of New Zealand’s population, and it is said that they migrated in canoes from Polynesia somewhere between the 9th to the 13th century. Most of the Maori reside where the climate is warmer, which is in the Northern Island. The theory today is that the Maori originated from China, then traveled to Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Melanesia, then Fiji, then Samoa, Marquesas and turned to Tahiti, then New Zealand. The traditional Maori greeting is called a powhiri, in which two Maori press their noses together in greeting.

Personally, I have always been a big fan of Maori tattoos, they have always intrigued me and I have always liked them a lot. Their full-face tattoos were referred to as “moko” and they are mostly used today to preserve their culture and indentity. Moko were first used as a form of identity, rank, genealogy, tribal history, eligibility to marry, marks of beauty, or ferocity. Moko were originally chiseled into the skin and preceded wood carvings. Women were traditionally only allowed to get moko on their lips or chin, and sometimes around the nose. The process of getting a moko took months to choose the designs and gain the approvals of the elders and family members.

A Maori form of barbecue is called Hangi and it usually takes about three hours for the food to cook, and it is given a unique steamy and earthy flavor. Hangi is used to feed large groups of people and it is begun with a shallow hole in the ground, a fire is plaed in the hole and hot stones are placed at the top of it. The food is placed on the stones and then covered with soil to keep the heat in. The east Polynesian ancestors were hunters, fishermen and gardeners, and when they migrated to New Zealand they were quickly forced to adapt to the new environment.

Maori carvings are very cultural and they may depict significant events or tell stories to people who know how to properly read them. Traditional Maori believed the earth was the giver of all life, therefore food is cooked beneath the ground during Hangi. The traditional Maori diet consisted of birds and fish, supplemented with some herbs and roots. Maori poetry does not necessarily rhyme, it is usually sung or chanted. Maori myths mostly try to explain the creation of the universe, and the origins of good and people; their stories usually contain supernatural forces or events. The Northern Island’s climate is a lot warmer compared to that of the southern islands which are known to have sub-antarctic weather.