Māori culture is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture and, due to a large diaspora and the incorporation of Māori motifs into popular culture, it is found throughout the world. Within Māoridom, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word Māoritanga is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori culture, the Māori-language suffix -tanga being roughly equivalent to the qualitative noun-ending -ness in English. Māoritanga has also been translated as "[a] Māori way of life." The term kaupapa, meaning the guiding beliefs and principles which act as a base or foundation for behaviour, is also widely used to refer to Māori cultural values.
Tapu is a Polynesian traditional concept denoting something holy or sacred, with "spiritual restriction" or "implied prohibition"; it involves rules and prohibitions. The English word taboo derives from this later meaning and dates from Captain James Cook's visit to Tonga in 1777.
A marae, malaʻe, meʻae or malae is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term also means cleared and free of weeds or trees. Marae generally consist of an area of cleared land roughly rectangular, bordered with stones or wooden posts perhaps with paepae (terraces) which were traditionally used for ceremonial purposes; and in some cases, a central stone ahu or a'u. In the Rapa Nui culture of Easter Island, the term ahu has become a synonym for the whole marae complex.
Tā moko is the permanent marking or "tattoo" as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles.
Māori religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and practices of the Māori, the Polynesian indigenous people of New Zealand.
In Māori oral tradition, Rarohenga refers to the subterranean realm where spirits of the deceased dwell after death. The underworld is ruled by the Goddess of Death and Night, Hine-nui-te-pō. Additional occupants include Guardians, Gods, Goddesses, Holy Chiefs and Nobles (Rangatira), and the tūrehu, who are described as celestial, fairy-like people. Rarohenga is predominantly depicted as a place of peace and light. As articulated by Māori ethnographer, Elsden Best: It is a place where darkness is unknown, as darkness “pertains only to the upper world”. “This is the reason why, of all spirits of the dead, since the time of Hine-ahu-one… not a single one has ever returned, or hither[ed] to dwell in this world”.
The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 was an Act of the New Zealand Parliament aimed at replacing tohunga as traditional Māori healers with western medicine.
The whitehead is a small species of passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It is classified in the family Mohouidae. The male whitehead's upperparts, wings and tail are a pale brown in colour, while the head and underparts are white – in the case of the male an almost pure white in colour. Females and juveniles have similar colouration except that the nape and crown are shaded brown. The black beak and eyes contrast with the white head and the feet are bluish black in colouration.
Rua Kenana Hepetipa or Rua Kēnana Hepetipa was a Māori prophet, faith healer and land rights activist. He called himself Te Mihaia Hou, the New Messiah, and claimed to be Te Kooti Arikirangi's successor Hepetipa (Hephzibah) who would reclaim Tūhoe land that had been lost to Pākehā ownership. Rua's beliefs split the Ringatū Church, which Te Kooti had founded in around 1866/1868. In 1907 Rua formed a non-violent religious community at Maungapōhatu, the sacred mountain of Ngāi Tūhoe, in the Urewera. By 1900, Maungapōhatu was one of the few areas that had not been investigated by the Native Land Court. The community, also known as New Jerusalem, included a farming co-operative and a savings bank. Many Pākehā believed the community was subversive and saw Rua as a disruptive influence.
New Zealand art consists of the visual and plastic arts originating from New Zealand and comes from different traditions: indigenous Māori art and that brought here including from early European mostly British settlers.
An ariki, ꞌariki, aliki, ali‘i, ari'i, aiki or hakaiki, akariki or ‘eiki (Tonga) is or was a member of a hereditary chiefly or noble rank in Polynesia.
The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) is an indigenous traditional art school located in Rotorua New Zealand. It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms.
In October 2007, 22-year-old Janet Moses died and a 14-year-old female relative was injured during a mākutu lifting in the Wellington, New Zealand suburb of Wainuiomata. In 2009, nine members of Moses' extended family, all siblings of her mother or their spouses, were charged in relation to the event. One uncle and four aunts were subsequently found guilty of manslaughter.
Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand.
Te Hikapuhi Wiremu Poihipi, known as Hikapuhi, was a New Zealand Māori healer who came to prominence in 1905. She was regarded by European and Māori authorities of her time as a nuisance, frequently prescribing patients with brandy, but for many who sought her help, she was their only provider of medical care.
A kōrere is a traditional Māori feeding funnel that was used during facial tattooing to feed men of high status. Men receiving tā moko whose mouths were swollen would receive mulched or puréed food through the kōrere. It was also used to feed tohunga that were under tapu.
Tohitapu also known as Tohi or Toi-Tapu was a rangatira (chief) of the Te Roroa iwi (tribe) of Northland, New Zealand, and a tohunga and Māori warrior. An account told by a Ngāpuhi informant to British ethnographer John White of the visit of Marion du Fresne to the Bay of Islands in 1772 describes Tohitapu as participating in the massacre when du Fresne and 26 men of his crew were killed and cannibalised.
Julie Paama-Pengelly is a New Zealand tā moko artist, painter, commentator, and curator.
Mātauranga is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. Māori traditional knowledge is multi-disciplinary and holistic, and there is considerable overlap between concepts. It includes environmental stewardship and economic development, with the purpose of preserving Māori culture and improving the quality of life of the Māori people over time.
