Māori traditionally followed a polytheistic belief system centered on gods (Atua) and concepts like mana (spiritual power) and tapu (sacredness), but today most identify as Christian (Anglican being common) or have no religion, with many blending traditional beliefs with Christianity, leading to unique movements like Rātana and Ringatu. Pre-colonial faith involved a pantheon of gods, connection to nature, ancestor worship, and rituals, with deities like Tāne (forests) and Tangaroa (sea).
Traditional Māori religion, the pre-European belief-system of the Māori, differed little from that of their perceived homeland, Hawaiki Nui, aka Raʻiātea or Raiatea, conceiving of everything – including natural elements and all living things – as connected by common descent through whakapapa or genealogy.
Io – supreme god
There has been debate about whether there was a supreme god in Māori tradition, centred around a god known as Io. Io has many names, including Io-matua-kore – Io the parentless one.
Historically, Christianity was introduced to Māori by missionaries in the early 19th century. While it was part of colonization, many Māori adopted and adapted Christianity for their own reasons. Some saw it as a source of mana, knowledge, and political strategy in dealing with Pākehā.
There was no known prehistoric contact between Australian Aboriginal people and New Zealand Māori, although the Polynesian ancestors of Māori were accomplished navigators, who did establish short-lived settlements on Norfolk Island.
The Maori of New Zealand (NZ) and the Aborigines of Australia are not related in modern contexts. The Aborigines came to Australia about 40,000 years ago from Africa while the Maori came to NZ about 1,000 years ago from Polynesia.
Noa is the opposite of Tapu and refers to ordinary, everyday things such as food or alcohol. Those two should be kept separated. That's why you should avoid sitting on pillows and touching or passing food over a person's head, since it's considered very sacred by Māori people.
Māori (Māori: [ˈmaːɔɾi]) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. The Māori are descended from East Polynesian settlers who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350.
Large areas of land were confiscated from the Māori by the government under the New Zealand Settlements Act in 1863, purportedly as punishment for rebellion. In reality, land was confiscated from both "loyal" and "rebel" tribes alike.
Sikhism is the fastest-growing faith.
Our Favourite Māori Legends and Myths
Māori Muslims are a small minority community in New Zealand.
Māori people originated from Polynesian voyagers who migrated from a mythical homeland called Hawaiki (believed to be in East Polynesia, possibly near Tahiti) to Aotearoa (New Zealand) in a series of canoe journeys, with settlement occurring in waves between roughly 1250 and 1300 AD, developing a unique culture in isolation over centuries.
Māori and other Polynesian people tend to have larger body frames due to a combination of genetics, evolutionary advantages for ancestral ocean voyages (like efficient energy storage and dense bones), and lifestyle changes from traditional diets and manual labor to modern sedentary habits and imported, processed foods, leading to higher rates of obesity in contemporary times. Cultural acceptance of larger body sizes also plays a role in maintaining these trends, though studies show Māori aren't necessarily bigger in stature but more prone to obesity due to socio-economic factors.
We have distilled five key values that underpin Māori leadership.
The New Zealand land confiscations took place during the 1860s to punish the Kīngitanga movement for attempting to set up an alternative Māori form of government that forbade the selling of land to European settlers.
Saying 'no' Taraia Ngakuti Te Tumuhuia, a Ngāti Tamaterā leader in the Thames area, was one of several rangatira who declined to sign the Treaty. Others included Ngāi Te Rangi leader Tupaea of Tauranga, Te Wherowhero of Waikato-Tainui, and Mananui Te Heuheu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
Yes, roughly 80% (or around 78%) of New Zealand's land is considered uninhabited, not because it's truly barren, but due to challenging terrain like mountains, vast protected areas (National Parks), and large expanses of farmland managed by few people, causing most of the population to cluster along the coasts and in major cities like Auckland.
Pakepakehā is another word for patupaiarehe. It may have given rise to the term Pākehā (a New Zealander of European descent). To Māori, Europeans resembled the pakepakehā or patupaiarehe, with their fair skin and light-coloured hair. There have been several dubious interpretations given to the word Pākehā.
Some of us are dark skinned, with dark hair, while some are blonde with blue eyes. Being Māori is not a dichotomy – we cannot categorise Maori into 'black' or 'white' because Kiwi identities are complex, and being Māori is about more than a skin colour.
Filipinos share DNA with Polynesians, Hawaiians, and the Māori of New Zealand — all part of the vast Austronesian family. This isn't just coincidence.
This is because it was believed that others could find these body parts and place makutu on you. Cutting your hair and fingernails at night time meant that it would be easy for others to get a hold of these body parts and do harm to you.
A pūkana helps to emphasise a point in a song or haka and demonstrate the performer's ferocity, intensity or passion. For women, pūkana involves opening their eyes wide and jutting out their chin. For men, it means widening their eyes and stretching out their tongue or baring their teeth.
Sites or objects that Māori regard as tapu (sacred) are not to be touched or interacted with. The head is considered to be the most sacred part of the body and should not come into contact with other body parts. It is a cultural taboo to touch someone else's head without permission.