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The word karakia, which we use for prayer, formerly meant a spell, charm, or incantation [...] [Maori] have spells suited for all circumstances – to conquer enemies, catch fish, trap rats, and snare birds, to make their kumara grow, and even to bind the obstinate will of woman; to find anything lost; to discover a stray dog; a concealed enemy ...
If known, their origins are noted. A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. [1] [2] In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial ...
Māori cultural history intertwines inextricably with the culture of Polynesia as a whole. The New Zealand archipelago forms the southwestern corner of the Polynesian Triangle, a major part of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: the Hawaiian Islands, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and New Zealand (Aotearoa in te reo Māori). [10]
Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. [ 14 ] Early contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers.
The hongi (Māori pronunciation:) is a traditional Māori greeting performed by two people pressing their noses together, often including the touching of the foreheads. [1] The greeting is used at traditional meetings among Māori people, [2] and at major ceremonies, such as a pōwhiri. [3] It may be followed by a handshake. [3]
Mātauranga (literally Māori knowledge) is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. [1] [2] Māori traditional knowledge is multi-disciplinary and holistic, and there is considerable overlap between concepts.
At least two references to him from 1891 appear in Edward Tregear's The Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary, where he is described as "God, the Supreme Being", [12]: 106 and as a figure in Moriori genealogy, but as Tiki's descendant. [12]: 669 A third reference might be found in the same book under Ngāti Maniapoto's genealogy.
The idea that the Io represented a pre-Christian understanding of "God" much like the Christian God would be propagated by Elsdon Best in his Maori Religion and Mythology. [ 4 ] The Io tradition was initially rejected by scholars including prominent Māori scholar Te Rangi Hīroa (Peter Buck), who wrote, "The discovery of a supreme God named Io ...