Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
For the Maori, the land was not merely a resource, but a connection to ancestors. [4] The mana of the tribe was strongly associated with the lands of that tribe. From this came the Maori proverb "Man perishes, but the land remains." The Maori beliefs included Atua, invisible spirits connected to natural phenomena such as rainbows, trees, or stones.
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.
Both categories merge in whakapapa to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in. The Māori did not have a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769, [ 1 ] therefore they relied on oral retellings and recitations memorised from generation to generation.
Their son Rakahore married Hinekuku (the clay maiden), their children were Tuamatua (guardian of rocks found on the sea shore) and Whatuaho (greywacke and chert) and Papakura (volcanic rocks). [ 21 ] Rocks that had practical utility ( mana ) like jade ( Pounamu ) or Metasomatised sedimentary rock (Pakohe) were mostly sourced from rivers and the ...
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]
The Maori bank depositors, finding their money gone, raided the bank, looking for their cash and finding none, burnt it down in 1884. [47] Thoroughly disillusioned, Tāwhiao tried various initiatives to promote the independence and welfare of his people but he had been effectively marginalized.