Where Are We Came From? – New Zealand –

Lost Innocence

There is a conflict about their origin as some historians feel that Maori people are Polynesians who actually came from Southeast Asia, while other historians feel that these people were of Polynesian origin who is came to Pacific from America. This is based on the fact their staple food crop of Kumara or sweet potato, came from South America. Moreover, there is no exact date mentioning the Polynesian settlement. It was thought to be between 950 to 1130AD but even this is debatable.
Before the European set food in the region, Maori culture had no metal tools and they relied on stone and wood. Maori culture survives as the Maoris continue to support and develop their culture on their own terms and conditions, similar to the trend elsewhere in the world.

Land wars: New Zealand’s history is pockmarked with land wars which basically were instigated when the Maori land was confiscated to such extent that the tribe’s survival was itself in jeopardy. One of the many wars that were fought was Titokowaru’s war. It was a conflict that took place in the Taranaki region of the North island of New Zealand between Wanganui and Mount Taranaki from June 1868 to March 1869. it involved the Maori tribe Ngati Ruanui and the Colonial Government of New Zealand.
After the second Taranaki war, effort to regain faith between the tribal and the government were shadowed by continual effort of confiscating land. However, when the settlers began to inhabit tribal land, few from the effected tribe of Ngati Ruanui killed three settlers. This started the war between the settlers and the Maori tribesmen. Such battles were fought among the tribal as well, to declare land supremacy and led to loss on both side.
Revival of its language: Post war years saw a decline in the usage of the Maori language, but currently, it is undergoing a renaissance, as the Maori language medium school and a Maori television channel have been set up from recommendation from the Waitangi Tribunal. It is the only nationwide television in New Zealand to have the majority of its prime time content delivered in Maori with English sub-titles. It is also tries to generate new content. However, it is unfortunate that none of the other television channels present any substantial Maori programmes, despite the fact that it is an official language equal to English.

Problem within: Among the tribes there are serious problems that affect its people. Unfortunately, as the case is every where, the outsiders brought in bad influence along with them. In the case of the Maori tribes, the European settlers brought with them leisure and entertainment activities like gambling, drinking and smoking. Interestingly, Maori is a Unique indigenous population who, prior to contact with Europeans, had no history or any traditional concepts related to gambling. They did not even have a history of brewing alcohol or consumption of tobacco. However, today these people consume these products in different social setting, like, in pubs and clubs.
Normalization of gambling has made it an integral part of this social, economic and cultural infrastructural set up of Maori and New Zealand communities. A study point out that the Maoris spend more on gambling than on education, a legacy of colonization. This despite limited income. It is noted that even though Maoris from only 10 per cent of the entire adult population they amount to at least a quarter of the people who seek professional help to rid gambling.

Sunday, Vijay Times – Bangalore. 02 July 2006