The Māori
Their Language, Warfare, and Religion
Te Reo Māori: The Tongue of the Maori
* The language is native to New Zealand
* Often shortened to "Te Reo" or, "The Language"
* The modern Māori alphabet has a total of twenty characters
Traditional Māori Warfare
* Traditional Māori weapons (below and left) were designed for hand-to-hand combat
* Arranged marriages were sometimes used to secure peace after a war
* Oftentimes the the women and children of the losing tribe were taken as captives, but sometimes they would intermarry with the conquering tribe
Mere (club)
* also known as patu pounamu (greenstone club)
Toki poutangata (ceremonial adze)
Taiaha (fighting staff)
separation of earth and sky
child feeding a tohunga
kōrere (feeding funnel)
Maori Religion and Gods
* originally, Papatūānuku (earth mother) and Ranginui (sky father) were locked in an embrace with no space in between. One of their children, Tāne, kicked them apart, making the earth livable (below)
* after the separation of earth and sky, Tāwhirimātea became god of the wind, Tāne became the god of the forest, and Tangaroa became the god of the sea. Rongo became the god of cultivated foods and Haumia became the god of uncultivated foods
* tohunga (right) were the spiritual experts in Māori society