About 1000 years ago, Maori came here by raft from the central Pacific Ocean and the legendary Hawaii, and settled down from then on. Today, Maori living in cities still inherit the traditional culture of Maori. They attach great importance to the gathering time of ethnic groups, such as funerals. Families scattered all over the country cherish the rare gathering moment and always take the opportunity to go home. It is said that once Maori die, they will meet their ancestors and give their children spiritual strength and guidance with their own strength. Maori attach great importance to their family heirlooms, such as scepters and emerald necklaces, and are convinced that they contain the aura of looking forward to their ancestors. They will pass on these family treasures to future generations. In the past, Maori had a close relationship with their living environment, and many related myths and legends were created and circulated, such as the god of the forest and the god of the sea. Through traditional singing and dancing, it has now become an indispensable part of Maori culture. The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi has preserved the ownership of Maori land and other resources and the cultural essence of this unique nation, which has now become a major feature of New Zealand's tourism industry.

In New Zealand, you will always feel the existence of Maori culture, and the culture of a nation has deeply influenced the life of the whole country. Similarly, Maori nose-touching rituals and tattoos are well known.

Maori are born artists, especially those who are unique in music and dance. Learn the melody and harmony of hymns from missionaries, and then skillfully use them to develop into Maori clear and happy music. Maori songs and dances similar to Hawaiian hula dance are not only performed with Maori music in Rotorua, but also play an important role in festivals and celebrations in New Zealand.

In addition to music and dance, wood carving also shows the cultural characteristics of Maori, whether it is carving on canoes, carving at the entrance of Chengsai village, carving in front of and around the assembly place, etc. This fully shows that Maori integrate sculpture art into Nissan's life. At present, this kind of wood carving has become the best gift for others.

Maori have outstanding wood carving skills and good stone carving skills. The most famous is the Tiki statue carved on the green stone in New Zealand, which is regarded as an amulet by Maori culture and is very precious.

Visitors can visit the Maori Hall and watch the traditional Maori welcoming ceremony. Every Maori hall is carved from an old tree Whakapapa at home.

Maori were originally Asian residents and migrated to Polynesia in the South Pacific in the 3rd century. While Europeans are still wondering whether there is land on the other side of the earth, Hawaiian islanders in southern Hawaii have explored the south by raft and arrived in New Zealand in 850. The first settled Maori gave this uninhabited island a poetic name-Aotearoa.

By the year 1200, Maori had been distributed in many places in the North Island and South Island. They get food from rich natural resources and have simple trade behavior. Under the culture of word of mouth, they gradually formed the so-called "Maori culture" and passed it on from generation to generation.

In A.D. 1642, the first European navigator came here. At that time, most Maori still lived in the warm zone of the North Island. Dutch Abel? Tessmann landed in this year and named the land Staten Rand, which became New Zealand.

1769, James Cook, the British captain, arrived on the island full of green, sailed along the sea and started trade with Maori, claiming that Britain had sovereignty over this land. At that time, Maori had lived here 1000 years.

However, in the minds of Maori, there is no so-called "land ownership", and there is no fact that Europeans want to divide up land. In order to quell the conflict, the British government and Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

In the 20th century, the number of Maori in New Zealand decreased to about 40,000. At this time, European scholars even thought that Maori might disappear from history like the aborigines in Tasmania, Australia.

Under the appeasement policy of European rulers, Maori now account for about 15% of New Zealand's total population. Rotorua is the largest city with a large concentration of Maori, with many Maori communities, bilingual schools and Maori TV programs.

local cultures

Maori are the aborigines of New Zealand, the hometown of white clouds. As early as 65,438+0,000 years ago, they left their hometown of Hawaki in a long-distance canoe (waka hourua) and came here to thrive. Now, although Maori only account for 14% of New Zealand's total population, their language and culture have an important influence on New Zealand's life.

Colorful culture

Maori culture is rich and colorful, which is reflected in their pursuit of traditional art and contemporary art. Traditional arts, including sculpture, weaving, kapakaha, whaikorero and tattoos, are enduring all over the country. Artists not only inherited the techniques used by their ancestors for hundreds of years, but also developed and created new techniques and forms. Maori contemporary culture includes: art, movies, television, poetry, drama and hip-hop.

Experience Powhiri.

Experience the welcoming ceremony of the indigenous Maori in New Zealand.

Terio Maori-Maori

Visitors to New Zealand will immediately notice that many place names come from Maori. At first, tourists may think Maori is like a heavenly book, and they don't know how to pronounce it at all. In fact, Maori language is very logical and has regular pronunciation, which is different from English.

How do you spell Onehunga, Whangamomona, Kahikatea and Nguru?

Maori has five vowels: A, E, I, O, u (a is like A in car, E is like E in egg, I is like ee in te E, and U is like O in to). Maori has eight consonants that are almost the same as English-H, K, M, N, P, R, T and W, and two consonants that are different from English-Wh and ng. Many Maori people pronounce wh as an English F, and the pronunciation of ng is similar to that of ng in English songs, but in Maori, this consonant can be placed at the beginning of a word.

Chiola.-hello.

If tourists greet New Zealanders with this greeting, both Maori and whites will respond happily.

Chiola.-Hello.

KIA ora Tatou- Hello, everyone

Tenakoe- Say hello (to a person)

Tena kou tou- say hello to everyone

Helmet-Welcome.

Naumai-Welcome

How are you doing?

Kate pie.-okay.

Tinopai.-Very good

Haila-Goodbye

See you next time (goodbye)

Black Koneira- see you later

Maori etiquette

Maori is a branch of Polynesian people and has its own unique manners. The best place to appreciate Maori etiquette is the Maori meeting place (marae). Many travel agencies in New Zealand organize tourists to visit Maori venues.

Welcome ceremony (Powhiri)

The welcoming ceremony began with a challenge. The master's fighter (tangata whenua) challenged the guest (manuhiri). The soldier usually holds a spear (taiaha) and puts a symbolic thing (usually a twig) on the ground. The guest should pick up the branches to show that he came for peace and without any hostility. Then, the ladies of the host (kuia) will perform karanga for the guests from afar, usually shouting or singing. Female guests among the guests should react when they enter the venue in front of male guests.

Welcome speech (Whaikorero)

After entering the Maori venue wharenui, the guests will be greeted with friendly greetings (mihimihi) and warm welcome words (whaikorero). In order to fully express their sincerity and friendliness, Maori may sing some welcome songs (waiata). Usually, after a guest greets his host with his nose (hongi), he can present a gift (koha) to his host (tangata whenua). After the welcoming ceremony, the host and guests sat down for dinner together.

Stories and legends

Maori culture is an oral culture full of stories and legends. According to the creation theory of Maori culture, the heavenly father (Ranginui) and the earthmother (Papatuanuku) who were originally a day were separated by their children, so there was a distinction between heaven and earth. Many Maori sculptures and works of art vividly describe this struggle.

Catch an island

The myths and legends of Maui mentioned the birth of New Zealand. Legend has it that gods like pranks very much. He is in charge of the sun and makes the days longer and longer. However, God's greatest act of gaining fame is to claim that he has caught the North Island and call it Te Ika a Maui. If you look at the shape of the North Island on the air map, it is not difficult to find that the North Island really looks like a fish. Maori believe that the northernmost part of the North Island is the fishtail, while Wellington Port is the fishmouth. In legends and stories, Maori call South Island waka in Maui and Rakiura punga in Maui.