Maori+Rise+Essay

=**** Rise of the Maori-Essay **** =

The People were successful because they managed to create a safe, self-sustaining environment for themselves. Because the population was relatively small, until the arrival of more people from Polynesia, there was little or no warfare. Even with a growing amount of people, they were still successful due to little technology and well constructed warfare rules. They created a very unique culture, in terms of art and music. Their carvings represented their lives and were also very useful as weapons or tools. Their social political structure, though many may not agree with genealogy being part of the government, worked very well. They highly valued the “family”, which is something that is represented in Canadian Aboriginal culture. Despite the fact that the Maori had a dramatic decline due to plagues and wars, a lot can be learned from the rise of their civilization, an example of a successful and unique culture.

One of the factors that contributed to the success of the Maori culture was the way they conducted warfare, before the Europeans came. Before the arrival of James Cook and other European explorers, they fought with handcrafted weapons, made from obsidian and greenstone. During the Archaic period, the Maori population was small and there was enough food that there was actually no fighting at all (Duff, 1956). This shows that under the right conditions warfare can be completely avoided. With the arrival of more people from Polynesia, the Maoris were introduced to more weapons, specifically the short club //(mere//) and the long-handled club (//taiaha//) (Encyclopaedia of New Zealand). They had well constructed war rules and traditions, including war dances and chants. Another unique fact about Maori fighting was that woman were permitted to fight. From the artwork that portrays the arrival of the Europeans, it is clear that the tradition of women warriors died around that time. We can learn plenty from the Maoris example, particularly from the way they managed to fight fairly and with important values before the Europeans changed their way of combat.

The importance of art in Maori culture can teach us a lot. The Maoris used art as a way to express their history and traditions. Early artwork depicts their belief of how the world was formed, by the separation of the Sky Father and the Earth Mother by their children (TE KAHUI O MATARIKI). The Maoris also have an extremely orally rich culture. Before the Europeans came, they had no way of recording their history so all the legends were passed down generations by word of mouth. Another way that tribal history was handed down was the use of carvings. They used masks (koruru) to depict ancestors and decorated their meeting houses with these masks( MAORI INFO). Occasionally, they used masks or other carvings to represent mythical figures and gods, all which contributed to their rich culture and strong belief in their past. Keeping the oral history was very important and the Maoris often did this through their music, singing either sad songs (waiata tangi) or love songs (waiata aroha)(MAORI INFO). The Maoris’ art is an example of how a culture can be kept alive without the written language, through the use of traditional artwork.

One of the most impressive aspects of Maori culture is the socio-political system. As soon as they arrived in New Zealand, the Maori formed tribes (//iwi//) and, after a while, subtribes (//hapu//) (MAORINEWS). This system is still in place today, an example of how well thought-out it was. Because the people came from Polynesia, this system resembles a typically Polynesian social-political structure, meaning it is very hierarchical. Positions within this system are determined using genealogy (//whakapapa//), therefore the chief in the tribe is the one with the senior //whakapapa// (www.piccom.org). The most important piece of Maori social-political culture is the family. The family went beyond immediate members (mother, father, siblings) but sometimes expanded to encompass up to 500 people (Encyclopaedia of New Zealand). This contributed positively to the economy as the family members worked together, on the farms and through hunting and fishing. The largest structure in Maori culture was the //waka// confederation, an amalgamation of tribes connected through genealogy (www.piccom.org). These //waka// did not operate on a daily basis but only when important political decisions were to be made. This made sure that many opinions were heard and there was no dictatorship.

There are many things to be learnt from the Maori’s rise. Among them, Maori warfare shows how wars can be fought fairly and under appropriate circumstances. The Maori artwork is an example of the preservation of culture through something other than a written account. The way the Maoris organized their peoples through tribe and the manner in which important decisions were made is an impressive statement. Even though their culture was later shattered by the arrival of diseases and weapons brought by the Europeans, there is a lot to be learned from the rise of a successful culture like the Maoris.