General Information
- Country Quickfacts
- Things to know before you go
- Arrival Guide
- North Island's top spots
- South Island's top spots
- New Zealand Trivia
- Self Drive Information
- Maori Culture
- Fishing in New Zealand
- Golfing in New Zealand
- New Zealand City Maps
- Abel Tasman National Park
FUN FACTS:
Zane Grey, the famous western fiction and sports writer of the 1920's, helped New Zealand get its incredible reputation for fishing. He dubbed New Zealand an "Angler's El Dorado".
Maori Culture
New Zealand has a population of 3.3 million, mostly of British descent; this population also includes 403,000 Maoris. The Maoris, of Polynesian origin, came to New Zealand in a great series of migrations before A.D.1200. Today, both Maori and Pakeha (European) are a united population, sharing the same legal citizenship rights.
Maori History
The first settlers of New Zealand were the ancestors of the Maori - Polynesians - who also settled most of the islands and island groups in the central and eastern Pacific. Archaeological evidence indicates that they discovered New Zealand some time between 800-1000 AD during one of the last in a long series of deliberate voyages of colonization across the Pacific, originating from S.E. Asia some 5-7000 years ago.
The long and often perilous island-hopping ocean voyages were made on large wooden double-hulled canoes that enabled the voyagers to take their tropical food plants, domesticated animals and other supplies with them. When they arrived in New Zealand from east Polynesia, perhaps from the Society or Marquesan Islands, only a few of the introduced plant species would grow, and of the animals only the dog and the rat survived the trip. Despite these difficulties the population flourished and by the twelfth century, a distinctive Maori culture had developed.
Maori oral tradition tells of an original overseas homeland, or "Hawaiiki", from where the first ancestors came. Although the exact location of this Hawaiiki is not known, other details such as the landing places of the canoes along the New Zealand coastline, are recorded. The mythology and traditions concerned with origins and tribal identity from those original canoes and ancestors is still a very important part of Maori life today.
European Settlement
In comparison with the coming of the Maori, European settlement is very recent. New Zealand was declared a British territory in 1840, the year that organized European settlement became a reality. Over these last 150 years a prosperous and modern nation has been established - a far cry from the wild, but very beautiful land first discovered by Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman in 1642, and thrice visited by Captain James Cook, Royal Navy, from 1769 onwards. Tasman produced New Zealand's first map embracing the several hundred miles of coastline he saw before continuing on his voyages of discovery. It was left to Cook to carry out a thorough exploration of the shoreline and to produce the first complete maps on his return to England.
THE Maori Today
About 12 percent of New Zealanders now claim Maori descent. Most Maoris live in the North Island, and seven out of every ten live in the Islands northern half. It is a young population, and although the birth rate is now diminishing, three-quarters of Maori people are under the age of 30.
In 1945 only 15% of the Maori population lived in the main urban centres; today, the estimated number is 57%. The main incentive to move has been lack of work in rural areas. As a result, the proportion of the young Maori population found in the larger towns is high and, as with all such population influxes, social adjustments to the new situation are still necessary.
Over the last two decades there has been an increasing movement to retain and re-establish a Maori identity, expressed as Maoritanga. Two key concepts are fundamental to this movement - that Maori identity is important to the Maori people in terms of self-esteem; and that New Zealand is a multi-cultural society in which it is possible for each culture, Maori, European, Pacific Islander and others to live side by side in harmony. Although New Zealand has in the past been proud of its overall race relations record, many problems did and still do exist and require attention.
Some problems are associated with rapid urbanization. Solutions are long-term, but efforts are being made in many areas, including educational aid, legal assistance, trade training programmes and the provision of welfare services by governmental agencies, local jurisdictions and volunteer organizations.
At the personal level, cultural pride embraces preservation of ancestral land and traditional arts, including wood-carving and oratory. Songs, dances and oratory are widely practiced in schools and clubs.
