Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Making Maori
Despite persistent myths, there is no doubt that the first settlers of NZ were the Polynesian
forebears of today's Maori. Beyond that, there are a lot of question marks. Exactly where in
east Polynesia did they come from - the Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Marquesas? When did
they arrive? Did the first settlers come in one group or several? Some evidence, such as the
diverse DNA of the Polynesian rats that accompanied the first settlers, suggests multiple
founding voyages. On the other hand, only rats and dogs brought by the founders have sur-
vived, not the more valuable pigs and chickens. The survival of these cherished animals
would have had high priority, and their failure to be successfully introduced suggests fewer
voyages.
NZ seems small compared with Australia, but it is bigger than Britain, and very much
bigger than other Polynesian islands. Its regions vary wildly in environment and climate.
Prime sites for first settlement were warm coastal gardens for the food plants brought from
Polynesia (kumara or sweet potato, gourd, yam and taro); sources of workable stone for
knives and adzes; and areas with abundant big game. NZ has no native land mammals apart
from a few species of bat, but 'big game' is no exaggeration: the islands were home to a
dozen species of moa (a large flightless bird), the largest of which weighed up to 240kg,
about twice the size of an ostrich. There were also other species of flightless birds and large
sea mammals such as fur seals, all unaccustomed to being hunted. For people from small
Pacific islands, this was like hitting the jackpot. The first settlers spread far and fast, from
the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island within the first 100 years.
High-protein diets are likely to have boosted population growth.
Similarities in language between Maori and Tahitian indicate close contact in historical times. Maori is
about as similar to Tahitian as Spanish is to French, despite the 4294km separating these island groups.
By about 1400, however, with big-game supply dwindling, Maori economics turned
from big game to small game - forest birds and rats - and from hunting to gardening and
fishing. A good living could still be made, but it required detailed local knowledge, steady
effort and complex communal organisation, hence the rise of the Maori tribes. Competition
for resources increased, conflict did likewise, and this led to the building of increasingly
sophisticated fortifications, known as
pa
. Vestiges of
pa
earthworks can still be seen around
the country (on the hilltops of Auckland, for example).
