Lesson 4:

Māori
Society
Chapter 9.6
Learning intention
• In this lesson, you will gain an overview
of the political and social features of
Māori society in the period before
European contact.
Structure of a Māori
society

• Polynesian societies had

complex rules for
relationships, organized
around kinship and tribes.
• Warfare and trade were
crucial for tribal power.
• An individual's status was
highly important in these
societies.
 Māori society’s hierarchy
• Supreme chief
• Gained his position through birth and exceptional personal qualities including tapu (sacred wisdom), mana (authority),
Arik ihi (excellence), wehi (power inherited from the gods and the ancestors).
i

• Chief
• Gained this position from father.
Ran • Made all major decisions in the iwi (tribe) and leads all religious ceremonies.
gati • He wore a whale ivory pendant and carried a ceremonial patu or club.
ra

• Elders
Kau • Appointed by the tribe because they possessed the wisdom to educate the young and guide the iwi.
• In early Maori society, the kaumatua were believed to be the spirits of wise people who had been born again.
mat
ua
Māori society’s hierarchy (continued)
• Priest
Toh • Held the knowledge of clan history and ancestry running back over hundreds of years, as well as astronomy, religious
un rituals and prayers, and how to heal the sick and farewell the dead.
• Special kinds of tohunga developed unique skills in areas such as carving, canoe building or tattooing.
ga

• Commoners
Tut • Members of an iwi claiming descent from the ancestors arriving with the Great Fleet.

ua
• Slaves
Taur • War captives or born into slavery.
ekar • Prepared food, fetched water, gardened and paddled canoes.
eka • They had no privileges and could be sacrificed during ceremonies involving cannibalism.
or m
okai
 Women in Māori
society

• In Polynesian societies, men mostly held

leadership roles, but women had important titles
and played a crucial role in forming alliances
between families.
• The eldest daughter of the most important
families could be called an ariki, and she would be
respected like a queen in European society.
The community
• In Maori society, the term "tangata whenua"
means the 'people of the land.' The core
family unit is called "whanau."
• The family and the clan group, known as
"hapu," decided where people lived, whom
they married, their friends, and whom they
fought.
• Villages varied in size from a few families to
over five hundred people.
 The village

• In Maori villages, community meetings happened in

an open courtyard called the marae, in front of formal
meeting houses known as the wharenui.
• The village, or pa, was designed around the marae,
seen as the spiritual center. It's where celebrations,
mourning, greeting guests, and important discussions
occurred.
• Successful farming led to larger, permanent villages,
with life organized around food activities and defense.
Wharenui

• Meeting house of the Marae.

• Marae life is very communal –
everyone sleeps in the same
room (usually the main
meeting house) on mattresses
lined against the walls.
• People do not live here full
time but will come and stay
during important occasions.
 The land
• In Maori society, land and most
property were shared by everyone.
Owning land completely wasn't
common.
• Different families or tribes could have
different rights to the same land.
• For instance, one family might catch
birds in the forest, while another
fishes nearby or grows crops in the
same area.
 Warfare
• In Polynesian societies, power could be
inherited or earned through war.
• From the beginning, war and warriors
were crucial in their culture.
• Rulers kept control through tough
punishments, rituals, and battles.
• Wars might start from revenge,
kidnapping, or larger battles over land
and resources. Sometimes, Polynesian
wars were big invasions, involving
thousands of warriors.
• When Europeans came to New Zealand in the
1800s, they admired the bravery of the Maori
but were surprised by violence and even
cannibalism.
• If a chief from a losing tribe was defeated, the
enemy might eat him to show their victory and
the loss of his power.
• They also preserved the heads of important
enemies by smoking and oiling them.
 Trade
• Even though there was a lot of fighting,
Maori tribes still traded with each
other.
• Trade was crucial because food and
resources weren't spread evenly across
the islands.
• Maori traded things like Greenstone,
Obsidian, timber, and flax fiber.
• They considered food like mutton birds
from the south a delicacy, preserving
and trading it widely.
• A special stone called greenstone
(Pounamu) was found only in a few
places in the South Island. South
Island tribes mined it and sent it by
canoe to North Island coastal
villages.
• The boulders are often found in or
near rivers.
• Greenstone was precious for its
beauty and hardness.
• Maori also traveled and traded for
high-quality obsidian from the Bay
of Plenty, using it for knife blades.