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Before the Europeans arrived the lives of the Maori were not governed by clocks. Nowadays they have modern jobs in factories, offices, farms and other workplaces, but the life of the tribe is still important to most of them - even to the Maori of the city. The tribe is their family - a much bigger family than most Pakeha have. There are tribal ceremonies such as tangihanga, which are funeral wakes for important people who have died. Traditionally these wakes will go on for several days and distant relatives and acquaintances of the dead person are expected to gather from all over the country. If you are working in an office it is not easy to follow this tradition. There are often clashes between the ways of the Pakeha world and tribal custom.
Marae and pa
A Maori village is called a pa, and in the old days it was usually built with earthworks and wooden palisades, or fences, to keep out tribal enemies.
Each large Maori tribe is made up of several sub-tribes, and it is customary for each sub-tribe to have its own marae and meeting-house. A marae is a meeting place. It is often just a bare patch of ground, an open space or courtyard in front of a Maori meeting-house. The language spoken on the marae is still Maori. It is on the marae that the Maori are truly in their own world again. All meeting houses and marae are special places where Maori people feel themselves to be in the presence of their ancestors. Indeed a meeting house is said to be shaped like a human being with head, arms and body. When you walk inside you enter the body of the tribal ancestor.
Oratory - the art of speaking in public - was traditionally one of the most important arts in Maori society. Chiefs might dance up and down, waving in the air their carved spear or their stone club, and sometimes breaking into songs and chants.
Nowadays a good speaker on the marae is still fascinating to watch. Most men in the tribes did not like women to speak on the marae but this is changing. In recent times some of the most powerful leaders among the Maori have been women.
Wood Carvings
The Maori have always been great wood carvers. This art is most dramatically displayed in the large carved houses or meeting-houses, found all over New Zealand, decorated with sculptures of ancestor-figures and with creatures from tribal myth. After 1840 European travellers began arriving in New Zealand. More and more visitors demanded bigger buildings, so the modern meeting-house was created. In its design this is a combination of the old chief's houses where visitors used to be accommodated and the simple wooden churches of the first missionaries.
Hongi
To press noses with each other is to hongi. When two people hongi together they feel close to each other. It is a much more friendly greeting than a handshake or even a kiss on the cheek.
Communal Work
In a Maori tribe in the old days work was communal. Everyone joined in activities such as planting and looking after the growing crops. When Pakeha came they changed Aotearoa into a country of small farms raising sheep and cattle, each one owned by only one person or one family. Recently some tribal groups in the Waikato and on the east coast have tried a return to communal farming. They have moved away from the one-person farm to organize collectives, claiming back Maori land leased to Pakeha farmers and pooling the labour and skills of tribal members.
Haka
A haka is a war dance where the warriors stick out their tongues and stomp on the ground . It was a way of challenging an opposing tribe and chanting in a menacing way. This was often accompanied by foot stamping and arm actions. Today, the All Blacks (the New Zealand rugby team) perform a haka before their matches.
Moko
Known in Maori as moko, these face tattoos were common amongst the higher classes. Those of a very high rank had tattoos on their face as well as their body. (Maoris used to have a complicated class system ranging from a slave class to a royal class.)
Hierarchy System
There is a hierarchy system in the Maori tribe. People were either born into chiefly families or as commoners. They became slaves if they were captured in a war. Society was divided into two classes. The upper class composed of the highest nobles and the military generals or chiefs. The lower class was made of commoners. Those outside these classes were slaves who held no rights. They did menial work and often died as sacrificial victims or to provide food when special events required human flesh. Whole communities which shared a common ancestor were under the jurisdiction of a family who earned the authority partly from hereditary and partly from past achievement.
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