TERM TWO Maori Society Flashcards
What are atua and why are they important to Maori society ?
Gods
Maori very spiritual people- the believe in the power of the spirits and the power of the gods
The landscape is believed to be the work of many ATUA
The land holds the spirits of gods and the spirits of ancestors
What are creation stories or myths
Stories that explain the origin of the world
Myth about how the world began
Main characters were usually Gods Demi gods and supernatural humans and creatures like TANIWHA
Passed from generation to generations beliefs and stories of the past
How do Maori think the world began?
IO MATUA was a god that lived the unit twelve heavens and created the first gods
Maori believe all their people descended from the first gods
Who were the first two great gods created by IO MATUA?
Ranginui - great father of the heavens
Papatuanuku - mother of the earth
Their children became the gods of the forests oceans and land
What do Maori call the north island
Te Ika a Maui
The great fish of Maui
How did the north island come to be according to Maori myth?
Demi God Maui
He was fishing and he pulled up the North island from the sea
The great fish of maui
Te Ika a Maui
He used his grandmothers enchanted jawbone as a hook
What do the Maori call the South Island
Te waka a Maui
The canoe of Demi god Maui
How do the Maori explain the seasons?
By a myth that Maui captured the sun to stop it from passing across the sky to quickly
he asked the sun to slow down but it wouldn’t
He used a mighty rope made of HARAKEKE and caught the sun and pulled to slow it down - it didn’t work
He used a PATU (weapon held in hand for beating things) and beat the sun until it agreed and crossed the sky more slowly
What does the myth about Maui catching the sun with rope show?
Explains the seasons
shows the importance ofharakeke for rope making
Why was it important for Maui to make the sun to create longer days?
So that important crops could grow like flax hahakeke and fern root (aruhe)
What does waka mean?
Means Canoe
These were large waka that Carried people to New Zealand
They were wooden and had carvings
Ariki was the name of the high cheif of the waka
Name two famous waka
Arawa - landed at Bay Of aplenty
Tainui - landed near Auckland
When people arrived in waka they named the land they explored
What does IWI mean?
Literally means bones
It is like a tribe. All the people that are descended from the same ancestor
People identify with the land around their tribal area
The TANGATA WHENUA
What does hapu mean
Literally means pregnant
A small tribal group made up of several whanau who live together
Like a sun tribe - a small part of the IWI
HAPU would be 200-300 people
Usually have the same whakapapa - blood line form their mother or father
Hapu share crops and hunt together
What is the leader of a hapu called
A chief or RANGATIRA
