Maorian warriorMaori History & Culture
Karriel Augustin
Maorian warrior
In the late eighteenth
century, the Maoris were found living in New Zealand by European explorers.
The Maori people in New Zealand were descendants of the intermixture of
three groups of immigrants: the moa hunters and the early tangata
whenua who came with Maruiwi, the two crews under Toi and Whatonga, and the
settlers from the Fleet of 1350. The
second and third groups that came were originally from Hawaii and thus
Polynesian. The
origin of the first group is still debated. The Maori people brought to
New Zealand a rich material culture' especially notable are the curvilinear
motifs in wood carvings, paintings, and statues. The Maori did a lot of elaborate wood carvings on their
houses and other buildings as well as on the base of their canoe stern posts.
Simple decorations in mats and baskets were also produced.
Maori Bibliography:
Buck, Peter. The Coming of the Maori. Wellington: Whitcombs and Tombs Ltd., 1966.
Maori Information on the Web
http://maori.culture.co.nz/about_us.htm