Land of the Long White Cloud

The Culture & Traditions of the Māori People of New Zealand

Here’s how the world began: Ranginui (the Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (the Earth Mother) once were locked together in a tight embrace. Their children, however, were tired of living in darkness and violently pushed their parents apart to separate the Earth and the Sky. Rangi and Papa still yearn for each other, though, as can be seen by Rangi’s tears falling as raindrops and the mist rising from the body of the Earth. 

This legend is part of the rich mythology of the Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand. Their ancestors were Polynesian voyagers who reached Aotearoa from East Polynesia around the 13th century, after deliberately navigating thousands of miles across the Pacific. Māori traditions tell of ancestral navigators such as Kupe, but these traditions do not provide a precise date for settlement. Today, scholars generally place the first permanent Polynesian settlement of New Zealand around 1250–1300 CE. 

Though Māori today reside throughout New Zealand, early settlements were concentrated particularly in the warmer North Island. They named their new home Aotearoa—commonly translated as the “Land of the Long White Cloud.” 

David Thomas had a revelation about his own Māori heritage while growing up in New Zealand. As O.A.T.’s Vice President and Regional General Manager in the South Pacific, he has spent years helping travelers understand the culture and traditions of his homeland. As he explains, one of the most fascinating aspects of Māori culture “is the way the past continues to shape the present.” 

Looking back to the future (or forward to the past) 

There is much more known about the early Māori than the old idea that “not much else is known” might suggest. Māori maintained and transmitted knowledge through a rich oral tradition that included whakapapa, stories, songs, speeches, and other forms of cultural memory. To David, this method of preserving the past is remarkable. 

“Most people can’t even name their own great-grandparents,” he says. “The Māori can recite their genealogy back 1,000 years. That ability to remember and recite oral histories is profound.” 

The importance of oral history is connected to a distinctive Māori understanding of time and knowledge. A well-known Māori perspective holds that the past can be thought of as being in front of us, because it is known and can be seen, while the future is behind us because it cannot yet be seen. The past, therefore, can offer guidance and instruction. 

Whakapapa, often translated as genealogy, is fundamental to this understanding. More broadly, it refers to the layers of relationships and connections that link people to their ancestors, one another, the natural world, and the generations to come. 

And the question of “Just who is Māori, anyway?” has taken on added meaning in the last several decades. 

This land is my land, this land is your land? 

The controversy dates to New Zealand’s imperial era. New Zealand was not encountered by Europeans until December 1642, when Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman arrived offshore. Māori confronted the visiting ships, and a violent encounter followed. Tasman subsequently named the area Murderers’ Bay, now known as Golden Bay. 

After the Dutch expedition departed, Māori life continued for more than a century before British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769. Relations were initially difficult, but Cook made repeated voyages and developed relationships with some Māori communities. 

In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and many Māori rangatira signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty promised Māori protection of their lands and taonga (treasured things) and extended the rights and privileges of British subjects. But the Māori and English texts differed in important ways. The English version referred to the cession of “sovereignty,” while the Māori text used kawanatanga, generally understood as governance, while promising to uphold Māori rangatiratanga—their authority over their lands, communities, and taonga. 

As David explains, the Treaty and what happened afterward cannot be understood simply as a question of ownership. For Māori, the relationship with the land is deeply connected to identity, ancestry, and belonging. 

Māori call themselves tangata whenua, literally “people of the land.” 

This connection between people and the natural world is reflected throughout Māori traditions and mythology. In Māori thought, people are connected through whakapapa not only to one another but also to the natural world and the atua, or spiritual beings associated with it. 

Legends about the origins of humanity likewise explore the relationship between people and the earth: 

“Tiki, the first man in the world, was lonely. He so longed for a companion that, when he saw his own reflection in water, he plunged in. The image disappeared. Soon afterward, he saw the reflection again. This time, instead of diving in, he filled the pond with earth. A woman was formed from that clay.” 

Given this profound cultural and historical identification with the land, it is perhaps no surprise that Māori resisted efforts to dispossess them. During the conflicts that followed European settlement, Māori communities suffered enormous losses of land, population, and political power. 

A sea change toward the people of the land 

David can attest to the changes in attitudes toward Māori from firsthand experience. His own paternal grandmother was Māori—something he didn’t even know as he was growing up in the 1960s. 

“Intermarriage was common, but it was sometimes controversial, so people didn’t talk about it,” he reveals. “My father never discussed it. So learning that I have Māori blood was fascinating to me.” 

Part of the turnaround in national attitudes is connected to the Māori land-rights movement, which gained momentum in the 1970s. The Waitangi Tribunal was established in 1975 to investigate claims that the Crown had acted inconsistently with the principles of the Treaty. The process of redress and reconciliation that followed is still ongoing. 

Land claims and settlements are complex, and not all land can simply be returned. In many cases, settlements instead involve financial compensation, cultural redress, or the transfer of particular properties and resources. 

As Māori identity and rights have become more visible in public life, so too has the question of what it means to be Māori. Māori identity is not simply a matter of fractions or blood quantum; contemporary definitions can involve ancestry, cultural identity, community, and iwi affiliation. 

Strength in unity 

The Māori world has never been a single centralized political entity. Rather, Māori society traditionally consisted of numerous iwi (tribes), hapū (subtribes or kin-based communities), and whānau (extended families), each with its own leaders and relationships. What these communities shared included language, ancestry, cultural traditions, and connections to the wider Māori world. 

That shared language and cultural heritage helped Māori communities communicate and organize across tribal boundaries, while strong local identities remained important. 

The Māori have also worked to reclaim land, language, cultural practices, and political influence. In some cases, land returned through settlements has been used for economic enterprises and community development. Many of the traveler services OAT uses on the South Island, for example, are Māori-owned and operated. 

According to David, the reconciliation effort has also offered a model for Indigenous communities elsewhere. 

“One reason the Māori have become an active and vigorous part of the mainstream is because of their character,” David says. “It’s a non-material culture, where the greatest value is mana.” 

The concept of mana, central to Māori philosophy, encompasses authority, power, prestige, and spiritual and social standing. It is associated with leadership and can be strengthened or diminished through a person’s or community’s actions. 

Traditional Māori society was socially stratified, with rangatira (leaders and people of chiefly rank), commoners, and enslaved people forming distinct social groupings. Rank was strongly connected to descent and seniority, although personal ability and accomplishments could also bring influence and prestige. 

To illustrate the concept of mana, David tells a story from the early 1800s involving Te Rauparaha, leader of Ngāti Toa, and Te Wherowhero, a high-ranking leader of Waikato. In the story, after Te Rauparaha’s forces overwhelmed the larger opposing army, Te Wherowhero refused an offer to withdraw, choosing instead to preserve his mana through a direct challenge. The story illustrates the importance that mana could hold in questions of leadership, honor, and reputation. 

Of course, Māori have also long been known as formidable warriors. Warfare was an important part of traditional tribal life, involving complex alliances, strategies, rituals, and concepts of mana and utu. Women as well as men could play important roles in warfare and peacemaking. 

Māori military service continued into the modern era. During World War II, thousands of Māori served overseas, including members of the celebrated 28th (Māori) Battalion. 

There is much more to the Māori than their history as warriors, however. They have been tremendous navigators throughout their history, descendants of the Polynesian voyagers who deliberately crossed vast stretches of the Pacific using knowledge of the stars, winds, currents, and ocean swells. 

They also became accomplished gardeners after arriving in a land with no native terrestrial mammals. Māori cultivated crops including kūmara (sweet potato), taro, yam, and gourds, adapting Polynesian agriculture to New Zealand’s cooler climate. 

The remains of extensive pre-European Māori gardens can still be seen around Auckland, particularly among the volcanic landscapes. At Ōtuataua, for example, stonefields preserve evidence of gardens cultivated by Māori centuries ago. 

The creativity of the Māori people may also be observed in their distinctive moko (tattooing), carvings, weaving, and other fiber arts. And they have a long tradition as highly skilled fishermen, immortalized in legend: 

“The Māori call the North Island of New Zealand Te Ika-a-Māui, or ‘The Fish of Māui.’ Māui is credited with fishing the North Island up from the sea. In the story, the South Island serves as his waka (canoe), while Rakiura (Stewart Island) is the anchor. The fish is said to have been caught by the mouth near Wellington.” 

Today, Māori culture is not simply something preserved in the past. It is a living part of contemporary New Zealand life, increasingly visible in language, arts, tourism, education, politics, and everyday culture. 

The Māori population has also grown substantially. In the 2023 Census, 887,493 people—17.8% of New Zealand’s population—identified as Māori. A larger 978,246 people reported Māori descent, illustrating the important distinction between ethnic identity and ancestry. 

Māori communities continue to face disparities and discrimination, but Māori language and cultural revitalization have also transformed New Zealand’s national identity.

“When you visit, you get the feeling that the Māori are really part of New Zealand life,” says David. “A lot of modern nations don’t cherish the past. But the Māori are an integral part of Kiwi culture, and that’s admirable.” 

Experience the culture of New Zealand’s original residents and hear their stories from the Māori themselves on Pure New Zealand.