Between 1998 and 2006, the Ngati Toa iwi attempted to trademark the Ka Mate haka and forbid its use by commercial organisations without their permission^[31][32]. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand turned their claim down in 2006 as Ka Mate was widely recognised in New Zealand and abroad as representing New Zealand as a whole and not a particular trader^[33].

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Pop Culture

According to Tania Kopytko, Māori youth have always had a difficult time maintaining ties with the traditional Māoritanga culture, especially lacking "the commitment and effort necessary for a knowledge of [it]."^[34] For this reason, one of the youth's largest imports is mainstream and popular cultural icons, identities, and lifestyles. Most typically, these Māori youth will take after the African American hip hop culture, as its mainstream status makes it readily accessible to them. Kopytko also says that the socio-political position of African Americans resisting a dominant white culture mirrors the situation of Māori, Polynesian and, even poor white youth resisting the oppressive white forces which occupy the higher economic strata of society in New Zealand. Finally, the mass consumption of British punk in 1982 marked the first real establishment of a youth culture and, more importantly, paved the way for such a warm reception of foreign forms with the influx of what Kopytko calls the "breakdance package."^[35] In this way, facilitation by a pre-existing youth culture and identification with the African American cause have both made importing the associated hip hop culture quite easy. One feature of this youth import culture, breakdancing, arrived in New Zealand as early as 1983 from Western Samoa, confirms Kopytko.^[34] Indeed, "'breakdance provided a very strong and positive identity that did much to raise [Māori] self esteem and realize their capabilities.'"^[34] Māori youth utilize the social space that breakdancing provides them in a very dynamic fashion, she says, gaining recognition and notions of increased self-worth in the process. Kopytko suggests that this appropriation of breakdancing allowed the later arrival of rap to become "a vehicle for vernacular expressions of Māori militancy."^[34] The white upper class of South Auckland's suburbs views breakdance as inextricably bound to gangster ideologies and violence^{[citation needed]}, as practiced in the African American hip hop scene, which gains breakdance aficionados infamy and, conversely, intensifies the level of defiance implied on the behalf of Māoris in both the politics of breakdancing and rapping. Ultimately though, these black cultural styles have provided Maori youth with an avenue for free expression, where a more rigidly applied Māoritanga culture could make no such offer.

In recent years, indigenous peoples all over have made attempts to reconnect with their youth. A 1992 song by the group Moana and the Moa Hunters called out to young Māori to learn the language and accept their heritage.^[36] The music video for this song shows images of Maori in traditional dress doing traditional dances yet it has a modern-hip hop beat. The video is aimed to appeal to youth through its rhythms while it educates them about their heritage.

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Commerce

The New Zealand Law Commission has started its own project to develop a legal framework for Māori who want to manage communal resources and responsibilities. The voluntary system proposes an alternative to existing companies, incorporations, and trusts in which tribes and hapu and other groupings can interact with the legal system. The foreshadowed legislation, under the proposed name of the "Waka Umanga (Māori Corporations) Act", would provide a model adaptable to suit the needs of individual iwi. It seems likely that the current Government coalition will not support the Bill in its un-amended form and if the final Act should pass into law, it will presumably depart significantly less radically from the current legal personalities afforded by British/New Zealand law.^{[37] [38]}

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Religion

Main article: Maori religion

Māori "tend to be followers of Presbyterianism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), or Maori Christian groups such as Ratana and Ringatu",^[39] but with Catholic, Anglican and Methodist groupings also prominent. Maori Christian faiths syncretize Christian tenets with pre-colonial Maori beliefs.

With numbers increasing from 99 to 708 in the 10 years to 2001, Islam may have become the fastest-growing religion amongst the Māori community.^[40](See Islam in New Zealand).

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Modern socio-economic issues

Māori class as poorer on average than the rest of the population of New Zealand, and run greater risks of many negative economic and social outcomes. Over 50% of Māori live in areas classed in the three highest deprivation deciles, compared with 24% of the rest of the population.^[41] Although Māori make up only 14% of the population, they make up almost 50% of the total prison-population.^[42] Māori have higher unemployment-rates than other cultures resident in New Zealand ^[43] Māori have higher numbers of suicides than non-Māori.^[44] "Only 47% of Māori school-leavers finish school with qualifications higher than NCEA Level One; compared to a massive 74% European; 87% Asian."^[45] Māori also suffer more health problems, including alcohol and drug-related problems, per head of population than any other culture living in New Zealand.^[46] Māori also have considerably lower life-expectancies compared to non-Māori: Māori males 69.0 years vs. non-Māori males 77.2 years; Māori females 73.2 yrs vs. non-Māori females 81.9 years.^[47]

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See also

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Notes

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References

• Biggs, Bruce (1994). "Does Māori have a closest relative?" In Sutton (Ed.)(1994), pp. 96 - 105.
• Hiroa, Te Rangi (Sir Peter Buck) (1974). The Coming of the Māori. Second edition. First published 1949. Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs.
• Howe, Kerry, (2006). 'Ideas of Māori Origins' in Māori Peoples of New Zealand: Ngā Iwi o Aotearoa. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Auckland: David Bateman, 2006:25-40.
• Irwin, Geoffrey (1992). The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonisation of the Pacific. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Irwin, Geoffrey (2006). 'Pacific Migrations' in Māori Peoples of New Zealand: Ngā Iwi o Aotearoa. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Auckland: David Bateman, 2006:10-18.
• Simmons, D.R. (1997). Ta Moko, The Art of Māori Tattoo. Revised edition. First published 1986. Auckland: Reed.
• Sutton, Douglas G. (Ed.) (1994). The Origins of the First New Zealanders. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1869400984
• King, Michael (2003). History of New Zealand ISBN 0-14-301867-1 Penguin.

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Māori

Look up Māori in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Aotearoa Cafe, a discussion-forum about Māori history, politics and art.
• Aotearoa Māori Internet Organisation, an online discussion board.
• culture.co.nz, directory of important Māori websites.
• maori.info; provides summaries of major aspects of Māori culture.
• korero.maori.nz, an interactive Māori language resource site.
• maori.org.nz, a large website covering a wide range of Māori topics.
• Māori-related news headlines, from the Te Karere Ipurangi news portal.
• Māori theology, by Michael Shirres.
• New Zealand's Colonization 1000 Years Later Than Previously Thought?, Study of the date of Māori arrival in New Zealand.
• Ta Moko, a website about moko (Māori body art).
• Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand; includes information on Māori New Zealanders.