Pā

The word pā (IPA paː) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hill forts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā are mainly in the North Island of New Zealand, north of Lake Taupo. Over 5000 sites have been located, photographed and examined although few have been subject to detailed analysis. No pā have been yet located from the early colonization period when early Polynesian-Māori colonizers lived in the lower South Island. Variations similar to pā are found throughout central Polynesia, in the islands of Fiji, Tonga and the Marquesas Islands.

In Māori culture, a great pā represented the mana and strategic ability of an iwi, as personified by a rangatira. Pā are located in various defensible locations around the territory (rohe) of an iwi to protect fertile plantation sites and food supplies.

Almost all pā are found on prominent raised ground, especially volcanic hills. The natural slope of the hill is then terraced. Dormant volcanoes were commonly used for pā in Auckland. Pā are multipurpose in function. Pā that have been extensively studied after the New Zealand Wars and more recently were found to safeguard food and water storage sites or wells, food storage pits (especially kūmara), and small integrated plantations, maintained inside the pā. Recent studies have shown that in most cases, few people lived long term in a single pā, and that iwi maintained several pā at once, often under the control of a hapū (subtribe). The area in between pā were primarily common residential and horticultural sites. A tourist attraction of authentic pā engineering is at Maungawhau / Mount Eden.

Māori

Māori or Maori can refer to:

Ships

Sports teams

Literature

Māori language

Maori or Māori (/ˈmaʊəri/; Māori pronunciation: [ˈmaː.ɔ.ɾi]) is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. Since 1987, it has been one of New Zealand's official languages. It is closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian.

According to a 2001 survey on the health of the Māori language, the number of very fluent adult speakers was about 9% of the Māori population, or 30,000 adults. A national census undertaken in 2006 says that about 4% of the New Zealand population, or 23.7% of the Maori population could hold a conversation in Maori about everyday things.

Name

The English word comes from the Maori language, where it is spelled "Māori". In New Zealand the Maori language is commonly referred to as Te Reo [tɛ ˈɾɛ.ɔ] "the language", short for te reo Māori.

The spelling "Maori" (without macron) is standard in English outside New Zealand in both general and linguistic usage. The Maori-language spelling "Māori" (with macron) has become common in New Zealand English in recent years, particularly in Maori-specific cultural contexts, although the traditional English spelling is still prevalent in general media and government use.

Māori people

The Māori (Māori pronunciation: [ˈmaːɔɾi],  listen; Eng. pron. [ˈmaʊri]; N.Z. Eng. [ˈmaori], [ˈmæuri], [ˈmari], [ˈmɒəri]) are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. The Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages at some time between 1250 and 1300 CE. Over several centuries in isolation, the Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture that became known as the "Māori", with their own language, a rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts. Early Māori formed tribal groups, based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Horticulture flourished using plants they introduced, and later a prominent warrior culture emerged.

The arrival of Europeans to New Zealand starting from the 17th century brought enormous change to the Māori way of life. Māori people gradually adopted many aspects of Western society and culture. Initial relations between Māori and Europeans were largely amicable, and with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted as part of a new British colony. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s. Social upheaval, decades of conflict and epidemics of introduced disease took a devastating toll on the Māori population, which went into a dramatic decline. But, by the start of the 20th century, the Māori population had begun to recover, and efforts have been made to increase their standing in wider New Zealand society and achieve social justice. Traditional Māori culture has enjoyed a revival, and a protest movement emerged in the 1960s advocating Māori issues.