The Māori (commonly pronounced /ˈmɑːɔri/ or /ˈmaʊri/) are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand (Aotearoa). The group probably arrived in southwestern Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300. The Māori settled the islands and developed a distinct culture.
Europeans arrived in New Zealand in increasing numbers from the late 18th century and the weapon technologies and diseases they introduced destabilised Māori society. After...
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The Māori (commonly pronounced /ˈmɑːɔri/ or /ˈmaʊri/) are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand (Aotearoa). The group probably arrived in southwestern Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300. The Māori settled the islands and developed a distinct culture.
Europeans arrived in New Zealand in increasing numbers from the late 18th century and the weapon technologies and diseases they introduced destabilised Māori society. After 1840, Māori lost much of their land and went into a cultural and numerical decline, but their population began to increase again from the late 19th century, and a cultural revival began in the 1960s.
In the Māori language the word māori means "normal", "natural" or "ordinary". In legends and other oral traditions, the word distinguished ordinary mortal human beings from deities and spirits (wairua).
Early visitors from Europe to New Zealand generally referred to the inhabitants as "New Zealanders" or as "natives", but Māori became the term...
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