The Maori people are the indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and first arrived here in waka (canoes) from their ancestral homeland of Hawaiki about 800 years ago.
The tangata whenua (people of the land) of the coastal Bay of Plenty region trace their descent from three Polynesian waka (canoes): Te Arawa, Takitimu and Mataatua. The western area of the region was settled by the iwi of Ngati Ranginui, Ngaiterangi and Ngati Pukenga from the waka Takitumu and Mataatua. Te Arawa descendents from the waka Te Arawa inhabited much of the eastern area of the region and south to Rotorua.
Today, Maori make up 15 percent of the population. Maori language and culture has a major impact on all facets of New Zealand life.
Maori culture is a rich and varied one, and includes traditional and contemporary arts. Traditional arts such as carving, weaving, kapa haka (group performance), whaikorero (oratory) and moko (tattoo) are practised throughout the region.
Practitioners following in the footsteps of their tipuna (ancestors) replicate the techniques used hundreds of years ago, yet also develop exciting new techniques and forms. Today Maori culture incorporates art, film, television, poetry, theatre, and hip-hop.
The legend of Mauao
Mauao is the sacred mountain at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. Its name, meaning ‘caught in the light of the day’, comes from the legend in which Mauao was once a nameless mountain, spurned in love by the beautiful mountain Pūwhenua. One night he begged the fairy-like creatures of the forest to drag him to the ocean and end his misery. But the creatures fled as the morning sun’s rays struck, and he was transfixed on the spot.