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The First People

© Philippa Jane Ballantine

This essay is concerns early Maori settlement. It is a large subject, and I am only covering certain aspects here. I hope to return to this subject in later articles.

When Europe 'discovered' New Zealand in the sixteenth century, it already had a vibrant and unique culture all of its own. The native people that Captain Cook and other explorers encountered, the Maori, were a tribal based society, who had developed and flourished by adapting to the country's particular features.

But they too were descended from travelers. About a thousand years ago the Pacific was already settled by people who had migrated across terrific distances. They had spread across the ocean from the west, born out by the fact that they bought with the sweet potato which had originated in South America. This sweet potato would eventually become the kumara mush favored by the Maori. These early inhabitants of the Pacific were peppered throughout many islands, speaking languages of a similar origin, and living their lives in fairly similar ways. The ancestors of those that would become the Maori came from these ancient mariners, and while scientists debate endlessly over exactly which set of islands they specifically came from, it is likely to be somewhere in either the Marquesas or the Society Islands. Researchers have examined physical similarities between modern Maori and people from all over the Pacific in an attempt to narrow this down, but the shear range of body types throughout the area makes this virtually impossible.

One thing is certain though, the ancient inhabitants of the Pacific were mighty sailors, and capable of traveling great distances. Wherever they came from, they would have had to have been excellent in the art of navigation and boat building to reach the distant shore of Aotearoa. Their boats would have been of the type that Captain Cook recorded seeing in the early 18th century; outriggers as large as 33 meters and able to carry up to 200 people. These ships with their double hulls and triangular sails have been proven capable of making these long journeys through modern day reenactments using replica ships.

They would have traveled in small groups, carrying all they would need with them; dogs, pigs, hens and even rats. They also bought with them their staple vegetable crops, amongst them taro and kumara.

However when they migrated south to the dark green islands of Aotearoa (New Zealand) they had to deal with a whole other set of problems.