Maori Food Culture

The Maori of New Zealand

• They Maori a Polynesian people, like native Hawaiians, and came to New Zealand in several waves of canoe (“waka”) voyages between 1250 and 1300 AD.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/map/1585/theories-of-maori-origins

The Maori of New Zealand

• Maori lived in tribes, called iwi.– Each tribe had a chief.– There was a lot of inter-

tribal warfare.– The center of a tribe is

their Marae, or meeting house

• Pictures: Marae (interior, exterior, Maripi (aha) and Taiaha

The Maori of New Zealand• In the 17th century, Captain Cook from Great

Britain “discovered” New Zealand, which changed Maori ways of life forever.

• There are still Maori in New Zealand today, still holding on to their culture– They make up about 15% of the population

Food Culture of the Maori

• The Maori of New Zealand, before European contact, were semi-agriculturalists.– They got some food from hunting and gathering,

and some food from agriculture.

Food Culture of the Maori

– Their staple crop was Kumara, which is similar to our sweet potato• Kumara was prepared through pit-cooking, in what is

called a Hangi.

Food Culture of the Maori

• Maori were known to collect and eat certain kinds of fern as well as other wild edible plants when kumara was not in season.

• New Zealand is an island, so a major resource for the Maori was the ocean.– They ate fish, shellfish, crayfish, crabs, and certain kinds

of seaweed.– They would use fishing line, nets, and traps to catch fish.

Notes

• Maori = Polynesian. Arrived in canoes 1250-1300– Lived in tribes, warlike, center = Marae (meeting house)

• Captain Cook “discovered” New Zealand.• Still Maori today (15% of population)• Traditionally were semi-agricultural: hunting,

gathering, AND agriculture• Staple = Kumara (sweet potato)– Also ate wild edible plants (ferns)– Ocean = VERY important resource

Resources• http://www.genuinemaoricuisine.com/Folders/foodhistory.html• http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/sap2

35.pdf

• http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=11858&l=en • The Adaptation of the Kumara by the New Zealand Maori, by

D.E. Yen• Fern Consumption in Aotearoa and its oceanic precidents, by

Helen Leach• Sea, Land, and Fish: Spatial Relations and the Archaeology of

South Island Maori Fishing, by Ian Barner• Changing Maori Agriculture in Pre-Waitangi Mew Zealand. By R.P.

Hargreaves