Maori Warfare

8/12/2019 Maori Warfare

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Warfare inWarfare in

Polynesia:Polynesia:

MaoriMaori


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(1999) (2002)(1999) (2002)

(2001)(2001)


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3535 S. lat.S. lat. (~ southern U.S.)(~ southern U.S.)

NorthNorth

IslandIsland

SouthSouth

IslandIsland

5050 S. lat.S. lat. (~ southern Canada)(~ southern Canada)

103,737.93 sq mi

268,680.00 sq km


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NorthNorth

IslandIsland

SouthSouthIslandIsland

103,737.93 sq mi

268,680.00 sq km

initialinitial

settlementsettlement

~1000 A.D.~1000 A.D.

concentratedconcentratedsettlement bysettlement by

~1300 A.D.~1300 A.D.

moamoa

moamoa

Maori PrehistoryMaori Prehistory

southern limitssouthern limits

of crop cultivationof crop cultivation

moamoasealseal

greenstonegreenstone

land aboveland above

500 meters500 meters

yamyam

taro

taro

sweetp

otato

sweetp

otato

Overall N.Z.Overall N.Z.

prehistoricprehistoric

pop. density:pop. density:

150,000 p150,000 p 268,000 km268,000 km ==

.6 p/km.6 p/km

North IslandNorth Island::

116,000 km116,000 km X 20%X 20%

suitable land= 23,000suitable land= 23,000

kmkm; with 75% of; with 75% of

prehistoric populationprehistoric population

(112,500 p. of 150,000)(112,500 p. of 150,000)

population density =population density =

112,500 p112,500 p 23,000 km23,000 km ==4.8 p/km4.8 p/km

southern limitsouthern limit

of cultivationof cultivation

modern pop. 2,850,000=10 p/kmmodern pop. 2,850,000=10 p/km



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MoaMoaThe biggest moa was the Giant

Moa. It was taller than three

meters and weighed about 250 kg.

The giant moa was one of thebiggest birds ever known in the

world. However there were

smaller moa. The smallest moa

species was a bit bigger than a

turkey, about half a meter tall.

The moa was a forest bird, not a

grassland one, as there was little

grassland on the two islands.

The moa was present in NewThe moa was present in New

Zealand when the Maori arrived,Zealand when the Maori arrived,

after ca. AD 1000. By the timeafter ca. AD 1000. By the time

Capt. Cook arrived in 1769, it wasCapt. Cook arrived in 1769, it was

extinct or nearly so.extinct or nearly so.


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The Big MoaThe Big Moa

The Little Moa ?The Little Moa ?


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Warfare inWarfare in

Polynesia:Polynesia:

MaoriMaori


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NorthNorth

IslandIsland

SouthSouthIslandIsland

103,737.93 sq mi

268,680.00 sq km

initialinitial

settlementsettlement

~1000 A.D.~1000 A.D.

concentratedconcentratedsettlement bysettlement by

~1300 A.D.~1300 A.D.

moamoa

moamoa

Maori PrehistoryMaori Prehistory

southern limitssouthern limits

of crop cultivationof crop cultivation

moamoasealseal

greenstonegreenstone

land aboveland above

500 meters500 meters

yamyam

taro

taro

sweetp

otato

sweetp

otato

Overall N.Z.Overall N.Z.

prehistoricprehistoric

pop. density:pop. density:

150,000 p150,000 p 268,000 km268,000 km ==

.6 p/km.6 p/km

North IslandNorth Island::

116,000 km116,000 km X 20%X 20%

suitable land= 23,000suitable land= 23,000

kmkm; with 75% of; with 75% of

prehistoric populationprehistoric population

(112,500 p. of 150,000)(112,500 p. of 150,000)

population density =population density =

112,500 p112,500 p 23,000 km23,000 km ==4.8 p/km4.8 p/km

southern limitsouthern limit

of cultivationof cultivation


75% of modern pop. 2,137,500=18 p/km75% of modern pop. 2,137,500=18 p/km

1.1.

2.2.


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AucklandAuckland

KalkouraKalkoura

Hawkes BayHawkes Bay

TaranakiTaranaki

Estimated numberEstimated number

of pa: 4,000of pa: 4,0006,0006,000

== minimum of about 37minimum of about 37persons perpersons per papa


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AucklandAuckland


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defensive walldefensive wall

dry moatdry moat

HawkeHawkes Bays Bay


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TaranakiTaranaki


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KalkouraKalkoura


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(Te Kaitote pa)(Te Kaitote pa)


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(Motuopuhi pa)(Motuopuhi pa)


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MaoriMaoriwannabeswannabes

R. D. CROSBY: GLOSSARY OF MAORI WORDSR. D. CROSBY: GLOSSARY OF MAORI WORDS


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ariki chief, spiri tual leader

atua god

haka war dance

hakari feast

hapu sub-tribe

iwi tribal grouping

kai food

kai huanga eating of relatives

kai tangata cannibalismkumara sweet potato

mata ngohi first to die in battle

mere short flat weapon of stone

pa fortified village

puwhara fight ing stage of a pa above

palisadespatiti small tomahawk

patu short flat weapon

pu musket

rakau Maori Maori weapons

rangatira chief

taiaha long sharp-edged club

take cause, reason (for war)

tangi funeral

taua war, raiding partytaurekareka slave

toa warrior

toro scout

utu revenge

waka taua war canoe

whakakitekite formal review of forces

The rangatira of the hapu put together a taua of toa because he wanted to take utu for the kai

tangata that the other hapu had carried out on his people. He had ample take for the taua. So, they

carried out a haka, he did a whakakitekite, they got in their waka taua carrying their patiti, patu, pu,

and taiaha to attack the other pabut they only took a few kumara along because they knew they

were going to have a big hakari on the other rangatiras hapu. In the end, the other hapu lost the

taua because they didnt have pu!


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LetLet s do thes do the


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HAKA !!!HAKA !!!

Elsdon Best on the Origin and Causes of Maori WarElsdon Best on the Origin and Causes of Maori War


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ggOrigin of War:

According to Maori mythology the origin of war was the quarrel which arose among thechildren of Rangi (Sky Father) and Papa (Earth Mother). Their offspring were:

Tane (god of forests and birds,*Tu (supreme war god),*Rongo (god of peace & cultivation),Tangaroa (fish)

Causes of War:1. The Maori saying By women and land are men lost sums up the principal cause.2. Kanga or kai-upoko, or deadly insults heaped by one person on another.3. Kohuru, or a treacherous act of slaying.4. Theft.

5. Kai pirau, a ghoulish act, or digging up someones body and eating it.6. Makutu, or witchcraft.7. Sacrifice of someone, carried out to give prestige to certain ceremonies8. Maroko kokoti ihu waka, or ihu taua, sending out a war party to obtain

vengeance and slaying the first person the party found.9. Neglecting to prepare food for guests (not usually a cause, but sometimes it was).

10. Fashioning fishhooks from the bones of the dead.

The Maori psyche:The Maori [show] a singular mixture of suspicion and foolish credulence. They appear ever

to suspect a persons motives in all dealings, a feeling doubtless ingrained through manygenerations of war, discord, and treacherous acts. An example of credulence was accepting an

invitation to what turned out to be a treacherous feast. This is a good example of kohuru,or treacherous slaying.

Tane attacked Tangaroa, using a net, andRongo of the peaceful mind asked that hemight have control to create peace, but Tuthe Fierce-eyed would not consent. And, so

the Maori were doomed to war.

haka haka & wakahaka haka & waka tauataua


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(waka taua)(waka taua)


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Example of war chant:Example of war chant:

Kia kutia au! au!Kia wherahia au! au!

Kia rere atu te kekeno ki wawhitiTitiro mai ai

aaae! aaae! A!!

Elsdon Best on Maori War (continued)Elsdon Best on Maori War (continued)


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Signs, Omens, Prophecy and Divination:

1. When a taua starts out in quest of blood vengeance, the first person met is slain, evenif a relative.

2. To neglect war rites is a bad omen.3. Insubordination before a battle is a bad omen.4. It is a bad omen for a young warrior on his first war trail notto present the body or

clothing from his first kill to the priest of the party.

5. If the war god Maru is seen before the party that is a bad omen.6. Strange soundsas of women or children laughing or singingare a bad omen.7. To yawn before a war starts is a sign of cowardice, and therefore a bad sign.8. An owl heard at a trail crossing means an attacking party is on its way.9. On the war trail, should a lizard be seen in the earth ovens that is a bad omen.10. After a battle is won, to stay or camp on the battleground is an evil omen .

11. When the call to battle is made, it is a bad sign if all the warriors do not jump up asone.

12. Before a war, a priest calls upon a spirit which appears in the form of a lizard. Hehands it to a warrior who hands it to another, and so on until all have handled it.Should the lizard crawl by itself into the hands of the next man, that is a bad sign.

13. Before a war, if a star seems to pass behind the moon, that is a good sign, and the pawill fall (the star is the attacking party, the pa is the moon). Once a party got thisgood omen, but built its own pa to carry out the attack. The war party thus becamethe moon and their pa fell instead to the enemy. If a star is seen near the upperhorn of the crescent moon, the war party will succeed but only if it takes many morewarriors with it.

14. If a child is born with teeth he will grow up into a great toa, or warrior.15. Fern stalks were cast onto the ground, and the way they fell could be a good or bad

omen.

WeaponsWeapons


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TewhatewhaTewhatewha

TaiahaTaiaha

Taiaha designsTaiaha designs

PouwhenuaPouwhenua

Weaponsp


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The TaiahaThe Taiaha


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WeaponsWeapons


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Kotaha (WhipKotaha (Whip--slings)slings)

Patu ParaoaPatu Paraoa

RetiReti TarerareraTarerarera

Patu & MerePatu & Mere


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MereMere


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Tewhatewha TaiahaTewhatewha Taiaha Patiti,Patiti, or your basic tomahawkor your basic tomahawk


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TaiahaTaiaha

PatuPatu

Elsdon Best on Maori War (continued)Elsdon Best on Maori War (continued)


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( )( )

Cannibalism:

Cannibalism was common on the war trail, and human flesh was largely consumed by a partyraiding an enemys country. In eating the body of an enemy the Maori had no belief that heabsorbed the qualities of the person killed. He wished to eat the body because:

1. he was remarkably fond of human flesh as food.2. eating the body of the victim degraded him and his descendants.

It was the source of pure, unadulterated joy to the old-time Maori to be able to say toan enemy, I ate your father or your ancestor, and although it may have taken place tengenerations before (i.e., his ancestor ate the enemys body), yet he would speak in the firstperson singular.

The most horrible form of cannibalism, however, was that known as kai piraukai pirau, i.e., the

eating of the decomposed bodies of enemies. This was done in all cases where there existedan intense feeling of revenge by the men of the taua.On any incursion into enemy territory, the Maori war party practically lived on human

flesh. Such prisoners as were taken would be made to carry the flesh of their slain relativeson their backs, to serve as food for their captors. Also they would probably have to carrythe dried heads of such of their chiefs as had fallen.

When a war party took a pa, or fortified village, they slew many if not all of theinhabitants. The flesh was cut from the bodies of the slain and preserved in their fat. Thiswas for future use. The bones were burned to keep them from being found and taken by theenemy. But previous to the burning, the arm and leg bones were broken and the marrowextracted by means of fern stalks and eaten. In fact, anytime some chiefs of the Maori felttheir people were short of food they would raid nearby neighborstrying always to select a

different neighbor each timeto kill people for their flesh.


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Elsdon Best on Maori War (continued)

Maori war proverbs:

He toa taua, he toa pahekeheke; ko te toa ngaki kai, e kore e paheke.

He who is but a warrior will fall, but he who is brave in the cultivation of food will flourish.

He wahine, he whenua, e ngaro ai te tangata.

Through women and land are men lost. These are the most usual causes of war.

Kaua tatou e tujua kia mate a whare, engari kia mate a ururoa.

Let us not linger on and die of old age, rather let us die as does the shark, fighting to the last.

Me kawe ki Whare-dura, ki te ururua.

Go and fight at Whare-kura where men are plentiful. Do not bother about attacking small

places.

Taputapu-atea, kia ngohi i te iti, kia ngohi i te rahi.

Said to be a contemptuous remark made by warriors who are asked to share the bodies of

men they have slain.


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Of an estimated maximum of

150,000 Maori in 1810, 33%+

were killed by 1840.

Maori Warfare

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