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Traditional Māori Culture and Customs

The Māori world is rich in tikanga. Find out about the types of weaving, whakapapa, and whakairo, patterns (kowhaiwhai), moko, cooking a hāngī, waiata, dances (peruperu), legends and the protocol for visitors to follow on a marae. SCIS no. 1809077

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War dance, 1844

War dance, 1844

This painting is of a haka at Ōhinemutu, on the shore of Lake Rotorua.

Peruperu

Members of Ngāti Tūwharetoa perform a peruperu (a dance with weapons) on Waitangi Day (6 February), 1934.

Erena

Portrait of a Māori woman with straight hair cut in a fringe. She has moko on her lips and chin and a tiki at her neck. Part of a pa or kainga is visible in the background.

New Zealand Māori woman

New Zealand Māori woman

1/4 length portrait of a woman with a chin moko taken in the Bay of Plenty Region.

Weaving

The women and children shown in this 1906 painting are making korowai (cloaks).

Drawings of Māori rafter patterns

Drawings of Māori rafter patterns

Example of a kowhaiwhai rafter pattern.

Diggeress Te Kanawa

Diggeress Te Kanawa

Diggeress Te Kanawa (Ngāti Maniapoto) was a leader in the revival of Māori weaving that began in the 1950s.

Māori woman weaving taniko

Māori woman weaving taniko

Māori woman weaving taniko, around 1910.

Māori women weaving flax

Māori women weaving flax

Māori women weaving flax, around 1910.

Plaiting kete

Painting showing Māori women weaving kete in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Korowai (cloak)

Korowai (cloak)

A Korowai (cloak) woven from muka, taken from New Zealand harakeke or flax.

A chiefly young couple,

A chiefly young couple,

A group of six Māori, around a central couple. The central couple are wearing finely woven cloaks with coloured borders, and a variety of personal adornments.

Māori feast at Remuera

Māori feast at Remuera

A feast given by Waikato Chiefs in 1844, attended by about 4000 Māori and many Pakeha. Shows volcanic cones in the background, including Mount Eden.

Child feeding a tohunga

Child feeding a tohunga

A child feeds a tohunga food on a stick. The spiritual role of tohunga meant items that were noa (common) such as food could not be touched in case they affected tapu.

Waka

Single-hulled waka (canoes) were developed by Māori to transport loads along New Zealand’s narrow waterways.

Korowai (cloak)

Korowai (cloak)

A korowai is a style of prestigious cloak which has a plain muka (flax fibre) kaupapa (main body of the cloak).

Waka prow

This prow (tau ihu) of a war canoe (waka taua) was found at Triangle Flat at the base of Farewell Spit by early settler Edmond Davidson.

Waka taua, 1769

Waka taua, 1769

This ornately carved waka taua (war canoe) was seen off Gable End Foreland on the East Coast by members of English explorer James Cook's first voyage in 1769. The tauihu (prow) includes a large fig...

Waka huia

This intricately carved waka huia (storage box for treasures) is an example of traditional Māori carving at its finest.

Elements of Māori carving

Elements of Māori carving

Māori carving design is predominantly made up of human figures. Next in importance is the manaia.

Māori carving in shadows

Māori carving in shadows

Image of a Māori carving.

A hāngī

One way in which Māori traditionally cooked food was in an earth oven or hāngī.

Meal time in a Māori village

Meal time in a Māori village

This idealised but charming painting by Gottfried Lindauer, 'The time of kai [food]' (1907), shows a traditional Māori community eating a meal together.

Māori village with potato crops

Māori village with potato crops

This painting of a Māori pā, from 1845, illustrates how quickly Māori agriculturalists adopted the potato.

Māori gardens

This idealised view of a coastal Māori village, by Rozel Pharazyn, shows communal gardens on sunny slopes.

Māori village at Te Kumi

Māori village at Te Kumi

Māori village at Te Kumi, 1885.

Parkuni,

The Māori village of Parkuni, by the Hokianga river.

Slaves Preparing Food

Slaves Preparing Food

lithograph 369 x 550 x 17 mm - Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, The Ilene and Laurence Dakin Bequest, purchased 1998

Wharepuni

This is a wharepuni (sleeping house), in a Northland community. It was painted in 1827.

Mahina-a-Rangi meeting house

Mahina-a-Rangi meeting house

Three Māori seated in front of the carved door panels at Mahina-a-Rangi meeting house at Turangawaewae Marae, Ngaruawahia.

Taniwha stamp

Issued in 1960, this stamp features a taniwha design based on the cave drawing known as the Ōpihi taniwha.

Kapa haka

The origin of kapa haka (Māori traditional performing arts) is often traced back to the troupe of women sent by Tinirau, the ancestor of fish, to identify and capture Kae, who had killed his pet wh...

Kapa haka festival

Kapa haka festival

Anaru Grant from Ngāti Rangiwewehi performs at the 2002 Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Society (kapa haka) Festival.

Moko kauae

Harimate, a young woman probably from the Whanganui region, is shown here with a fine cloak, white feather headdress and the moko kauae, or woman’s chin tattoo.

Te Rauparaha's moko

Te Rauparaha's moko

The Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha used a drawing of his facial moko as his signature on several legal documents.

Richard Nunns

Richard Nunns is a renowned expert in taonga pūoro — traditional Māori instruments like wood and bone flutes.

Haka pōwhiri

This extract from a 1946 government newsreel shows a haka pōwhiri at Ngāruawāhia in January 1946.

The Beginner's guide to visiting the Marae

The Beginner's guide to visiting the Marae

Filmed at Kauwhata Marae in the Manawatu, The Beginner’s Guide to Visiting the Marae is a straightforward and respectful explanation of basic marae protocol.

Carving of Paikea, Whāngārā

Paikea, the ancestor who came to New Zealand on the back of a whale.

Matariki waiata

Matariki waiata

Matariki waiata for Māori festival in winter.

Māori values and practices - A frontier of chaos?

Māori responses in the early contact period were determined by well-established customs and practices.

Maori Marriage Customs - The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 79

According to Maori traditions, when Rangi and Papa, the sky father and the earth mother, came into being, they embraced each other as husband and wife, and produced certain beings who were the orig...

An interactive that explains how Pa were once built.

Māori arts and culture

This Christchurch City Library site provides a gateway to a variety of information relating to Māori art and culture.

Māori culture topic resources

Explore Māori culture and customs with your students, from musical instruments to Matariki.

Tangihanga – A dying tradition

Māori, says Moana, believe the more wailing and carrying-on at a tangi, the better. It’s healthy. It honours the dead. It helps explain death, too.

Rongoā Māori is an important aspect of health care to many Māori. Native plant based remedies are an integral part of treatment along with physical therapies and spiritual healing.

How to cook a hangi

Massey University staff and students prepare a traditional Māori feast or hangi. This video is a step-by-step guide on how to prepare and cook a hangi.

Understanding New Zealand - and New Zealanders - means understanding the influence of Māori people and culture.

Te reo Māori resources

Provides links to a range of resources for teaching and learning the Māori language and culture.

Marae and Powhiri protocol and customs

Māori have special rules and protocol that must be followed when on a Pa (Māori village/settlement), in a marae and during a powhiri.

Taonga Māori at Te Papa

Search through Te Papa’s extensive collection of digital images of Māori taonga.

Māori i Powhiri - welcome onto the Marae

Explanation and demonstration of a Māori powhiri.

Māori stick and poi.

The haka seems to take dominance in pākēha understanding of Māori culture and waiāta but there is also the uniqueness of poi and rākau.

Ta moko - significance of Māori tattoos

Ta moko - traditional Māori tattooing, often on the face - is a taonga (treasure) to Māori.

A short film about a group of warriors that have captured an enemy leader.

He Whakapapa Reo Māori - short history of Māori language

Prior to the 19th century Māori language was a spoken language and the sole language of communication.

This story describes the significance of the tradition of tattooing within Samoan society. Login required.

Learn about the history of Haka, the types and protocols, and how the Haka has become a national and international icon of New Zealand.

Marae protocol by Paora Trim

An explanation of a powhiri.

Tikanga are the customs and traditions that have been handed down through the passages of time.

Haka

These warriors wield both traditional weapons (tewhatewha or clubs) and European weapons (muskets and hatchets) during a haka outside Maketū pā.

Māori woman

This sketch by Horatio Robley shows a young Māori woman with a moko on her chin and hei tiki around her neck. From her right ear hangs a shark tooth and from her left ear a greenstone or pounamu ea...

Young Māori man

Young Māori man

This head and shoulders study of a young Māori man reveals his full moko, his hair adorned with feathers and a partially visible flax cloak covering his shoulders.

Te Kanapu Haerehuka

Te Kanapu Haerehuka

This portrait of Te Arawa (Ngati Whakaue) poet and orator, Te Kanapa Haerehuka, was taken ca 1860s by an unidentified photographer. Wearing clothing typical of a 1860s Māori fighter he is holding a...

Māori woman weaving

Māori woman weaving

(Rakara?) Chadwick, weaving a rourou (flax food basket). She wears a korowai (Māori tag cloak).

Ngāti Kahungunu haka

Ngāti Kahungunu haka

A haka pōwhiri is performed by Ngāti Kahungunu before the wedding of Mr F. Churchill Perry of Timaru and Miss Maud Airini Donnelly, daughter of Mr G.P. Donnelly, She was also the granddaughter of t...

Portrait of a New Zealand chief

Portrait of a New Zealand chief

This is an early head and shoulders portrait of a Māori man. His hair is in a topknot (putiki) and adorned with feathers and a wooden comb (heru). He has a full facial moko, and two greenstone ador...

Toki Poto, carved axe handle

Toki Poto, carved axe handle

There are many examples of everyday items that Māori embellished with carving. This one (others include paddles and firearms) is an axe handle. It has been ornately carved, leaving just enough spac...

Täniko weaving

Täniko weaving

The first line of a weaving pattern is called the aho tapu – sacred thread. It is the most important and difficult line, requiring the weaver's complete concentration.

Māori Battalion performing a Haka

Māori Battalion performing a Haka

Members of the Maori Battalion performing a haka in Maadi, Egypt. Taken by an unidentified photographer during World War II. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).

Haka Ref: E-453-f-001

Haka Ref: E-453-f-001

The Maori war dance or Haka by William Strutt.

Pataka

This large ornately carved Ngāti Tūwharetoa pataka was sited at Wahi on the shores of Lake Taupo. Built in 1855 the pataka’s full name is Hinana ki uta Hinana ki tai (search the land, search the se...

Ngāti Tuwharetoa performing the peruperu

Ngāti Tuwharetoa performing the peruperu

Ten thousand people gathered at Waitangi in February 1934 to celebrate the gifting of James Busby’s residence, and surrounding land to the nation, and to witness Lord Bledisloe unveil the foundatio...

Nouvelle-Hollande; Nouvelle-Zelande

Nouvelle-Hollande; Nouvelle-Zelande

This illustration details some implements used by the Aborigines of Australia (in the upper half) and those of New Zealand Māori, (in the lower half). The Māori implements and adornments include; f...

Āpirana Turupa Ngata leading a haka

Āpirana Turupa Ngata leading a haka

The land where the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi was signed was purchased and gifted to the nation by Lord and Lady Bledisloe during Lord Bledisloe's term as the Governor General of New Zealand from 1930...

Four Māori girls and one young Māori man

Four Māori girls and one young Māori man

Shows four young women in cloaks, one with moko on chin, two with head feathers; behind the group is a man standing in profile, his face tattooed. The central woman with moko on her chin and lower ...

Group of Māori on lake Taupe

Group of Māori on lake Taupo

Shows a large group of Māori gathered beside a creek on a flat area of land on the shores of Lake Taupo. Men (some of whom are holding hoe, or paddles) and women are wearing a mix of traditional cl...

Wooden Māori carvings

Wooden Māori carvings

These two wooden Māori carvings (though the two figures were originally joined at the feet), were carved by master carvers, Te Amo-a-Tai and Wero (Te Arawa). They originally formed the ridgepole of...

War dance by George Angas

War dance by George Angas

Shows a group of Māori performing a haka, with raised patu or taiaha, in front of the pa at Ohinemutu, Rotorua. Canoes are pulled up at the left foreground. Roofs of whare and pataka are visible ov...

The Haka

A group of Māori men performing a haka in front of a carved house at a marae. The photograph is by the New Zealand Tourist Department and the text is taken from James Cowan's book, "The Māori".

Māori artifacts in the Auckland Museum

Māori artifacts in the Auckland Museum

The Auckland Museum houses this labelled selection of Māori artefacts. Included are hei tiki, flutes, combs, and worn items carved out of bone. Photographed by Josiah Martin, probably some time in ...

Ngāti Tūwharetoa haka

Ngāti Tūwharetoa haka

Five men of Ngāti Tūwharetoa performing a vigorous haka at Tokaanu, (a settlement close to Turangi) around 1910.

Tuhoe haka

This group of Tuhoe protesters in Wellington are marching and performing a haka to voice their objection to the 2007 New Zealand ‘anti-terror’ raids in their tribal homeland of Urewera on the 15 Oc...

Māori action song

Māori action song

A group of women performing an Māori action song at a hui to mark the posthumous awarding of the Victoria Cross to Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, at Ruatoria, in October 1943.

Tātai arorangi

Early Māori relied on their detailed astronomical knowledge – tātai arorangi – to navigate the ocean, plant crops, harvest kaimoana and to tell the time.

Revitalising Māori astronomy

Māori ancestors possessed a wealth of astronomical knowledge that they referred to as tātai arorangi.

The Maramataka is the traditional Māori lunar calendar. It was used to guide the planting and harvesting of crops, and fishing and hunting. It translates as ‘moon rotating’.

Unearthing the history of Ihumātao

At Ihumātao some of the oldest stories about New Zealand's biggest city have been built into the landscape.

The great fish of Maui

Maui fishes up Aotearoa.

The Polynesian people who first discovered Aotearoa spent hundreds of years exploring the Pacific Ocean. When they finally arrived here it was unlike anything they had seen before.

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