Kevin+-+Their+Life


 * 1) === Their Life ===

The tribes were usually separated and lived far apart each other. Each tribe was divided into clans which had the same ancestor. The clans was then divided into big family groups, each of these groups got a leader which was called “[|Rangatira]”. Even though these leaders couldn’t decide what other groups should do, but they had to make a decision, the “Rangatira” got together.  The Maori people were also nomads. They moved to a place, used the [|resources] and moved to a new place. In the autumn and in the winter they lived on [|hunting], so they lived on places with a lot of animals. But in the summer they usually lived near water so they could fish a lot. It was a bit warmer with the ocean and it was easier to grow "[|Sweet Potatoes] ", which was the most important vegetables for the Maoris.

 They often led wars against other [|tribes]. It could be a lot of reasons why they did it for example; if anyone stole something from the Maoris, killed a [|Maori] or simply just mocked one of the important people. These wars could last for several [|generations]. During the warfare, a new rule was stated; you cannot kill anyone from your own tribe. This rule was stated because they lost too many people during the warfare even though the wars usually didn’t get bloody at all.

 The relatives were of great symbolic value for the Maoris. Maori family usually gave birth to very many babies, but sadly, many of those were stillborn. If they got a boy they performed some magic [|rituals] to make the boy a good [|warrior]. If they got a girl they performed magic rituals that the girl would become a good [|weaver] or food gatherer. When a relative died, the body was dressed with beautiful clothes. At the end of the funeral ceremony was the body buried in a seated position while the other family members cried over the loss.

 Since the Maoris fought a lot, the average life expectancy was very low; you were considered very old when you were 40 years. The old Maori people were treated with respect and admire. It was mostly the strongest and bravest warriors that lived to be so old.

 __ After the Europeans came __  The first European came to [|New Zealand] in [|1640], his name was [|Abel Tasman]. Whale hunters also came to New Zealand to hunt whales. These whale hunters established a base were they could rest and get supplies. In [|1769] British explorer [|James Cook] established friendly relations with some Maori. The Maoris could then buy weapons and western supplies. Those Maoris that got weapons started to attack other tribes. The tribes that didn’t have any guns got slaughtered.

 Since the Maoris started to attack other tribes that didn’t have any guns, the [|population] strongly decreased, but not only because of war against each other, the Europeans brought diseases that the Maoris had never experienced before, there for they died of common [|diseases] like [|flu] and a simple cold.

 The Europeans started to buy land from the Maoris, the Maoris the thought the Europeans bought air, because the Maoris had a different  view of owning. Since the Maoris didn’t want to move away from the land, that the Europeans bought, they started a conflict. In this conflict the Maori warriors with guns fought a long war against the Europeans, and the Maori warriors were actually much better to fight than the immigrants. The Europeans sent 10000 soldiers, mainly from Britain, to stop these conflicts. Since the soldiers outnumbered the Maoris, they managed to defeat the Maoris, but they lost a lot of people.

 Because of these [|conflicts] the Maoris lost a lot of their land to the British. Since the western people came and brought diseases, wars and they took the Maoris’ land, the Maori population sunk, there were only 50 000 Maoris left. Today there are 400000 Maoris left and almost every Maori has British relative, and there are only a few of them live the way they originally did. The Reason why New Zealand is an “English Speaking Country” is because there were mostly Britain New Zealand then.



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