Short History Of... - The Māori

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

The Māori have had a presence in New Zealand for at least 800 years. For much of that time, they lived in imperfect harmony with the natural environment, developing a social and cultural system distinctly their own. But the age of European exploration from the 17th century changed all that. Over the centuries, their traditional claims to lands were eroded, and their population became dwarfed by that of the settlers, until the voices of activists grew loud enough to challenge the new status quo.   So, who were the first Māori? Just how did the arrival of Europeans impact them? What sparked their revival, and what challenges do they still face? This is a Short History Of The Māori. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Dr. Peter Meihana, senior lecturer of history at Massey University in New Zealand, who identifies the Rangitani as his primary Māori tribal group Written by Dan Smith | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact Check: Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions ⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's a drizzly October. day in 1975 in New Zealand's capital Wellington. A teacher in her 50s pulls a shawl tight round her shoulders as she strides down a street, part of a procession thousand strong. After an epic journey they're almost at their destination, the parliament buildings a short distance away. The teacher is weary, but she beams her eyes alive with a sense of achievement. Cars fill the roads as the marchers pass, many honking their horns in encouragement. On the pavements, members of the public gather, craning their necks to take in the sight or shouting words of support.

Because this march is to protest the colonial laws that for well over a century have stripped Maori communities of their ancestral lands and other rights. And next to the teacher, right at the front, is the leader of the march, the beloved Maori civil rights campaigner, Finaa Cooper. Although she is fast approaching her 80th birthday, her energy is infectious, and she cuts a striking figure in her traditional feather cloak.

It was a month ago, back on the 14th of September, that the procession began its long journey from Tehapua at the top of New Zealand's North Island, some 600 miles from where they now stand at the island's southern tip. Alongside Cooper, the teacher had been among about 50 intrepid activists who set out that day. But as the march wended its way through remote rural areas and urban sprawls, hundreds and then thousands more joined them. Cooper has demanded a civilized march. Alcohol has been prohibited, and the protesters do not even wave placards.

They carry only a white flag and a traditional Maori carved wooden post, representing the ancestral Maori connection to the land. Now the rain begins to fall, and from somewhere in the group someone starts to sing. Soon the other marches, women, men and children are joining in the traditional Maori song. Caught up in the moment, the teacher even briefly forgets the pain in her blistered feet and the ache in her tired joints. Then at last, Parliament comes into view ahead of them. The grand pillars of its facade flanked at one side by the cylindrical building called the Beehive,

still under construction. The concerto of Carhorns intensifies. and the rhythm of feet upon the road hastens as they approach their final stop. Some 5,000 souls fill up the grounds around the buildings. There are calls for quiet, and the buzz of the crowd gradually subsides. Even this close to her, the teacher has to strain to hear Cooper over the cascading rain. But as the address draws to a close, she applauds enthusiastically along with the others. Camera crews flit around her, capturing the action.

There is no doubt that this is a moment, the Maori experience taking centre stage for once. And when a reporter now announces on a piece to camera that a petition, known as the Memorial of Rights and signed by 60,000 people, has been handed over to the Prime Minister Bill Rowling, there is another round of cheering. Those settlers from Europe have been eroding their primacy for two centuries. Now the Maori are fighting back, demanding equality and recompense. It will be a struggle, but from the moment the first Maori ancestors arrived in these lands, they have never shirked a challenge. The Maori have had a presence in New Zealand for at least 800 years. For much of that time, they lived in imperfect harmony with the natural environment,

developing a social and cultural system distinctly their own. But the age of European exploration from the 17th century changed all that. Over a period of centuries, their traditional claims to lands were irreversely. and their population became dwarfed by that of the settlers until the voices of activists grew loud enough to challenge the new status quo. So who were the first Maori? Just how did the arrival of Europeans impact them? What sparked their revival and what challenges do they still face? I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser podcast network. This is a short history of the Maori. The term Maori, translating roughly as ordinary people, is used to refer both to those

descended from the original settlers of New Zealand and to their culture. It is widely accepted that these first settlers traveled to the uninhabited territory from Polynesia, a roughly triangular region of the Pacific Ocean, incorporating over a thousand different islands. They come in ocean-going canoes called Woka, from the east of this ancestral homeland, known as Hawaii. The dating of their original arrival and subsequent settlement continues to occupy academics today, as they attempt to reconcile the latest cutting-edge research with myth, legend, and long-held misunderstandings. Until into the 20th century, it is widely thought

that first landfall perhaps occurs in the 9th century and that subsequent navigators follow until the arrival of what becomes known as the Great Fleet in the mid-14th century. The problem is there is scant archaeological evidence for human habitation going back as far as the 9th century, not even close. And while the artefacts since recovered, such as fish hooks made from bone and stone cutting tools,

suggests that habitation begins around the mid to late 13th century, it's now believed that settlers arrive in continuous waves, instead of one single major influx. Dr Peter Mejana is senior lecturer of history at Massey University in New Zealand and identifies the Rangitani as his primary Maori tribal group. Those people who left Hawaii, East Polynesia, and made their way to Al-Tero, New Zealand, that was the end of the greatest migration of humans in the world. So we know that people came out of Africa, and the last place to be settled by people were the ancestors of the Māori.

Why they come is also up for debate. It is suggested by some that they're seeking new territory because of overcrowding or environmental pressures. or perhaps to escape war or persecution. Others argue they are driven instead by the simple curiosity that has fuelled exploration throughout human history. One popular origin myth has a voyager named Kupe as the discoverer of New Zealand.

So in my area, we have oral traditions that talk about an ancestor called Kupe. And Kupe was a fisherman who lived in Hawaii and he'd get up in the morning to go and check his line and the bait from his hooks had gone, but no catch. And so he stopped and waited and he watched. And he discovered that there was a rogue octopus who would come and steal the bait. So Kui says, well, I'm going to pursue this octopus and I'm going to kill him.

And so the octopus leaves and takes off and heads to Aotearo, New Zealand. And Kui travels with another chief, Zagliang, and they chase him to the east. coast of the North Island of New Zealand and then down the east coast into the North Island of New Zealand and in the Muldgris sounds Kouppe then kills the octopus. So that's one story, one tradition of about how people arrived in the country. Whatever the reason for migration, when they arrive, they discover a blank canvas on which to paint their identity. They call this place Aotearoa, or the land of the long white cloud. It's a fitting name for a landmass, almost a thousand miles long,

with over 9,000 miles of coastline to explore. Its geography is varied too. From beaches, forests and plains to bogs, snow-peaked mountains and volcanoes, its climate runs from subtropical to alpine. Some must wonder what they've let themselves in for, but a doughty few begin to adapt. What we know now is that these voyages, these expeditions were highly organised and they were completed by the most capable of sailors. And of course, they came with their families and they came with cargo. We know that they bought the sweet potato, for instance. That was just one crop. There was a multitude of other tropical foodstuffs as well. Congregating around rivers with access to fresh drinking water and fish, they also hunt on land and at sea for food. Seal and snapper are plentiful,

and while few mammals exist here early on, a bird called a moa comes in a variety of sizes, some the equivalent of a turkey, others growing to over nine foot tall. If you can spear a moa, you won't be going hungry for a while, and the bones are put to use as hooks and ornaments too. On Gainty, pain can hit hard and fast, like the headache you get when your favorite team and fantasy team both lose. When pain comes to play, call an audible with Advil plus acetaminophen and get long-lasting dual-action pain relief for up to eight hours. Tackle your tough pain two ways with Advil plus acetaminopin. Adville, the official pain relief partner of the NFL. Ask your pharmacist at this product's rate for you. Always read and follow the label. Life is based mostly around

homes close to where food can be cultivated. But these early Maori also move about as the seasons and circumstances dictate, or to forage or locate the best fishing and hunting grounds. Community is at the heart of everything. One of the defining features of traditional Māori society was that it was communal, that the idea of the individual was quite alien to Māori, and so there are a number of themes, a number of concepts that helped organise traditional Māori society. So one was mana. mana as prestige and authority, those kinds of things, and mana wasn't static.

So everybody had mana, but it wasn't just static. It waxed and waned and it changed according to your actions and behaviours. And then you had Utu. Utu is reciprocity, but Utu is often translated as revenge. So it has this negative connotation as well. but Utu also has positive connotations too. It's been explained to me as that if you visit my village and I extend to you hospitality, what we call Manakitanga.

The onus or the obligation now is for the visitor when they receive me, when I visit them, there's an obligation of Utu where there would be some reciprocity in order to maintain that relationship. The basic unit around which society is organized is the Fano, effectively the extended family. Several Fano come together to form a hapoo who cooperate in the processes of everyday life. And a collection of hapoo form an iwi or tribe, a loose collective of groups with shared cultural heritage, spiritual beliefs and personal and social values.

Everyone in the community has a role. Out on the water, some might fish with spears or trawl for creatures like eels, while back in the villages jobs range from child-rearing to agriculture, from building and thatching the communal dwellings to carving, carpentry and weaving with flax. In the evenings the hapoo might come together to eat, sing, dance and tell stories. Life is demanding, but satisfying too. However, these good times don't last forever. A century or so after first settlement, intensive hunting and the arrival of rats and dogs

have brought the mower to the brink of extinction. Several other big game birds are suffering, including species of geese and swans, and stocks of seals are diminishing. Forced to adopt new approaches to nutrition, Maori begin to stay closer to home, focusing more on agriculture. Protecting preserved food, which is stored in large pits, is another incentive not to venture so far and so frequently. This is an age where hungry neighbours are easily tempted to raid an unguarded larder. Increasingly, Harpoo form alliances, seeking safety in numbers. It is not unusual to have perhaps 500 people in a single settlement. Groups expand, occupying larger and more defined territories.

More hands also make lighter work of growing food, fishing, and countless other day-to-day activities. And while there is clear social stratification between 15, instance, men and women, young and old, locals and outsiders, there is a sense of commonality to. To defend their shared interests, groups fortify hilltops, until the land is dotted with strongholds known as pa. Gradually the iwi becomes the main mode of self-identification. By the 16th century, the age of tribalism has arrived, just as connections with the East Polynesian antecedents have all but faded. Māori culture rooted in its own distinct experiences in this land is evident even in their carvings and tattoo designs,

which no longer so closely echo those of the Mother Islands but have a form unique to themselves. Māori as a label of racial identity, however, is not yet used, because it is not yet needed. As far as most people are concerned, there is no other race. Competition for resources propels an increase in raiding between groups, which sometimes plays out brutally. Women, children, the old and infirm

are frequently slaughtered alongside warriors. Some are taken as slaves and others submitted to forms of torture. Average life expectancy is low by modern standards, largely because of infant mortality, but many adults live into their 30s or 40s. But life still remains largely peaceable. If, for no other reason,

than most groups lack transportable weaponry and sufficient food supplies to make long military campaigns viable. Warfare was part of the Māori world, but it often gets blown up to this idea that Māori were doing this 24 hours a day, 12 months a year, which is completely not true. Most of the time, Māori were fishing or gardening

and doing those very day-to-day activities. Though they do not yet know it, the greatest threat to their rich lives is about to come from abroad. It is December, 1642, and Dutch navigator Abel Tasman has been called to the deck of his flagship. Deep in the waters of the southern hemisphere, he is leading this expedition on the orders of the Dutch East India Company, searching for the vast southern continent that many believe must exist down here. But though they've seen nothing but water for days, there is a palpable excitement among the men now as his first mate passes him the spyglass.

When he brings it to his eye, he understands why. Out near the horizon is the unmistakable shape of a landmass. Not just that, but smoke billowing up from various points along its shore. Likely evidence of human presence. His pair of ships power on. the sails on their triple masts tight with a fair wind. The light fast fading as they slow into shallower waters, Tasman spots something in the distance,

a pair of double-hulled canoes filled with men. He notes their dark skin and the top knots they wear adorned with white feathers, but he is not yet able to see their distinctive face and body tattoos. They're shouting something at him, but he has no idea what it is they're trying to communicate. When they begin to blow long, wooden, trumpet-like instruments, Tasman orders some of his men to return the compliment, playing horns of their own.

Unwittingly, the Dutch have just accepted a challenge of sorts. Tasman does not consider how the men in the canoes may never have seen light-skinned people before, nor the sort of unimaginable sailing vessels that he commands. So he assumes this is an attempt at friendly interaction, not a bid to ward off a presence that is certainly fearsome and perhaps even supernatural. As the canoeists approach, he sends out a rowing boat to meet them. But once the smaller vessel gets beyond the two Dutch ships, a canoe suddenly accelerates towards it. Tasman grimaces at the crack of splintering wood,

then shouts in horror as the local men jump across from the canoes to attack the visitors. He watches helplessly, as the form. members of his crew are set upon with spiked clubs. Soon three of them are dead, and the fourth, seriously wounded, is dragged into one of the canoes and rode back to land, never to be seen again. Tasman orders a round of gunshot to ward off any follow-up attackers, but he is under strict orders from back home not to engage any locals in conflict. Instead, he commands his fleet to turn tail and leave.

Tasman will never set foot on this land, nor any of his contemporaries. but a pattern of testy encounters between Europeans and Māori has been said. When Tasman eventually makes it back to the Netherlands, the coastline he is plotted is designated New Zeeland, in honour of Zeeland, a Dutch province. However, his reports of the unfriendly inhabitants and apparent lack of commercially viable resources ensures no one is in a great rush to venture back.

There is no sign of another European here for nearly 130 years. By the 18th century, the Maori population is over 100,000, constituting the last major population group on Earth to be untouched by foreign influence. Life here continues much as it ever did, but in 1769 another European emerges on the scene. James Cook is a British sea captain, most recently charged with tracking the transit of Venus from a vantage point in Tahiti. His new venture, like that of Tasman before him, is to head southward. in search of the unknown southern continent.

He does not find it because it does not exist, but when he comes upon New Zealand, he spends six months traveling in and around it. His first of many encounters with Māori comes one day in October 1769 when his flagship endeavor sails into what is now Poverty Bay on the North Island. When they make contact with the locals,

one of Cook's men takes fright and fires his musket, killing a tribe's man. or fatal encounters follow in the coming weeks and months, with losses on both sides. In some cases, Cook's men are cannibalized. The ritual is a powerful aspect of Maori life, often associated with the concept of utu, or balance, that demands the complete vanquishing of your enemies. But other interactions end in gestures of friendship and the exchanging of goods.

In no small part this is thanks to a Tahitian man named Tupaya, whom Cook has brought from a prior stop in Polynesia as a companion and who is able to mediate and communicate between the parties. Cook captains two more Pacific voyages over the next five years. The British leave a mixed legacy that includes everything from new crops, including potatoes, and weaponry such as the musket, to a host of diseases that quickly penetrate unprepared Maori immune systems.

There is more intimate contact too between local women and sailors who have been holed up on board for many long months. Though Cook is recognized for his exceptional navigational and cartographic work, he and his crews are also reviled by many as harbingers of decline who behaved with disrespect and violence. But though others soon follow,

it is sometime before anyone arrives with colonial ambitions. The various violent exchanges that the British record persuade the authorities in London to found a planned new penal colony, not in New Zealand, but in Australia instead, where the locals are seen as less of a threat. For now, the original people of this land remain masters of their territory. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body check-check that provides a clear picture of your today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer.

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not least high-quality timber and flax. Meanwhile, Australia has been filling with ambitious entrepreneurs, alongside convicts who've either done their time or managed to slip their shackles. Trading ships regularly sail out of Australia to do business with these islands a thousand miles southeast. By the 1790s, a few such travellers are staying behind in New Zealand. They spread across the country, integrating into Maori modes of life and even marrying in and having children. Meanwhile, commercial activity intensifies. Colonial merchants diversify away from timber,

and start hunting seal. The oil from these beasts is in high demand in Europe, while the furs can be traded in China for profitable tea. The sealers begin to build rudimentary European-style houses, and hopefuls from all over come to New Zealand in a bid to make their fortunes. There are settlers from Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere in Europe, but also Pacific Islanders and Indigenous Australians. By the first decade of the 19th century, business is thriving, and when the seal trade suffers a downturn, whaling takes its place. Seeing the chance to benefit, some Maori joins sealing and whaling expeditions and prove exemplary crewmates. Others provide services on the ground, growing crops or rearing animals to sell.

A few gain passage on European vessels, and in 1806, King George III of England even gives an audience to a chief named Te Pahi, the first Maori to make it to make it London. Not everyone received such warm welcomes, being disregarded as curiosities or exploited for their labour. Initially, trade and commerce was based on good relationships between Māori and European and Māori, curious by nature, were keen to understand the European world and it wasn't actually that long. They turned at the 19th century that Māori were making their way overseas. Sydney, primarily, but others made it to Britain. And they were, he might even call them,

intelligence-gathering missions to go out and explore and understand the European world. And trade was a way that Māori could learn about the world. Māori communities become more familiar with modes of European customs, from clothing, language and literacy to technology, tools, and all facets of domestic life. There is a good deal of intermarriage, too, bringing the culture is still closer together.

But there is a darker side. With hundreds of sailors on shore at any one time and no means of formally regulating their conduct, bad behavior becomes an increasing problem. It's drinking, it's violence. And of course there was sex and that aerial disease became noticeable. All of those things that you can imagine were taking place.

And Māori came from a society where there was rules and particular ways of behaving. And Māori were tolerant, but there was always a line that shouldn't be crossed. As concern grows about the impact of the European settlers, known as the Pakeha, on Maori ways, some Maori leaders lean on their contacts to exert some positive influence. Māori had travelled overseas. they'd been to Britain, they'd been to Sydney, and they saw the power, I suppose, of Britain.

It would have been quite overwhelming or quite bewildering for those chiefs who travelled to London to observe what they observed, and so three missionaries were able to request that the British crown come and sort out their people. The first Christian mission, a church of England one, arrives in New Zealand in 1814, but there is no immediate surge of converts.

Maori culture has its own distinct belief system with a pantheon of gods and a focus on the sanctity of the natural world and the importance of genealogy. Nonetheless, by the end of the 1820s, some start to adopt Christianity, even if in adapted forms that mould around traditional beliefs.

A more instantly desirable import from the British is the flintlock musket. At first they are traded to be used in hunting. But from the early years of the 19th century, Māori began to arm themselves in volume, terrorizing rivals up and down the country. By the 1820s, it has descended into a full-scale arms race. The resulting so-called musket wars

reached their peak only in the next decade. By their end, upwards of 20,000 Maori are dead, and some tribal groups entirely wiped out. It was a traumatic period in nine. Maori history. But I always say it was a short period in time, relative to the entire length of time that Māori had been in New Zealand. So it was sort of a 15-20 year period. And it certainly had outcomes for Māori.

There was a decrease in population. You saw people migrate from one area to another, which changed the intertribal dynamics of the areas that those people migrated in the The fighting eventually subsides, in part because all the major tribes now operate under fear of mutually assured destruction. But the cost has been devastating. Back when Cook visited in 1769, the population stood at over 100,000. Thanks to the violence, as well as new diseases and the rising infertility they bring with them, that figure has fallen to 70,000. Soon, concerned by reports of lawlessness among British subjects and the growing presence of rival

colonial powers, the Crown decides to formalise its role in New Zealand affairs. But if the Maori hope it might signal an upturn in their fortunes, a shock awaits. Until now, the government in London has been reluctant to commit. The truth is establishing colonies is expensive, and the preference had been to let commercial interests run things. But recently, that started to change. there was a petition that was set by the northern chiefs in 1831, and it was asking for Britain to come and to protect or extend its authority over its own subjects in New Zealand.

And then Britain was kind of hesitant to act again, but they did send a guy called Busby. He was what they call the resident. and his job was to kind of settle arguments between iwi or tribes, but also to try and control Europeans. With the British government now officially represented by Busby, in 1835 a French aristocrat launches a speculative move to establish an independent state in a region of the North Island called Hokieanga.

To ward off this foreign competition, Busby brings together several Maori chiefs and persuades them to say, sign a document that claims to be a declaration of the independence of New Zealand. To celebrate, he leaves for a lavish feast, though the chiefs are provided nothing more than a cauldron of porridge. The plans of Busby's French rival collapse, but the ground is laid for a more formal consolidation of Anglo-Mauri relations in the future. The moment comes in early 1840, when private companies are eyeing up land purchases for themselves, with a view to buying cheap and selling at a vast profit to future settlers.

Concerned that Busby is not able to deal with this commercial threat single-handedly, Britain's colonial office sends William Hobson to assist Busby in formally instituting New Zealand as a crown colony. A vast marquee is erected on the front lawn of Busby's house at Waitangi. Inside the great tent are hundreds of senior Maori, along with a contingent of Hobson's own officials, a number of Pākia locals and several missionaries. The task of the British is to negotiate a formal transfer of sovereignty. Hobson begins reading in English from a sizable document before him,

then another man repeats his words, or a version of them, in Maori. The document is a treaty, hastily written in English just a few days ago and translated even more speedily last night. It contains just a few clauses, but each of utmost importance. The first, according to the English version, says that Maori chiefs, cede to the Queen of England all the rights and power of sovereignty over their territories. Clause two, however, guarantees the Maori the right to keep their lands so long as they want them. But should they wish to sell their land, they must offer it to the crown,

which in turn grants them its protection and what it describes as, all the rights and privileges of British subjects. But not only is the language vague, the original and the translation do not always directly correlate. In particular, where the English version talks about transferring sovereignty, the Maori version uses the word Kawanatanga, which is derived from the word for governor. The way that it was presented by Southern Britain

was that it was a cission of sovereignty, so that Māori ceded sovereignty to the Crown, whereas Māori saw it as a continuation and an acknowledgement of their own authority, but Māori recognised that the Crown still had responsibility for their own subjects. In other words, some understand the Treaty to allow Māori to continue much as they always have,

with the British Crown having sovereign responsibility for the 2,000 or so of its own citizens. There is no immediate consensus, but after discussions among Maori leaders, some 45 are prepared to assent to the treaty. Others add their approval over the coming months, but it's far from unanimous when on the 21st of May 1840, Hobson proclaims Britain's sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand. To begin with, it is to be a dependency of New South Wales in Australia. Then the following year, it is established as a colony in its own right, with Auckland its capital. In this haphazard way, British rule begins.

Almost immediately, the Crown begins buying up Maori lands on a vast scale. That clause in the treaty about selling to the Crown is known as the preemption clause. Theoretically, it's a protection against land sharks like the New Zealand Company. Led by a controversial Englishman named Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a speculator who has already served prison time for kidnapping a wealthy heiress, The business hoped to become the de facto power in the region, just as the East India Company has been in India. But the preemption clause seized with that his scheme is stifled,

and the company soon hits the rocks. Yet it's still not good news for Maori interests. But what happened in reality was that the preempt should applause was used to drive the purchase price of land down. Of course, if you've got no competition, you've got no market, it can drive the price down. And so that was used to acquire huge amounts of land for very little price.

As part of these sell-offs, dispossessed Māori are guaranteed designated areas of land known as reserves in return. But they're often established on poor quality ground and without any provision to make them productive. There are frequent disputes over deals too. For Pakea buyers, it's a straightforward matter of exchanging land deeds.

But for Māori, there is much greater complexity, with historical ownership of land undocumented and wrapped up in traditions of inheritance, occupation and conquest. It is often unclear who has the right to sell land and on whose behalf. In March 1845, in the northern settlement of Kora Ra Reke, a local chief named Hone Heke leads some 600 armed men to the town's guard post. His frustration with the British has been growing for years, and their recent move to tax ships from which Maori had previously collected duties

has pushed him over the edge. At his order, all the men on guard duty are slayed. He personally chops down the pole from which the British flag flies. It's the third time he has done it. Colonial troops quickly swarm into the area and force Hone Heke's retreat. By then, some 60 people lie dead,

over half of them Maori. All the while, the Pākehya people, population surges in number as new settlers arrive to take their chances. Conversely, Maori numbers are in sharp decline, largely because of their lack of immunity to imported diseases. Influenza, measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough and dysentery are ravaging the population. Where once Maori dominated in number, the pendulum is swinging. In 1858, the Pakeir population overtakes Maori numbers for the first time, with figures of 59,000 and 56,000 respectively.

And though programs are put in place aimed at assisting Maori communities, for example, schools, hospitals and agricultural schemes, the transfer of land out of Maori hands is now measured in tens of millions of acres. Soon, the British will buy up virtually all of the South Island, and although some 80% of the North Island remains in Maori hands for now, the British come to dominate there too.

The sense of decline is overwhelming. One attempt to rebalance this is the emergence of Kinjitanga, or the Maori King movement. The idea is to unite the disparate iwi under one leader, with a view to dealing with the crown and its people as equals. It's June 1858 in Ngarua Wahia, a settlement on the North Island at the confluence of two rivers. The shrill songs of pigeons and cuckus fill the air. In the shadow of a range of heavily forested hills, a Maori, a Maori, teen from the Waikata Tai Nuii'iwi picks his way through a great crowd alive with excited chatter. He is happy to see a boy he recognizes from another iwi and goes over to greet him.

Close to the front now, the youth cranes his neck for the best view of the event, something he has been excitedly awaiting for many days. He can almost feel the collective sense of anticipation in the air, until a reverent hush descends at the behest of one of the elders. With only the song of birds and the rushing of the river breaking the silence, from one side of the clearing, an elderly figure is led towards an ornately carved wooden throne. The teen can tell that the old man, a chief by the name of Teferroferro, is struggling to see, but at last he is seated.

His face, densely adorned with tattoos, there remains something deeply impressive about him, especially as he now dons a spectacular Corroawe, a traditional cloak. decorated with feathers. Another man steps forward, the Tumuaki or Kingmaker, who is to conduct the formalities of this coronation service. Beside the men, a flag is hoisted. Bering a cross in its top left-hand corner, it also depicts several stars to reference a section of the southern star constellation

that illuminates the night sky in this part of the world. The Tumuaki leads the crowd in prayers and incantations, the boy joining in at the appropriate moments. Now he anoints the king elect with oil, then picks up a copy of the Bible and lifts it above the elderly man's head. For several minutes he gives a sermon, solemnising the occasion. Other high-ranking members from different Iwi take their turn to make speeches and offer congratulatory words to the new monarch.

The youth catches the eye of the boy next to him. They may come from different Iwi, but they are now united under the umbrella of one ruler. With the speeches concluded, a hush falls again. Then, from somewhere in the crowd, a rhythmic chant begins. The sound swells as hundreds join in, stamping their feet and striking their chests in unison. It is a haka, one of the fierce, proud and magnificent ceremonial dances chosen for its symbolism of inner strength and unity. From his carved throne, the new Maori king presides serenely over his people's joy and defiance. More dances and songs follow, and the crowd comes alive,

the earnestness of the ceremony giving way to something more joyful. Though the arrival of the Pakea, just under a century ago, began the consolidation of a single Maori identity. Now they have a king of their own to bring them into even closer union. The establishment of a monarch, however, is not enough to change the reality of life on the ground, or to prevent a surge in violence between the colonizers and colonized. Another disputed land deal sparks a major conflict in Taraniki in 1860, but that in turn is dwarfed by the scale of fighting a few years later

when colonial troops attempt to bring down the Kinjitanga movement. Over nine months, some 14,000 British soldiers, augmented by allied Maori warriors, take on an enemy force of 4,000. By the campaign's end, many hundreds lie dead, with Maori forces suffering the greatest losses. The British government then exact further punishment by confiscating more of their land, including the most fertile. This proves the biggest single campaign of what becomes known as the New Zealand Wars, which only come to an end in 1872. Meanwhile, the Maori population continues its free fall, while Pākeh numbers rise, not least during a series of gold rushes during the 1860. By the middle of the 1890s, there are estimated to only be about 40,000 Māori left,

against perhaps 700,000 Pākeh, a monumental shift in demographics that leaves many wondering whether soon there'll be any Maori left at all. Thankfully, though, rumours of extinction prove misplaced. As the 20th century dawns, there is a revival in Maori numbers, driven in large part by immune systems at last better trained to deal with illnesses of foreign origin. But they continue to suffer a shortage of land, resources and opportunity, as well as a very definite secondary status to the Pakeha. For a while, there have been attempts by various Maori groups to organise politically. Since 1867, Maori men have had the right to vote and women are granted the same right in 1893

when New Zealand becomes the first country to grant universal female suffrage. There are also four seats in Parliament reserved specifically for Maori representatives. Although with 70 Pākehya members, it's hardly enough to affect real change. The Maori king remains in place, but he too is relatively powerless, and an attempt to set up a Maori parliament as a counterpoint to the national one also fails to really take hold, coming to an end in 1902. So it is that the emphasis shifts away from trying to turn back the tide and towards preservation of Maori identity and function successfully in a Pakea-dominated system.

New mainstream political figures with Māori heritage emerge, like James Carroll. Serving in government as Minister of Native Affairs for several years until 1912, he even steps up to act as Prime Minister on occasion. Then the World Wars provide a gruesome opportunity of sorts. Some Māori enlisted. These were often from tribes who had fought alongside the British during the wars of the 19th century. And then fast forward to World War II

and Apirana Nata is one of New Zealand's great politicians. He lobbied the government to establish a Māori-only battalion and many Māori signed up to the battalion and he talked about the price of citizenship and he said that if Māori want to be considered New Zealanders then they should also fight alongside other New Zealanders. and the Second World War.

In May 1941, the sun beats down on Crete in the Mediterranean. The Allied garrison here is under sustained assault by German forces, and a young soldier is preparing to do battle. He is one of 700 Maori to be sent here, of a total 16,000 who have signed up to fight against the fascists. Although he feels a long way from home, there is duty to do here and honour to be won. Along with the rest of his 28th Maori battalion, he lines up alongside even more troops from Australia.

With German fighters swarming the streets, he fixes a bayonet to the end of his rifle and awaits the order. It is almost a relief when it comes, and he hurls himself forward in a charge. By the end of the encounter, 280 Germans lie dead and 100 Maori. He is one of the lucky ones who make it back to base, ready for evacuation to. tomorrow. No one can say that the Māori haven't done their bid. After the war, there is a large-scale exodus away from rural areas into the towns and cities. But unemployment is rife, and much of the available housing is low-grade. Urbanisation brings its own social problems, including deprivation and rising racial tensions, as Maori and Pakea populations used to largely inhabiting their own spaces,

now live close together. By the 1960s, the global climate. of protest and activism is reaching New Zealand. Public figures like Fina Cooper have long been banging the drum for change, but with civil rights movements gaining ground worldwide, they have new wind in their sales. Through actions like the Great Land March of 1975, they demand redress for some of the sins of the past. And so we had protests through the 60s, 70s and 80s in New Zealand.

One of the outcomes of the protest movement was the establishment of an everest, independent commission of inquiry, the Waitangi Tribunal, that was tasked with investigating the Crown's actions as they related to the Treaty of Waitangi. So from 1975 when it was set up through to 1985, the tribunal could only hear claims against the crowd from 1975 onwards. But in 1985, there was an amendment to the Act, which allowed the tribunal to the who Noquette claims all the way back to 1840. The government agrees a series of settlements from the 1990s onwards, together worth several hundreds of millions of dollars,

to compensate for the historical loss of land and resources. This provides Iwi with an injection of funds to improve conditions, though it's far from enough to address all the challenges before them. In 2004, the government faces a no-confidence vote over legislation to nationalise the seabed, which some protesters claim, infringes Maori ancestral rights. Somehow arriving at a balance between the complex claims

and counterclaims of New Zealand's different social groups is a problem for the ages. In April 2025, a vote is due in New Zealand's parliament on a contentious bill which proposes to redefine long-held principles related to the Treaty of Waitangi. It centres on a concern among some that ideas such as co-governance in certain areas of public life and quotas designed to address Maori underrepresentation in many sectors

are in fact creating a two-tier system in which non-maury people are disadvantaged. But the bill's opponents say it threatens to tear down years of work to promote Maori rights and identity. It has already spurred mass protests involving tens of thousands of demonstrators, prompted two Maori MPs to perform a hacker in Parliament and seen another MP suspended for calling one of the bill's proponents a liar. But now, when the votes are counted, the bill is rejected by 112 votes to 11.

Raucus cheers erupt from both the floor and the gallery of the chamber. It's a decisive victory, but one that has reopened old wounds. It speaks to the Maori struggle to secure its position as equals in a country it was the first to inhabit. Over the centuries, New Zealand's Maori communities, families, leaders and individuals have defined the land, imbuing it with a proud, rich culture distinct from any other. And despite the mixed impact of European colonisation, Māori traditions, language and people remain a vital and valued part of New Zealand life.

What is the situation now? We presently have a right-of-centre coalition government that has demonstrated or done. What many Māori would say has sent the relationship back between Māori and the Crown decades. But what people have said to me is these are bad times for Māori. However, we've been through bad times before

and we've been able to navigate those times. Next time on Short History of, we'll bring you a short history of Rasputin. I'm afraid he's become a sort of comic creation in a way, hasn't he? Because what with the Ra Ra Rasputin and all that? He's sort of creation like most people are, of people around him. I feel a lot was projected onto him.

He was just a sort of good time guy. He loves wine, women and song. That's next time. If you can't wait a week until the next episode, you can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noyser Plus. Head to www.org.org slash subscriptions for more information.