Who was the first Māori in New Zealand?

According to the Māori legend , the first explorer to enter New Zealand was Kupe. Using the stars and ocean currents as his guidelines, he travelled across the Pacific on his waka hourua/voyaging canoe that was originally from his ancestral Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. It is thought that Kupe made landfall at the Hokianga Harbour in Northland, around 1000 years ago.

Maori Gods, Legends, rituals and the world view come from a Polynesian homeland. All these aspects of social life were based on mythology and traditions inherited from their ancestors. The two major gods are Papatuanuku (Papa) the primordial earth mother. the second major god is Ranginui (Rangi) which is the primordial sky father. There are also plenty of others,

Tūmatauenga:God of war, hunting, fishing and agriculture

T āwhirimātea:God of the Weather, and storms[1]

Tāne-mahuta:God of forests and bird

Tangaroa:God of the sea

Rongo:God of peace, and of cultivated plants

Haumia-tiketike:God of wild food plants

Rehua:A star (Antares)

Ruaumoko:God of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Seasons

Hine-nui-te-pō:Goddess of death

Punga:Ancestor of ugly creatures

Kaitangata:Husband of Whaitiri

Ikatere:Ancestor of fish

Tū-te-wehiwehi:Ancestor of reptiles

Māui:Demigod

Te Reo Māori

In the last 200 years the history of the Māori language (te reo Māori) has been through its ups and downs. At the beginning of the 19th century it was the main language spoken in New Zealand, as to when more English speakers arrived in New Zealand, the Māori language was increasingly confined to Māori communities. By the mid-20th century there were concerns that the language was dying out. Luckily the emphasis on speaking English, the Māori language had survived until the Second World War most Māori people spoke te reo as their first language. They worshipped in Māori, and Māori was the language of the marae. More importantly, it was still the language of the home, where parents passed it on to their children.

The ancestors of the Māori people brought edible plants from their homeland, including kūmara, yam and taro. In New Zealand the climate was colder than home and Māori used sophisticated cultivation techniques to adapt these crops to the new environment.

The hāngī also know as a earth oven is a traditional method of cooking, especially for feeding large numbers of people. Smaller amounts of food were cooked in or over embers.

Traditional foods included whitebait, the seaweed karengo, huhu grubs, pikopiko (fern shoots), karaka berries and toroi – a dish of fresh mussels with pūhā (sow thistle) juice.

The Maori people's relationships focused on and emphasised friendliness. They had many customs that dealt with friendliness but these customs were taken less seriously by the 1990s. An example of one of these traditions is the hakari or feasting. This event brought many families and social groups together. They would choose a man of status to host, he would provide food and gifts for those who were to attend. By the end of the hakari the man and his family would be left with almost nothing, but the man's social status would increase extremely.

The Maori also have a very traditional greeting that has been among the people since the beginning. They call this greeting hongi. This would be an every day greeting to any other Maori they came in contact with, it is still used today. In the greeting, as you can see in the picture, the two people will touch faces so their noses are pressed together. The people believed that by doing it, their spirits would 'mingle'.

http://culturalanthropologyfall2012.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/maori-relationships-family-life.html

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/history-of-the-maori-language

http://history-nz.org/maori.html

http://www.themaori.com/maori-culture-beliefs

http://www.newzealand.com/au/feature/early-settlement/

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/maori-foods-kai-maori