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Moriori
The Moriori are the first settlers of the Chatham Islands (Rēkohu in Moriori; Wharekauri in Māori). Moriori are Polynesians who came from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 AD, which was close to the time of the shift from the archaic to the classic period of Polynesian Māori culture on the mainland. Oral tradition records migration to the Chathams in the 16th century. The settlers' culture diverged from mainland Māori, and they developed a distinct Moriori language, mythology, artistic expression and way of life. Currently there are around 700 people who identify as Moriori, most of whom no longer live on the Chatham Islands. During the late 19th century some prominent anthropologists proposed that Moriori were pre-Māori settlers of mainland New Zealand, and possibly Melanesian in origin; this hypothesis has been discredited by archaeologists since the early 20th century, but continued to be referred to by critics of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process into the 21st century.
Early Moriori formed tribal groups based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Later, a prominent pacifist culture emerged; this was known as the law of nunuku, based on the teachings of the 16th century Moriori leader Nunuku-whenua. This culture made it easier for Taranaki Māori invaders to massacre them in the 1830s during the Musket Wars. This was the Moriori genocide, in which the Moriori were either murdered or enslaved by members of the Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama iwi, killing or displacing nearly 95% of the Moriori population.
The Moriori, however, were not extinct, and gained recognition as New Zealand's second indigenous people during the next century. Their culture and language underwent a revival, and Moriori names for their islands were prioritised. In February 2020, the New Zealand government signed a treaty with tribal leaders, giving them rights enshrined in law and the Moriori people at large an apology for the past actions of Māori and European settlers. The Crown returned stolen remains of those killed in the genocide, and gifted NZ$18 million in reparations. On 23 November 2021, the New Zealand government passed in law the treaty between Moriori and the Crown. The law is called the Moriori Claims Settlement Act. It includes an agreed summary history that begins with the words "Moriori karāpuna (ancestors) were the waina-pono (original inhabitants) of Rēkohu, Rangihaute, Hokorereoro (South East Island), and other nearby islands (making up the Chatham Islands). They arrived sometime between 1000 and 1400 AD."
The Moriori were hunter-gatherers who lived on the Chatham Islands in isolation from the outside world until the arrival of HMS Chatham in 1791. They came to the Chathams from mainland New Zealand,[citation needed] and were descendants of the same Polynesians who settled New Zealand and from whom Māori descended.[citation needed] Uncertainty surrounds the time of the Moriori arrival. Some artefacts from Pitt Island date from the Māori archaic period, estimated to be before AD 1500, but all carbon dating of evidence elsewhere on the islands gives dates after AD 1500. Linguistic similarity and genealogical comparisons with Māori on the South Island indicate the Moriori settlers were from south of Cook Strait.[citation needed] We know Moriori lack genetic diversity, which points to there being only one arrival, possibly with just one canoe.[citation needed] Further educated guesswork points to that arrival being a trading (not war) canoe or canoes (women must have been on board) from the far south that was blown off course while travelling northwards: it could have been taken eastward along the existing ocean current to the Chathams, with archaeological discoveries implying they settled first on Pitt Island before later moving to Chatham Island.[excessive citations] The Chathams were the last islands in the Pacific to be settled by Polynesians.
Most of what else is known about the Moriori, their culture and their language, is a matter of speculation. This is because so much evidence has been lost. After the 1835 Māori invasion, all Moriori were either killed, died of newly introduced diseases, or were enslaved. The language and culture of the survivors became intermingled with the Māori language and society before records were made by Europeans. This makes most of what is now known of the pre-contact Moriori the subject of conjecture.[page needed]
The Chathams are colder and less hospitable than the land the original settlers left behind, and although abundant in resources, these were different from those available where they had come from. The Chathams proved unsuitable for the cultivation of most crops known to Polynesians, and the Moriori adopted a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Food was almost entirely marine-sourced — protein and fat from fish, fur seals, and the fatty young of sea birds.[citation needed] The islands supported about 2,000 people. This lifestyle is confirmed by early European accounts, with one recording that:
"They were idle in the extreme, only seeking food when pressed by hunger, and depending mostly on what was cast ashore by the sea, a stranded whale, grampus, or porpoise being an especial delicacy, as was also a seal or mass of whale blubber, which being often cast ashore was looked upon as the gift of a good spirit who supplied their wants."
Lacking resources of cultural significance such as greenstone and plentiful timber, they found outlets for their ritual needs in the carving of dendroglyphs (incisions into tree trunks, called rakau momori). Typically, most Moriori dendroglyphs depict a human form, but there are also other patterns depicting fish and birds. Some of these carvings are protected by the Hāpūpū / J M Barker Historic Reserve.
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Moriori
The Moriori are the first settlers of the Chatham Islands (Rēkohu in Moriori; Wharekauri in Māori). Moriori are Polynesians who came from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 AD, which was close to the time of the shift from the archaic to the classic period of Polynesian Māori culture on the mainland. Oral tradition records migration to the Chathams in the 16th century. The settlers' culture diverged from mainland Māori, and they developed a distinct Moriori language, mythology, artistic expression and way of life. Currently there are around 700 people who identify as Moriori, most of whom no longer live on the Chatham Islands. During the late 19th century some prominent anthropologists proposed that Moriori were pre-Māori settlers of mainland New Zealand, and possibly Melanesian in origin; this hypothesis has been discredited by archaeologists since the early 20th century, but continued to be referred to by critics of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process into the 21st century.
Early Moriori formed tribal groups based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Later, a prominent pacifist culture emerged; this was known as the law of nunuku, based on the teachings of the 16th century Moriori leader Nunuku-whenua. This culture made it easier for Taranaki Māori invaders to massacre them in the 1830s during the Musket Wars. This was the Moriori genocide, in which the Moriori were either murdered or enslaved by members of the Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama iwi, killing or displacing nearly 95% of the Moriori population.
The Moriori, however, were not extinct, and gained recognition as New Zealand's second indigenous people during the next century. Their culture and language underwent a revival, and Moriori names for their islands were prioritised. In February 2020, the New Zealand government signed a treaty with tribal leaders, giving them rights enshrined in law and the Moriori people at large an apology for the past actions of Māori and European settlers. The Crown returned stolen remains of those killed in the genocide, and gifted NZ$18 million in reparations. On 23 November 2021, the New Zealand government passed in law the treaty between Moriori and the Crown. The law is called the Moriori Claims Settlement Act. It includes an agreed summary history that begins with the words "Moriori karāpuna (ancestors) were the waina-pono (original inhabitants) of Rēkohu, Rangihaute, Hokorereoro (South East Island), and other nearby islands (making up the Chatham Islands). They arrived sometime between 1000 and 1400 AD."
The Moriori were hunter-gatherers who lived on the Chatham Islands in isolation from the outside world until the arrival of HMS Chatham in 1791. They came to the Chathams from mainland New Zealand,[citation needed] and were descendants of the same Polynesians who settled New Zealand and from whom Māori descended.[citation needed] Uncertainty surrounds the time of the Moriori arrival. Some artefacts from Pitt Island date from the Māori archaic period, estimated to be before AD 1500, but all carbon dating of evidence elsewhere on the islands gives dates after AD 1500. Linguistic similarity and genealogical comparisons with Māori on the South Island indicate the Moriori settlers were from south of Cook Strait.[citation needed] We know Moriori lack genetic diversity, which points to there being only one arrival, possibly with just one canoe.[citation needed] Further educated guesswork points to that arrival being a trading (not war) canoe or canoes (women must have been on board) from the far south that was blown off course while travelling northwards: it could have been taken eastward along the existing ocean current to the Chathams, with archaeological discoveries implying they settled first on Pitt Island before later moving to Chatham Island.[excessive citations] The Chathams were the last islands in the Pacific to be settled by Polynesians.
Most of what else is known about the Moriori, their culture and their language, is a matter of speculation. This is because so much evidence has been lost. After the 1835 Māori invasion, all Moriori were either killed, died of newly introduced diseases, or were enslaved. The language and culture of the survivors became intermingled with the Māori language and society before records were made by Europeans. This makes most of what is now known of the pre-contact Moriori the subject of conjecture.[page needed]
The Chathams are colder and less hospitable than the land the original settlers left behind, and although abundant in resources, these were different from those available where they had come from. The Chathams proved unsuitable for the cultivation of most crops known to Polynesians, and the Moriori adopted a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Food was almost entirely marine-sourced — protein and fat from fish, fur seals, and the fatty young of sea birds.[citation needed] The islands supported about 2,000 people. This lifestyle is confirmed by early European accounts, with one recording that:
"They were idle in the extreme, only seeking food when pressed by hunger, and depending mostly on what was cast ashore by the sea, a stranded whale, grampus, or porpoise being an especial delicacy, as was also a seal or mass of whale blubber, which being often cast ashore was looked upon as the gift of a good spirit who supplied their wants."
Lacking resources of cultural significance such as greenstone and plentiful timber, they found outlets for their ritual needs in the carving of dendroglyphs (incisions into tree trunks, called rakau momori). Typically, most Moriori dendroglyphs depict a human form, but there are also other patterns depicting fish and birds. Some of these carvings are protected by the Hāpūpū / J M Barker Historic Reserve.