Maori essays

Maori essays Its called the land of the long white cloud and scientists say that this beautiful place was created millions of years ago by a huge, nearly unimaginable earthquake caused by the movement of large plates of the Earths crust. The Maoris, who represent the original inhabitants, in contrast are convinced that this was the heroic deed of a fish. New Zealand seems to be a country where not only continental-plates but also whole worlds and cultures collide. New Zealand was the largest country of Polynesia before it was annexed by the British in 1840. By the 1920s the British still controlled internal and external policies of the country, although it didnt become fully independent until 1947. So far New Zealand is still an independent member of the Commonwealth. Behind New Zealand's spectacular landscape lies an issue unresolved for 160 years. About 95% of the land is owned by the descendants of white settlers while the native people have become rare. New Zealand has always prided itself on good race relations but the battle for equal rights for the minority (Maoris) is steadily heating up.The following text will give an overview of New Zealands history. Furthermore the difficult situation of the Maoris within New Zealands society will be mentioned. No precise archaeological records exist of when and from where the first human inhabitants of New Zealand came, but it is generally agreed that Polynesians from eastern Polynesia in the central Pacific reached New Zealand more than 1,000 years ago. Bergmann, P. (1993). New Zealand. In The new encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 24, pp. 916-930). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Others believed that the Polynesian navigator Kupe was the first man to sight New Zealand around AD 950 and then returned home to tell his tribe of the findings. About 400 years later seven great migratory canoes sailed from Hawaiki to New Zealand. They called the island Aotearoa ...