The Arrival of the Māori
The Māori reached Aotearoa between 1250 and 1350 AD in large, double-hulled ocean-going canoes (Waka Hourua) — one of the most impressive feats of navigation in human history. Without a compass, without a map, only with knowledge of stars, currents, wind patterns, cloud formations, and bird flight, they crossed over 3,000 kilometers of open Pacific from the Polynesian islands (likely the Cook Islands or Society Islands/Tahiti).
Legend has it that the explorer Kupe was the first to sight Aotearoa — he called it "the land of the long white cloud" (Aotearoa) because a long cloud bank heralded the coast. He pursued a giant octopus (Te Wheke-a-Muturangi) across the ocean and discovered the new land. Settlement occurred in several waves, with the different Waka (canoes) forming the founding myth of many of today's Iwi (tribes) — who arrived on which canoe still determines identity, affiliation, and land rights today. The most famous Waka: Tainui, Te Arawa, Mataatua, Kurahaupō, Tokomaru, Aotea, Tākitimu.
The early Māori found a land without land mammals (except for two species of bats), but full of giant birds: The Moa, a flightless bird up to 3.6 meters tall and weighing 250 kg (the largest bird that ever lived), was the main food source — and was completely exterminated within 200 years, along with its predator, the Haast's Eagle (Pouakai, the largest bird of prey of all time, with a wingspan of 3 meters and claws as large as tiger claws). The Haast's Eagle probably also attacked humans — Māori legends of the "man-eating bird" are likely not fantasy.
The Māori developed a complex society: fortified villages (Pā) on hills and volcanic cones (the largest Pā had over 1,000 inhabitants and sophisticated defense systems), elaborate wood carvings (Whakairo), the powerful Haka war dance tradition, and an intricate system of Tapu (sacred/forbidden), Noa (common/accessible), and Mana (spiritual authority and prestige). The concept of Utu (retribution/balance) regulated justice and conflicts between tribes. Wars between Iwi were frequent and ritualized — the victors sometimes took slaves and practiced ritual cannibalism.
