ABSTRACT

Indigenous Māori in Aotearoa-New Zealand have had a long history and close interdependent relationship with the natural environment particularly the soil resources. People from northern Polynesia migrated to Aotearoa-NZ about 1000 years ago (McKinnon et al. 1997; King 2003), and it was in this new country that Māori culture developed and ourished (Best 1924a; Buck 1950), drawing on the early Polynesian cultural beliefs, customs, language, and philosophies. At present, indigenous Māori make up around 15% of the total population of just over 4 million in a largely multicultural mixed society based on relatively high inter-marriage between Māori and Europeans and other smaller ethnic groups. Around 85% of all Māori now live in urban environments following large migration shifts to cities for employment predominantly after the World War II, from the early 1950s. This Māori migration (~post-1990) is now global-mainly to Australia. This society is very different from when Europeans rst colonized New Zealand in the mid-nineteenth century, when there were two distinct and separate cultures, one-Māori, one-English (King 2003). The rst contact Europeans had with Māori is generally accepted in 1769. Māori culture since the arrival of the Europeans has gone from being strong and vibrant, through a long period of being at risk from the pressures of colonization, to a newfound Māori cultural renaissance that has progressively grown in the latter half of the twentieth century to the present (Durie 1998; Walker 2004). However, traditional beliefs, values, and cultural perspectives still resonate strongly in a contemporary society, and have taken on new importance through a resurgence of interest in cultural identity and philosophies, and the preservation, development, and use of indigenous language and traditional knowledge (Durie 1998; Walker 2004).