Information AboutIwi |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT IWI | |
| māori | |
| iwi | |
| iwi and hapu | |
| māori words and phrases | |
|
''Iwi'' groups can trace their ancestry to the original Māori settlers that arrived from Hawaiiki , at least according to Tradition . Māori who know their ''iwi'' connections typically value them highly and place great pride in knowing their genealogy. Their origin is among the first things they mention when introducing themselves. BONES OR ROOTS In the Maori Language , ''iwi'' also means '' Bone s''. The Maori author, Keri Hulme , named her best known ( 1985 Booker Prize ) Novel '' The Bone People '', a title linked directly to the dual meaning of bone and '' Tribal people''. Returning home after travelling or living elsewhere is known as "going back to the bones", literally to where the ancestors are buried. Many societies would use the word ''roots''. Many ''iwi'' cluster into super-groups based on s", i.e. the original Migratory canoes). Each ''iwi'' can be divided into a number of Hapu ("sub-tribes"). (For example, the Ngati Whatua iwi consists of the hapu: Te Uri O Hau, Te Roroa, Te Taou, and Ngati Whatua ki Orakei.) Despite migration within New Zealand and intermarriage with non-Maori over a couple of centuries, most iwi groups still exist and have significant political power, which they exercise to recover land and other assets taken from them over the last 150 years. A notable example of this is the recent settlement between the New Zealand Government and the Ngāi Tahu, compensating that iwi for various losses of the rights that were guaranteed in the Treaty Of Waitangi of 1840 . Iwi affairs have a very real impact on New Zealand politics and society. A Current claim by some iwi that they Own the seabed and foreshore in their areas has polarised public opinion (see New Zealand Foreshore And Seabed Controversy ). PROBLEMS WITH IDENTIFICATION The following extract from a recent High Court Of New Zealand judgment (discussing the fishing rights settlement process) illustrates some of the problems:
In the 2001 census , 32.6 per cent of the 604,110 people who claimed Maori ancestry did not know their ''iwi'', or only stated a general geographical region or merely gave a canoe name. It seems that the number who "don’t know" has remained relatively constant over the last three censuses, despite measures such as the "Iwi Helpline". CHALLENGE FROM URBAN MāORI In recent years, "Urban Māori" have challenged the established tribal (''iwi''-based) Māori power base. Urban Māori form groups of people that, while unashamedly Māori, either choose not to identify with any particular ''iwi'', or are unable to (typically because they do not know which ''iwi'' they are descended from). A particular Māori person may decide to support non-tribal structures because they believe the existing ''iwi'' do not give significant value to them, or that they believe that ''iwi'' are unable to understand their point-of-view. They are typically urban bred, and probably identify with European culture to a much larger degree than traditional Māori, and often feel that a non-''iwi'' group best represents their needs. How the traditional ''iwi'' groups respond to this remains to be seen. (As yet, some appear dismissive of these notions.) Notably, one such group has been created believing that Urban Māori are not getting their fair share of "treaty settlements" between the Māori people and the New Zealand government. WELL-KNOWN IWI GROUPS Prominent ''iwi'' include:
Note that each ''iwi'' has its own territory (''rohe''), and that no two ''iwi'' have overlapping territories. This has been of assistance in the long-running discussions and court cases about how to allocate fishing rights, because the length of coastline was one factor in some of the suggested formulae and the final (2004) legislation. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|