New Zealand has a diverse multi-cultural population of around 3.8 million people. The majority of New Zealanders are of British descent, and the largest minority is New Zealand's indigenous Maori who make up around 14 percent of the population. Maori and Pakeha are two different kinds of New Zealanders. First, I’ll talk about the Maoris and then, the Pakehas.
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· Who are the Maori?
The Maori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are Polynesian and comprise about 8% of the country's population. Maoritanga is their native language, which is related to Tahitian and Hawaiian.
· Their history
It is believed that the Maori migrated from Polynesia in canoes about the 9th century to 13th century.
Many years later, some Europeans ships arrived. The relations between the crews and the Maoris were, at first, quite difficult. In 1769, a British explorer named James Cook was able to have friendly relations with the Maoris. In 1800, Europeans ships often came. But the Maoris were reduced because of the Europeans settlers and they soon began fighting.
In 1840, the Maoris’ chef and the representative of the British signed the Treaty of Waitangi who established there the British rules.
Today, the Maori population is at about 250.000 persons who live in all the New Zealand but predominately in the North Island.
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Maori people |
· Their religion
When the Europeans arrived, they were Protestant and Catholic. In 1800 Maoris almost all the Maoris had become Protestant or Catholics.
· Who are the Pakehas?
The Pakehas are of European origin. The Pakehas, at the beginning of the colonization were almost only British and Scottish. “Pakeha” is Maori name mining “white men”. They converted Maoris to their religion.
http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/shores/9338/today.htm
http://www.tourism.org.nz/people-and-history.html
http://www.vnz.co.nz/culture/maori/index.shtml
http://asiep.free.fr/nllezelande/nouvelle_zelande_histoire_geographie.htm
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