1. Maori Food Culture

2. The Maori of New Zealand
They Maori a Polynesian people, like native Hawaiians, and came to New Zealand in several waves of canoe (“waka”) voyages between 1250 and 1300 AD.

4. The Maori of New Zealand
Maori lived in tribes, called iwi.
Each tribe had a chief.
There was a lot of inter-tribal warfare.
The center of a tribe is their Marae, or meeting house
Pictures: Marae (interior, exterior, Maripi (aha) and Taiaha

5. The Maori of New Zealand
In the 17th century, Captain Cook from Great Britain “discovered” New Zealand, which changed Maori ways of life forever.
There are still Maori in New Zealand today, still holding on to their culture
They make up about 15% of the population

6. Food Culture of the Maori
The Maori of New Zealand, before European contact, were semi-agriculturalists.
They got some food from hunting and gathering, and some food from agriculture.

7. Food Culture of the Maori
Their staple crop was Kumara, which is similar to our sweet potato
Kumara was prepared through pit-cooking, in what is called a Hangi.

8. Food Culture of the Maori
Maori were known to collect and eat certain kinds of fern as well as other wild edible plants when kumara was not in season.
New Zealand is an island, so a major resource for the Maori was the ocean.
They ate fish, shellfish, crayfish, crabs, and certain kinds of seaweed.
They would use fishing line, nets, and traps to catch fish.

9. Notes Maori = Polynesian. Arrived in canoes 1250-1300
Lived in tribes, warlike, center = Marae (meeting house)
Captain Cook “discovered” New Zealand.
Still Maori today (15% of population)
Traditionally were semi-agricultural: hunting, gathering, AND agriculture
Staple = Kumara (sweet potato)
Also ate wild edible plants (ferns)
Ocean = VERY important resource

10. Resources http://www.genuinemaoricuisine.com/Folders/foodhistory.html
The Adaptation of the Kumara by the New Zealand Maori, by D.E. Yen
Fern Consumption in Aotearoa and its oceanic precidents, by Helen Leach
Sea, Land, and Fish: Spatial Relations and the Archaeology of South Island Maori Fishing, by Ian Barner
Changing Maori Agriculture in Pre-Waitangi Mew Zealand. By R.P. Hargreaves