Mana Mãori

The first inhabitants of Aotearoa

Mana Mãori

The first inhabitants of Aotearoa

Mana Mãori

Nau mai

About 800 years ago, it was the first humans to break through the millions of years of isolation of Aotearoa. The myth goes that the Polynesian, Hawaika-born navigators of oneKupe had heard of the Land of the Elongated White Cloud. In canoes filled with vegetables, plants, pigs, chickens, rats and dogs, the Maori travelled   to the land of the future and spread with their crops and animals first across theNorth and later South Island. They lived in tribes, tribal groups with strict fighting codes and a lifelong war tradition. Brave warriors were trained from a young age in the use of handguns, fighting techniques and the impressive Hakadance. During the annual tribal wars, each warrior's main goal was to defeat, eat and gain the strongest enemy of the rival tribe and thus gain as much spiritual strength or mana as possible.

Another characteristic tradition of the Maori is the carving or 'whakairo'. Unique patterns chiseled into faces, fries jade, bone, basalt and wood served as decoration, captured what happened before and each told their own story. Master woodcarvers devoted their entire lives to carving their tribes' 'mana', beautiful decorations that can be seen in doors, houses, canoes, weapons, poles and trinkets.

The origin

The Maori have many myths, oral traditions of heroic stories in which divine ancestors play the leading role. The myth of the origin of the world is that the gods Ranginui,the heavenfather and Papatuanuku, the goddess of the earth together with their children created the earth and life. The Maori believe in an all-encompassing whole and cherish a deep spiritual connection with the earth they have inherited from their gods. Delve into the dynamics, richness and traditions of the culture of the time and present during a Maori-guided tour of Waipoua Forest andadmire the old great kauri trees and the sacred Tane Mahuta tree. Where the world can't find you...

Rondreizen New Zealand

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