How come European New Zealanders embraced the native Maori tradition while Australians did not?
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There are a few things to cover.
Firstly, New Zealand was colonised much later than other countries, and Great Britain learnt a bit about how terribly they had done in colonising other nations. The colonisation was a bit “softer” than places like Australia, in that they actually acknowledge the native people lived there first to a degree.
They created a treaty with the native Māori, which was translated poorly and led to a difference in understanding of the agreement between the Crown and Māori. This led to the New Zealand wars over disagreements of colonisers coming and taking land that Māori understood they had sovereignty over.
Secondly, Māori culture has not been embraced until recently, when a resurgence of their culture started in roughly the 70s. This resurgence is why you see it being embraced today, but up until the 70s people were still caned (as in, hit with a cane) in school for just speaking Māori language. The language was completely suppressed to the point that entire families lost their knowledge of the language and all their ties to their past.
Thirdly, Māori had a larger proportional population in New Zealand than Aboriginals did in Australia, and were more united in their common language and culture. Aboriginal people are more distinct nations scattered all through the vast land of Australia.
I have read about halfway down now and no one yet has understood your question.
But with so many replies already I doubt you will read this. If you do and still want to know the answer, let me know. It’s not a simple answer.
The New Zealand government was confiscating Māori land under dodgy pretenses up until the 1980s, beating kids in school for speaking Te Reo Māori, using the Treaty of Waitangi (which was only there to kocn the French out) as toilet paper, and packed Māori into special seats in Parliament so that other MPs didn’t need to appeal to Māori or Māori issues.
‘Embracing native Māori’ tradition is only a recent phenomenon in New Zealand history that’s still very controversial. Before that, the only ’embracing’ was some places keeping their TRM names or having the haka at rugby games. The premise of this question is flawed.
Most people seem to be getting this correct, but ..
the plural of Māori is Māori (no s or ‘s needed, unless the ‘s is for other grammatical reasons =).
You’ll get some decent answers here, but if you want a more thorough answer from a real historian there’s a subreddit for that. /r/AskHistorians is the perfect place for your question
A lot of people have already talked about the Maori presenting a more united front and being able to negotiate a treaty, but I want to talk about why that is.
You have to keep in mind that Aboriginal people first settled Australia about 50,000 years ago (or more, depends on who you ask). It’s the longest continuous culture in the world.
That timeframe, and the huge size and variation of Australia (about the same size as the contiguous US), meant that there was a lot of diversification. Different languages, different groups, different Dreaming – Aboriginal people weren’t really one society, they were hundreds of different societies. You can’t come and negotiate with a representative of all Aboriginal people, you can’t talk to them all in the same language, you can’t even travel to where they live without a lot of people dying. So you can pick them off group by group as you expand.
New Zealand, however, was settled by the Maori less than 1,000 years ago and is much smaller. So you have a common language, more overlap in culture, and a more concentrated society who can rally together and you can actually negotiate with.
Maori culture and Aboriginal culture have nothing in common.
Maori had travelled across the pacific, colonising many islands, bringing foods and farming with them. They built homes and community centres.
I think there are two concepts that are key to New Zealand embracing the native tradition that might be missing from the Australian aboriginals – Tikanga (Societal Lore) and Mātauranga (Science). Both compliments with the Europeans’ understanding of the world and allow both cultures to collaborate.
Tikanga encompasses Māori customs, practices, and values, provides a framework for how individuals and communities should interact with one another and the environment. It ensures that cultural practices are respected and preserved, fostering a sense of continuity and belonging within Māori society.
Mātauranga, on the other hand, represents the vast body of traditional Māori knowledge, encompassing everything from cosmology, ecology, and genealogy to practical skills and environmental management. Together, these concepts help maintain cultural integrity and resilience, ensuring that Māori heritage is not only preserved but actively practiced and celebrated.
As someone who used to work in NZ, those values are reflected in our work in the public sector – We start our meetings with a karakia, and ensure our work aligns with Tikanga and Mātauranga.
Cause at the time there was no scaffolding to build, so there where very little cuzzy bros in Australia. Also the cuzzy bros absolutely flogged the poms into submission
Your premise is incorrect.
In reality maori influence/culture is basically non existent except for the odd haka, the occasional word on signs/weather names.
The illusion of acceptance is there (to ignore the issues) but certainly there is no widespread embracement.
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