Aotearoa is M¨¡ori
New Zealand in 1800 was a M¨¡ori world. Every corner of Aotearoa came within the interest and influence of iwi or hap¨± from the Muriwhenua iwi in the Far North, to Waitaha on Rakiura (Stewart Island), to Moriori on Rekohu (Chatham Island). M¨¡ori society was organised and maintained by a number of core beliefs. These beliefs pre-determined how M¨¡ori would interact with Europeans and also determined M¨¡ori expectations from contact.
Of the many estimates made by European observers, British navigator James Cook¡¯s 1769 suggestion of 100,000 M¨¡ori is the most realistic. This estimate correlates well with the oral history of M¨¡ori regarding arrival and whakapapa (genealogy) and is also supported by palaeontological evidence and research. The M¨¡ori population grew in number in the later part of the 18th century, comfortably exceeding 100,000 by 1800. The P¨¡keh¨¡ population in comparison numbered in the hundreds, comprising mainly whalers, sealers, and timber and flax traders.
M¨¡ori society was on the verge of massive change. The inter-tribal Musket Wars of 1818 to the early 1830s would have a dramatic impact on their population. Thousands of M¨¡ori would be killed with many more being enslaved or becoming refugees. Some iwi were decimated while others had their rohe (territorial boundaries) drastically altered.
M¨¡ori had no immunity to the diseases P¨¡keh¨¡ introduced. As a result they spread rapidly, sometimes wiping out whole villages. Despite all of these factors, on the eve of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 the M¨¡ori population of 70-90,000 still comfortably outnumbered the non-M¨¡ori population of approximately 2000.
Andy Glanville