Maori History

The name "Maori" once originally meant "the local people", or even "the original people". Maori was a word which was meant to meant "local" or "original". When the arrival of the European settlers, the word "Maori" slowly adjusted to become the "Maori people". This small change took place before 1815. Originally the ancestor's of Polynesian people originated from south-east Asia. The voyage of these traveler's went through China, Taiwan, and through the South Pacific and on there way to New Zealand. When Maori had discovered the Great Fleet, also known as the canoe tradition. This tradition was handed down from generation to generation. According to this ideal tradition, these great canoes had arrived from the mythical homeland oh Hawaiiki, typically known as the ancestral homeland, somewhere in the Eastern Polynesia. These Great Fleet canoes consisted of the Aotea, Arawa, Tainui, Kurahaupo, Takitimu, Horousta, Tokomaru and Mataatua.