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Iwi

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This article is about the Māori social unit. For other uses, seeIwi (disambiguation).

Iwi(Māori pronunciation:[ˈiwi]) are the largest social units in New ZealandMāori society.InMāori,iwiroughly means'people'or'nation',[1][2]and is often translated as "tribe",[3]or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.

Iwigroups trace their ancestry to the originalPolynesianmigrants who, according to tradition, arrived fromHawaiki.Someiwicluster into larger groupings that are based onwhakapapa(genealogical tradition) and known aswaka(literally'canoes',with reference to theoriginal migration voyages). These super-groupings are generally symbolic rather than logistical. In pre-European times, most Māori were allied to relatively small groups in the form ofhapū('sub-tribes')[4]andwhānau('family').[5]Eachiwicontains a number ofhapū;among thehapūof theNgāti Whātuaiwi, for example, areTe Uri-o-Hau,Te Roroa,Te Taoū,andNgāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei.Māori use the wordroheto describe the territory or boundaries of iwi.[6]

In modern-dayNew Zealand,iwican exercise significantpolitical powerin the management of land and of other assets. For example, the 1997Treaty of Waitangi settlementbetween the New Zealand Government andNgāi Tahu,compensated thatiwifor various losses of the rights guaranteed under theTreaty of Waitangiof 1840. As of 2019the tribe has collective assets under management of $1.85 billion.[7]Iwiaffairs can have a real impact onNew Zealand politicsand society. A 2004 attempt by someiwito test in court theirownershipof the seabed and foreshore areas polarisedpublic opinion(seeNew Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy).

Naming

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In Māori and in many otherPolynesian languages,iwiliterally means'bone'[8]derived fromProto-Oceanic*suRi₁ meaning'thorn, splinter, fish bone'.[9]Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones" — literally to the burial-areas of theancestors.Māori authorKeri Hulme's novelThe Bone People(1985) has a title linked directly to the dual meaning of bone and "tribal people".

Manyiwinames begin withNgātior withNgāi(fromngā ātiandngā airespectively, both meaning roughly'the offspring of').Ngātihas become a productive morpheme inNew Zealand Englishto refer to groups of people: examples are Ngāti Pākehā (Pākehāas a group),Ngāti Poneke(Māori who have migrated to theWellingtonregion), andNgāti Rānana(Māori living in London). Ngāti Tūmatauenga ( "Tribe ofTūmatauenga",the god of war) is the official Māori-language name of theNew Zealand Army,andNgā Opango( "Black Tribe" ) is a Māori-language name for theAll Blacks.

In thesouthern dialectof Māori, Ngāti and Ngāi becomeKātiandKāi,terms found in such iwi asKāti MāmoeandKāi Tahu(also known as Ngai Tahu).

Structure

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Eachiwihas a generally recognised territory (rohe), but many of these overlap, sometimes completely.[10]This has added a layer of complication to the long-running discussions and court cases about how to resolve historical Treaty claims. The length of coastline emerged as one factor in the final (2004) legislation to allocate fishing-rights in settlement of claims relating to commercial fisheries.

Self-determination

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Iwican become a prospective vehicle for ideas and ideals ofself-determinationand/ortino rangatiratanga.Thus doesTe Pāti Māorimention in the preamble of its constitution "the dreams and aspirations oftangata whenuato achieve self-determination forwhānau,hapūandiwiwithin their own land ".[11]SomeTūhoeenvisage self-determination in specificallyiwi-oriented terms.[12]

Iwi identity

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Increasing urbanisation of Māori has led to a situation where a significant percentage do not identify with any particulariwi.The following extract from a 2000High Court of New Zealandjudgment discussing the process of settling fishing rights illustrates some of the issues:

... 81 per cent of Maori now live in urban areas, at least one-third live outside their tribal influence, more than one-quarter do not know their iwi or for some reason do not choose to affiliate with it, at least 70 per cent live outside the traditional tribal territory and these will have difficulties, which in many cases will be severe, in both relating to their tribal heritage and in accessing benefits from the settlement. It is also said that many Maori reject tribal affiliation because of a working-class unemployed attitude, defiance and frustration. Related but less important factors, are that a hapu may belong to more than one iwi, a particular hapu may have belonged to different iwi at different times, the tension caused by the social and economic power moving from the iwi down rather than from the hapu up, and the fact that many iwi do not recognise spouses and adoptees who do not have kinship links.[13]

In the 2006 census, 16 per cent of the 643,977 people who claimed Māori ancestry did not know theiriwi.Another 11 per cent did not state theiriwi,or stated only a general geographic region, or merely gave awakaname.[14]Initiatives like the Iwi Helpline are trying to make it easier for people to identify theiriwi,[15]and the proportion who "don't know" dropped relative to previous censuses.[14]

Pan-tribalism

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Some established pan-tribal organisations may[according to whom?]exert influence acrossiwidivisions.[citation needed]TheRātanaChurch, for example, operates acrossiwidivisions, and theMāori King Movement,though principally congregated aroundWaikato/Tainui,aims to transcend someiwifunctions in a wider grouping.[citation needed]

Major iwi

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Main article:List of iwi

Largest iwi by population

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  1. Ngāpuhi– 165,201 (in 2018) – based in theNorthland Region
  2. Ngāti Porou– 92,349 (in 2018) – based inGisborne RegionandEast Cape
  3. Waikato Tainui– 84,030 (in 2018)[16]– based in theWaikato Region
  4. Ngāti Kahungunu– 82,239 (in 2018) based on the East Coast of the North Island.
  5. Ngāi Tahu/ Kāi Tahu– 74,082[16](in 2018) based in the South Island.
  6. Te Arawa– 60,719 (in 2018) – based in theBay of Plenty Region
  7. Ngāti Tūwharetoa– 47,930 (in 2018) – based in the centralNorth Island.
  8. Ngāi Tūhoe– 46,479 (in 2018)[16]– based inTe UreweraandWhakatane
  9. Ngāti Maniapoto– 45,719 (in 2018) – based inWaikatoandWaitomo

Other iwi by population

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  1. No affiliation – 110,928 (in 2013) – includes New-Zealand-based Māori with noiwiaffiliation
  2. Te Hiku, orMuriwhenua– 33,711 (in 2013) – group ofiwiandhapūin theNorthland region
  3. Ngāti Raukawa– 29,442 (in 2013) – group ofiwiandhapūin theWaikatoregion,TaupōandManawatū
  4. Te Atiawa– 23,094 (in 2013) – group ofiwiandhapūinTaranakiandWellington
  5. Hauraki Māori– 14,313 (in 2013) – group ofiwiandhapūat or around theHauraki Gulf

Other notable iwi

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Iwi radio

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Main article:Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori

Manyiwioperate or are affiliated with media organisations. Most of these belong toTe Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori(the National Māori Radio Network), a group of radio stations which receive contestable Government funding fromTe Māngai Pāho(the Māori Broadcast Funding Agency) to operate on behalf ofiwiandhapū.Under their funding agreement, the stations must produce programmes in the local Māori language and actively promote local Māori culture.[17]

A two-yearMassey Universitysurvey of 30,000 people published in 2003 indicated 50 per cent of Māori in National Māori Radio Network broadcast areas listened to aniwistation.[18]AnAuckland University of Technologystudy in 2009 suggested the audience ofiwiradio stations would increase as the growing New Zealand Māori population tried to keep a connection to their culture, family history, spirituality, community, language andiwi.[19]

TheVictoria University of WellingtonTe Reo Māori Society campaigned for Māori radio, helping to set up Te Reo o Poneke, the first Māori-owned radio operation, using airtime on Wellingtonstudent-radiostationRadio Activein 1983.[20]Twenty-oneiwiradio stations were set up between 1989 and 1994, receiving Government funding in accordance with a Treaty of Waitangi claim.[21]This group of radio stations formed various networks, becomingTe Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori.[22]

Notes

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  1. ^Ballara 1998,Back cover.
  2. ^See also: Durie, A. (1999). Emancipatory Māori education: Speaking from the heart. In S. May (Ed.),Indigenous community education(pp. 67–78). Philadelphia, PA: Multilingual Matters.
    - See also: Healey, S. M. (2006).The nature of the relationship of the Crown in New Zealand with iwi Māori.Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
    - See also: Sharp, A. (1999). What if value and rights lie foundationally in groups? The Maori case.Critical Review of International, Social and Political Philosophy,2(2), 1–28.
  3. ^Taylor, R. (1848).A leaf from the natural history of New Zealand, or, A vocabulary of its different productions, &c., &c., with their native names.
    -White, J.(1887).The ancient history of the Maori, his mythology and traditions.
    - Smith, S. P. (1910).Maori wars of the nineteenth century; the struggle of the northern against the southern Maori tribes prior to the colonisation of New Zealand in 1840.
    - Best, E. (1934).The Maori as he was: A brief account of Maori life as it was in pre-European days.
    - Buck, P. (1949).The coming of the Maori.
  4. ^Ballara 1998,p. 17.
  5. ^Ballara 1998,p. 164.
  6. ^"Glossary of Māori terms".Te Kete Ipurangi – New Zealand Government.Retrieved5 April2020.
  7. ^"2019 Annual Report".Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.21 November 2019.Retrieved1 July2022.
  8. ^"Iwi: glossary definition".National Library of New Zealand.Retrieved9 September2012.
  9. ^Blust, Robert;Trussel, Stephen (2010)."*suRi₁: thorn, splinter, fish bone".Austronesian Comparative Dictionary.Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.Retrieved30 September2022.
  10. ^"Waitangi Tribunal – About the Reports".Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2007.Retrieved4 June2006.
  11. ^ "The Rules of the Maori Party".The Māori Party.Retrieved7 September2008.The Maori Party is born of the dreams and aspirations of tangata whenua to achieve self-determination for whānau, hapū and iwi within their own land; to speak with a strong, independent and united voice; and to live according to kaupapa handed down by our ancestors. The vision for the Maori Party will be based on these aspirations [...]
  12. ^ Tahana, Yvonne (9 August 2008)."Tuhoe leader backs self rule".The New Zealand Herald.Auckland:APN.Retrieved7 September2008.Calls from Maori activist Tame Iti for self-government arrangements for the Tuhoe tribe similar to those Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have in the UK have been backed by a leader likely to negotiate the tribe's Treaty settlement.... While other iwi have focused on economic transfer of assets as a way of achieving tino rangatiratanga or self-determination, Tuhoe have spelled out their intention to negotiate constitutional issues.
  13. ^"Thompson – vs – Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission".Archived fromthe originalon 25 February 2012.Retrieved11 June2010.
  14. ^abTable 30,QuickStats About Māori,2006 Census. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand.
  15. ^"Iwi Helpline"(PDF).teohu.maori.nz.Te Ohu. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 October 2011.Retrieved13 September2016.
  16. ^abc"Demographics".Te Whata.Retrieved1 February2023.
  17. ^"Iwi Radio Coverage"(PDF).maorimedia.co.nz.Māori Media Network. 2007.Retrieved14 June2015.
  18. ^"The hidden success of Māori radio".Massey University.1 August 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 22 August 2018.Retrieved20 September2015.
  19. ^Robie, David (1 May 2009)."Diversity reportage in Aotearoa: demographics and the rise of the ethnic media"(PDF).Pacific Journalism Review.15(1). Auckland: 67–91.doi:10.24135/pjr.v15i1.965.hdl:10292/2313.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 25 September 2015.Retrieved20 September2015.
  20. ^Walker, Piripi (22 October 2014)."First iwi radio station".Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.Ministry for Culture and Heritage.Retrieved20 September2015.
  21. ^Smith, Cherryl Waerea-I-Te Rangi Smith (1994).Kimihia Te Maramatanga: Colonisation and Iwi Development(PDF).Auckland:University of Auckland.pp. 119–141. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 22 December 2015.Retrieved20 September2015.
  22. ^"Maori Radio Upgrade Project".avc-group.eu.AVC Group.Retrieved19 September2015.

References

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  • Ballara, Angela(1998).Iwi: The dynamics of Māori tribal organisation from c.1769 to c.1945.Wellington: Victoria University Press.
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