Maori Culture

Every piece of Māori art that comes from New Zealand carries a story with it.

From ancient times, Māori culture has been passed down from generation to generation through music, carvings, art, story-telling and reciting of whakapapa genealogies.

At the heart of New Zealand’s central North Island is a vast volcanic plateau that is a region of many natural wonders.

Tapu, an ancient Māori spiritual and social code that was central to traditional society, is about sanctity and respect for people, natural resources and the environment.

Some key moments in Aotearoa - New Zealand's Maori history from Polynesian migrations and British colonisation to the modern renaissance of Maori language.

Rongoa is the Māori term for medicines that are produced from native plants in New Zealand.

Since man first stepped ashore on the islands of New Zealand, the sea and sailing have played a vital role in the lives of New Zealanders.

A conservator specialising in Māori and Pacific objects has turned an expert hand to restoring one of New Zealand’s oldest surviving Māori waka (canoe).

Generations of Kiwis, past and present, have grown up with dolphin tales – the stories of ‘celebrity’ dolphins who’ve achieved local and sometimes international fame through their exploits in New Zealand’s coastal waters.

The pōwhiri or pōhiri, a central part of Māori protocol, is a ceremony of welcome involving speeches, dancing, singing and hongi.