Maori Culture

Half a world away from each other, New Zealand and France have more than rugby in common.

Some key moments in Aotearoa - New Zealand's Maori history from the Polynesian migrations to early British colonisation to settlement of historic claims and recent revival of the Maori language.

Runga is a Malaysian-Maori pop artist, who has successfully fused European pop rhythms with Polynesian influences.

The sea, the vessel, the voyage, the arrival. New Zealand was born on the waves, from two long migrations.

Everybody who has visited Rotorua, New Zealand and gasped in awe of its calderas, crater lakes, trout, native bush walks, geothermal mud pools and geysers, skied or snowboarded, owes it to the presence of volcanoes.

Captain James Cook arrived on the Endeavour off the East Coast of New Zealand in October 1769, where Nicholas Young was the first on board to sight the coastal hills. Local folklore tells that the Mâori of the time perceived the 'Endeavour' as an enormous bird with wings of great size and beauty.

Waitangi Day is a public holiday held on 6 February every year to commemorate the signing of New Zealand's founding document - the Treaty of Waitangi - in 1840.

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).

Matahiwi Marae is one of the oldest established marae of Ngati Hawea in Hawke’s Bay. It was set up originally as a neutral meeting area for the prominent chiefs around the area.

Many New Zealand writers fuse Mâori culture and legend into works written in English.