The introduction of the potato also is a big contributing factor to the musket wars. As they didnt have the same ritual needs as kūmara and could be grown by slaves. Potatoes also produced more food per hectare creating a food surplus which allowed iwi to purchase more muskets and campaign longer
Your right it's not taught in schools..but no Maori do not contend they led a peaceful life pre 1840..if you study the history of any iwi..it is full of conflicts with others..we know it as fact
I love these history at the OK Corral. Please do more of the Maori. Thank you 💛 for this history. They were a proud band. And I'd like to learn more about them.
Awesome work, can I please request you do a video on pokais nephew Hongi Hika, this ngapuhì cheif ravaged several tribes through out new zealand on a major revenge campaign, new zealands version of Alexander the great, and the Nga Puhi and related Tribes where his Comanche. I am a descendant of a nga puhi chief and preist who fought alongside hongi. This battle is only the forward to the book of the musket wars. Thank you so much for showing our history to the world!!! I recommend to research the Rotorua campaign. Ruthless planning and strategy, the enemy had an island stronghold on a lake and tbe ngapuhi transported their war canoes across forests and swamp. So insane. Cheers!
it happened in all ethnic groups even european nothing was perfect still isn’t the likes of european had 200yrs of rule only in the last decade that theirs been some minor achievements for maori by the previous govt after 200yrs work that out 200yrs reaping off maori lands the owners got fk all how does that work
Big TY for another great piece. I forget how versatile the Maori warriors were. They did it all; naval /amphibious , overland, and I've heard they did some early trench warfare as well. A proud people There histories are worth remembering-TY.
The Maori are on all top ten greatest warrior cultures lists alongside the Spartan and Samurai for a reason. The haka was no idle threat. Surprisingly for a people of such craftsmanship, they had no range weapons. No bow and arrow. Not even throwing spears (slings only). All fighting was strictly hand to hand combat with slashing and bludgeoning weapons. No shields. Brutal as fk. All warriors were trained in war and a weapons based martial art called mau rakau from childhood, where they learned military drills and formations. When the firearm arrived, this warlike people took to it like a duck to water. The Maori fought a brutal 30 year war with the British in the mid 1800s. The colonialists had much administration for the military nous of the Maori. They knew how to fight using asymmetrical warfare tactics. And they knew their land. The introduction of gunpowder sparked old intertribal conflicts, exploding into the Musket Wars between warring tribes that killed 40 thousand Maori. When the New Zealand Wars against the British Empire broke out, the Maori were already battle hardened and battle tested. Masters at ambush, guerilla, seige, psychological, and close quarters warfare, they proved formidable opponents. Just as they did a century later against the Nazi who referred to them as "The Scalphunters" for their propensity to fix bayonets and charge, finishing their enemy off with knives, tomahawks, and even traditional weapons. See Maori Battalion on The Front channel. Always heavily outnumbered and outgunned, the Maori used knowledge of the terrain, ingenuity, and trench warfare to neutralise the firepower discrepancies. This was 50 years before the famous trenches of WWI. Sophisticated multi levelled zig zag trenches with hidden firing pits, tunnels, and bomb proof bunkers. They had flax covering their firing pits that the musket balls would just bounce off. With shotguns traded for from american sealers and traditional bludgeoning and slashing weapons in their arsenal. Once the Maori could fool the enemy into close quarters combat.. It was over.
@@JaemanEdwards TY sir. I live on Van Isle, once a very contested land among the first nations here, still in recent memory by many tribes, are the Haida....maybe the Maori of the NW Pacific....kinda. Some historians say they(Haida ) burned 5 trade ships, among "other ' incidents. I am NOT counting the "Tonquin" incident, which was deserved, if you insult clan elders . I salute, and respect the Maori . I salute an respect ALL my local people, inc. the Tlinget, Nootka, Kwa, Kwa, kwala , tshshim , Ko'mok's , and mourn the loss of the Puntlatch, who died of before white contact, :there was only 2 members alive when whitey showed up, they were like 70 back then. My godmother was Gloria Dann of the Hesquith ? tribe, since it was Wakeman sound where Grizzly bears are rampant....as well as Haida raiders, in THEIR history. . I have NO desire to insult any tribe, but locals did NOT love Haida naval/amphibious assalt teams, killing, and taking slaves as they saw fit, but about the Haida, like the Maori , were a nation in themselves, and the way they called the shots.....a nation before whitey, based on the clan system.....like my Scottish ancestors. The Haida way of naval/amphibiuos assalt was usually with cedar slab armor stopping most arrows, since defenders usually fired from cover. Haida assalt teams usually fought with "mele' weapons also, many weapons are similar to the Maori, but even MORE craftsmanship, but that's between tribal elders to decide...I respect. The butchering raiders were often a bit lame from a 28 hour canoe journey, so defending tribes took advantage were possible, but ran for there lives with equal measure, according to clan histories. So much food , an shelter along the coast, you had time for art, and war, if you wish. I dunno? It was similar here, but we're not the same. The Haida were the empire, before those trader guys showed up, using similar tactics, and made their own British Empire...It was built on the naval/amphibious. Same as the Haida, or similar to the Maori.. Respect with a big R-TY
Maori bouncers in Australia are also always spoiling for a fight too. Big lads. The Maori and Zulu against the British are some the most fascinating of wars ever.
I remember seeing that mini series on tv about that bikie shootout in the 80s between the Comancheros and Bandidos in Australia. Jock, the Comancheros founder and leader and a few other members tried to enter a pub but were told they couldn't enter by the maori bouncers. Jock spat at one of them, and they laughed and walked off. Jock stopped to take a leak alone somewhere and got smashed by the maori boy. Jock wanted retribution, but his boys weren't having it saying "They're built like brick shit houses"
Yeah every savage on Earth were wanting to fight, at least until they were introduced to Hiram Percy Maxim's civilization acceleration device. Not so much on looking for it that fight after a few charges at that glorious steel angel.
Pacific Islanders are some of the toughest but also some of the nicest people you will ever meet. They are great to have on your side but terrifying to be against you. For me some of the toughest peoples in the world are Pacific Islanders and the people from the Caucus and central Asia. These are some of the toughest meanest guys anyone can ever face. Historically, nomadic peoples have always been the toughest peoples in history. Once people become sedentary, settle down and build towns and cities they become soft and weaker. If a people have a nomadic lifestyle in order for them to survive you need to be the toughest and meanest people out there otherwise they will be driven into extinction.
Germans in the North Africa campaign in WW2 were terrified of New Zealand Maori troops. When they jumped in your trench, they weren't there to take donations, for the Salvation Army. Lol
@@jakemocci3953that is because it was propaganda. Germans in WWII were not like today's pink LGBTQ hugging Germans. They were freaking tough as hell and the Wermartch gave them a bunch of hallucinogenic drugs like Meth that made them go insane in combat. When they were told to hold a position or advance it was hell or high water. Most of them were on super high all sorts of crazy drugs like Meth and others to make them fight longer, go without sleep and make them more aggressive. The Kiwis couldn't even cope with the Japanese in WWII or the Turks in WWI during the Gallipoli campaign, I very much doubt they would have been able to take on a bunch of German soldiers high on all kinds of hallucinogenic drugs.
Well researched and thanks for putting the spotlight on some NZ history - good effort at Te Reo pronunciation too - just a note it's Ngati Whatua (Far-Too-Aa) the Wh is pronounced as an F. More please . Arohanui from Aotearoa New Zealand!
Very interesting! Who wants to know more about the Maori and their warfare should watch the movie "The Dead Lands", highly recommended, even if you only want to see a good action film!
@@theflamingone8729 It's in its third season playing on Maori TV. Amazing. I'd love to see something like this with more extras and a bigger budget. On HBO or something. Or an Apocalypto hollywood type movie. Yes Utu is a classic and River Queen was criminally underrated. As good as Last of the Mohicans
@@JaemanEdwards N.Z. media has always been top class. Not in spite of low budget but because of it. They've needed to depend on good story lines, strong characters and talented production teams. Having said that, I'm not saying a bigger budget would spoil them, that guy who made Meet The Feebles for exame 😉😅
@@theflamingone8729 Yeah we want historically accurate storytelling and no creative license. And no cgi. I'm talking budget to have hundreds of warriors and full on pa, village, trenches etc. The pyrotechnics and explosive experts. Historically accurate uniforms weapons, ships towns etc. Explicit fight scenes. Special effect make up so the warriors moko looks legitimately carved into the skin. Just details like that you can nail with a big budget.
Man, you should check out Te Rauparaha. He was shown at 1:14. He was the Napoleon of the Pacific (shortness included). He was a famously effective innovator in strategy, tactics, and *especially* logistics. He used broke many of the rules of the day, wrote the most famous haka ever, turned complex intertribal politics to his advantage, impersonated other armies, and his relatively small tribe established an Athens-style hegemony across the centre of the country. He even used a Trojan Horse style attack. He was arguably the most influential (powerful?) person in the country for at least a decade. Also, he was under 5ft tall and had six toes on one foot. He's a very famous leader here in NZ
I find it strange that the maori are seen as ''indigenous'' to the land, yet they only reached the landmass about 200 years before Columbus reached the Americas. Colombus and his crew aren't seen and indigenous. Heck, if we count the vikings attempted settling of Newfoundland, the Maori are late by 500 years.
Thats a mainstream history of moari, my lineage in my Maori blood goes back two thousand years, there's alot of migrations over that time of groups of different people's resulting in the people's we call Maori... 🤙
How about the case of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)? The whites arrived in 1890, and were despised by the liberal West as "colonisers" and eventually forced out. Yet the amaNdebele, under Mzilikazi, only arrived in the country in the 1830s, after being displaced from the Transvaal by the Boers. So, they arrived and conquered only some 60 or so years before the whites .... yet they are considered 'different to the whites and to have some claim to natural rights to conquer and settle. But the liberal West abhors racism, right?
@@taliaware1110I'm a Pom or as I was known in Aotearoa the Pom I ended up over there after meeting a women that was working in my village moving over there and nearly marrying into a largely Maori family I got a job as a possum hunter and spent a year in the bush with the bro's. I had to stand my ground on the whole white flea thing but once that was settled we where all good but we had many conversations about how you guys had a whole cult around killing and eating each other. For historical context season 1 Bro town had just hit TV me and the Mrs lived next door to an older patriarch of the mob who was lovely. I'm not a big bloke I'm a standard old fashioned Yorkshire man short stout can't go backwards and for some reason I just fit right in and was probably a bit of a novelty with my fancy words .I nearly died twice at work that year spent most of it sleeping in huts sheds or under trees either trying not to freeze or get eaten to death by bugs Those where some of the best people I ever met in the most beautiful place iv ever seen and the best year of my life.
Sorry kids, but poor pronunciation of the place names and participants, had to think hard as to where and who he was talking about. This historical encounter between the two tribes has been well-documented and a reasonable account of what happened can be concluded of the event. It is also said that the Ngati Whatua chief made the biggest mistake in showing mercy upon the Naghpui when drawing the line in the sand and not pursuing the Naghpui and finishing them off, this mistake allowed the Naghpui to recover and then wreak havoc on many of the southern tribes, killing and enslaving many thousands in the process.
@@onepup-pr3yl Speaking as someone who's first language is te reo I think his pronunciation is very good. Especially for a foreigner! This video was a solid effort someone who is not Māori let alone not from Aotearoa. I hope to see more videos on Māori history. Whakarongomai e hoa! Awhea to ure kāriri? Awhea to ure toroa? Āna urenui kaiao āke ake ake!
Maori where a Heck of a warrior and i think they are today.As ex Bareknuckle pro i never fought a Maori. But Knowing their Warrior Pedigree and their fighting Spirit i Maybe Lucky never to fought one.
Yes they are. Jay Jay "The Maori Kid" Wilson is a rising star in Bellator MMA and Kai "Don't Blink" Kara France and Robert "Bobby Knuckles" Whittaker are both Maori who are top 5 fighters in their divisions in the UFC. And a Maori woman is a women's boxing world champion. Oh and 8 players in the All Blacks are Maori. The All Blacks are the national rugby team of New Zealand named for their all black uniform which is the national colour of NZ. They are the greatest rugby team in history. So yes, Maori are still warriors.
@@JaemanEdwards i am old now. Would have Love one of your People to fight bareknuckle without Rules. Would have been a hefti fight. A German Bareknuckle champ against a Maori Warrior. Who would win? Maybe Not me. I am to old now for pro fighting.
@@tabletsam5624 Respect. Maori fought the Germans in WW2. The Germans referred to them as "The Scalphunters". See The Front, a military RU-vid channel. And you really should take a look at short film Haka. It's a short film with a fictitious retelling of the Christmas day truce and subsequent game of football in WWI. This story makes the game between German and Maori forces, with Maori wanting to play rugby. When told the Germans had no idea about the sport, the Maori agree to play football, on the condition that they can do a haka before kick off, as is their custom. It's an amazing short film, even though it's a fictional story. You might like it.
the eating of your body after the battle is so that you will turn into a 'turd'. That is great loss of mana, or a huge dishonor. Your reputation is lost after your death in this manner. This affects the family and tribe of the eaten person. Being the tribe or family of a turd was not an upwardly mobile thing back in those days.
Aw shoot this was the same issue we had with Whangaroa Bay. We promise we're trying! It's important to us to pronounce everything correctly, even if we fall short occassionally!
Ngapuhi and ngawhatua can trace their rivalry back to shared waka in the original (somewhat mythological) migration legends and trace their tribal origins to two bros.... As well as being next door neighbours. The concept of "utu" - payment, or perhaps more akin to revenge is a big factor too. This can begin with an insult and step by step end up in genocide and banquet.
One would argue the introduction of the potato was the biggest factor as kumara and other maori veggies were labour intensive and gave relatively small yields. The extra food allowed population growth and means of longer expeditions
Wrong the Maori were great agriculturalists and sweet potatoes, known as Kumara, is an easily grown and stored protein source that formed a staple of the Maori diet along with fish and shellfish. Maori only grew potatoes after they were introduced by the European settlers to New Zealand. Only after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Crown and the paramount chiefs in 1840 and inter-tribal conflict ceased did the Maori population stabilize and then grow.@@rahowherox1177
Fantastic story. Love the adventures across the sea. There is a Maori metal band called Alien weaponry called kai Tangata and its all in the Maori language, fantastic song and video. Great warrior people
We're very proud of those boys. Talented and conscious. The song "Ru Ana te whenua" is about a brutal battle around the time of the events in this video between their tribe and another that their direct ancestors fought in.
But you've heard those Native American stories before. Why not explore another indigenous culture that was also fighting a war against a colonial power in the 1800s ?
@@jaggerangel5564 No you must not know. Ive watched hours of history on the Native American. Not so much the Maori who are just as interesting. Your ignorance is astonishing.
@JaemanEdwards anything you see on youtube comes from literature first, history wise. There's literally no way someone could ever run out of stories for content. That was the initial point. But sure we can shift focus for your fragile ego 🤣 "... watched hours of history on the native American..." you talk about them in a derogatory way even. They are indigenous tribes with their own names... Another thing I am part eastern band cherokee. Respect to the Maori and others... respect is something however I feel is lacking in this comment chain. You want one thing, I want another. We don't have to care about eachother lmfao 👍
it happened in all ethnic groups even european wasn’t perfect still isn’t the likes of european had 200yrs of rule only in the last decade that theirs been some minor achievements for maori by the previous govt after 200yrs work that out 200yrs reaping off maori lands the owners got fk all how does that work
@@historyattheokcorral Are you saying it's ok to use photos of people who resemble the person being talked about, or are you saying you only use verified photographs of them?
there were very skilled European artists who came to NZ in the earliest days, and did portraits of many people, including chiefs. I have no way of knowing, but some of those images could be photo's of early painted portraits, which would make them as authentic as you could get in those days. Some of the early portraits were breathtaking in their detail.
@@colonelfustercluck486 Granted , but you might be mainly referring to the spectacular works of CF Goldie, who painted well inside the age of photography
@@JaemanEdwards Most pre European Māori warfare consisted of spears and shields. That makes sense because our cousins in the rest of Polynesia use shields. Māori warriors would attack in formation using spears and shields. Only high ranking Māori had weapons like taiaha, tewhatewha, etc.
@@brycepardoe658 Matua Google tells me that Maori merely used a mat wrapped around their free arm as a shield when using patu or mere. Hardly a shield. More armour.
When Moriori and later Maori arrived on those islands there were birds like ostriches they called moa, which means chicken. There were different types, some the size of turkeys, some 3m tall, all flightless. There were many other species of birds, many flightless, and amphibians. However , over predation by Moriori and Maori, and the activity of rats introduced by Maori caused the greatest mass extinction in history. There was no evidence of war when there was evidence of many moa, for example unopened earth ovens containing only the legs of moa. As the evidence of moa declined, the evidence for warfare and fortifications increased. Eventually, no moa, much fortifications and cannibalism, and the disappearance of the Moriori. That could be where the animosity between Ngati Whãtua and Nga Puhi began.
Mori Ori arrived with the great Maori migration. Through isolation they attained a distinct unique culture. But they are Maori. Similar to the Tonkawa who also had a unique culture but were essentially just another native american tribe.
In 1835 the Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama tribes fled the conflict of the Maori land wars on board an English Merchant vessel. After arriving on the Chathams , they then proceeded to attack the indigenous Moriori population , killing many and pretty much enslaving the rest. The Moriori later appealed to the NZ government about their plight but were largely ignored. While their decendants survive to this day, the last full blooded Moriori passed away in 1933.
and get your pronunciation sorted it, its painful. its nah-tee fah-toe-ah (toe was in tour but without an aahr) and nah-poo-he, you dont draw out the oar enough. if you cant get basics dont speak. -ngati manu ariki.
Could be because the truth is out there if you want to find it or you can accept any fairy tale that someone wants to throw out there as facts!@@brycepardoe658
I forgot i started the video a lil late and sent a super thanks but the video was over lol oh well im not there type to bitch if my super chat don't get any interaction. And it was only 2 bucks i was really just trying to get other people to super chat but maybe Tuesday I'll try again
@@historyattheokcorral to tell the truth I don't remember it wasn't anything important I was just saying thanks. I also was trying something out since I like the work you do I was trying to get other people motivated to donate to. Lol I watch too much RU-vid. But thanks though I'll see y'all Tuesday😉
The Maori are on all top ten greatest warrior cultures lists alongside the Spartan and Samurai for a reason. The haka was no idle threat. Living on an isolated island, Maori had no range weapons. No bow and arrow. Not even throwing spears (slings only). So all fighting was hand to hand with predominantly bludgeoning and slashing weapons made of greenstone, hardwood, volcanic rock and whalebone. No shields. No armour. Up close and personal. Brutal as fk. All warriors were trained from childhood in the art of warfare and the weapon based maori martial art, mau rakau, where they learned military drills and formation. They were extremely athletic and disciplined warriors. Intertribal warfare was just a part of life. When the firearm arrived, this warlike culture took to it like a duck to water. The Maori fought a brutal 30 year war with the British in the mid 1800s. The colonialists had much admiration for the military nous of the Maori. They knew how to fight using asymmetrical warfare tactics. And they understood their land. The introduction of gunpowder sparked old Intertribal conflicts igniting into the Musket Wars between warring tribes that killed 40 thousand Maori. When the New Zealand Wars against the British Empire broke out, the Maori were already battle hardened and battle tested. Masters at ambush, guerilla, seige, psychological, and close quarters warfare, they proved formidable opponents. Just as they did a century later against the Nazi who referred to them as "The Scalphunters" for their propensity to fix bayonets and trench raid, finishing the enemy off with knives, tomahawks, and even traditional weapons. See Maori Battalion. Always heavily outnumbered and outgunned, Maori used knowledge of the terrain, ingenuity, and trench warfare to neutralise the firepower discreprancies. This was 50 years before the famous trenches of WWI. Sophisticated multi levelled zig zag trenches with hidden firing pits, tunnels, and bomb proof bunkers. They had flax covering their firing pits that the musket balls would just bounce off. With shotguns traded for from american sealers and traditional bludgeoning and slashing weapons in their arsenal. Once the Maori could fool the enemy into close quarters combat.. It was over.
They have a weapon called a Tewhatewha, it looks, and is used like a rifle held upside down. It's reserved for use by war chiefs as it also serves as a signalling device. Maybe that is why they hold them that way in photos.