Māori religion

Māori religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and practices of the Māori, the Polynesian indigenous people of New Zealand. Māori mythology Traditional Māori religion, that is, the pre-European belief-system of the Māori, differed little from that of their tropical Eastern Polynesian homeland (Hawaiki Nui), conceiving of everything – including natural elements and all living things – as connected by common descent through whakapapa or genealogy. Accordingly, Māori regarded all things as possessing a life force or mauri. Illustrating this concept of connectedness through genealogy are the major personifications dating from before the period of European contact: Tangaroa was the personification of the ocean and the ancestor or origin of all fish. Tāne was the personification of the forest and the origin of all birds. Rongo was the personification of peaceful activities and agriculture and the ancestor of cultivated plants. (Some sources reference a supreme personification: Io; however this idea remains controversial.) Māori followed certain practices that relate to traditional concepts like tapu. Certain people and objects contain mana – spiritual power or essence. In earlier times, tribal members of a higher rank would not touch objects which belonged to members of a lower rank – to do so would constitute "pollution"; and persons of a lower rank could not touch the belongings of a highborn person without putting themselves at risk of death. The word tapu can be interpreted as "sacred", as "spiritual restriction" or as "implied prohibition"; it involves rules and prohibitions. Two kinds of tapu operate: private tapu (relating to individuals) and public tapu (relating to communities). A person, an object or a place which is tapu may not be touched by human contact, or in some cases, not even approached. A person, object or a place could be made sacred by tapu for a certain time. In Māori society prior to European contact, tapu was one of the strongest forces in Māori life.