Five of the best ways to connect with Māori Aotearoa

To really get to know the beautiful land of New Zealand, you need to connect with the people that have long called it home.

Māori are the tangata whenua (‘people of the land’), who travelled to these islands from Polynesia in the 1300s in large ocean-going canoes.

While Māori culture is interwoven into New Zealand’s everyday culture, there are many ways you can get a deeper sense of the people and their traditions. You’ll find your interest is very welcome, too, with manaakitanga (showing respect and a sense of hospitality) integral to New Zealanders’ nature.

Feel the force of nature

With brooding volcanoes, bubbling mud pools, steaming hot springs and powerful geysers, the volatile landscape of Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley has long enthralled visitors.

The Māori people have lived in this part of the North Island for several centuries, co-existing with and utilising the formidable forces of papatūānuku (Mother Earth). Visit Whakarewarewa, The Living Māori Village to learn about the geothermal features and the people who have lived here since 1325.

Various cultural experiences and tours are on offer, including nature walks, e-bike and village tours. Te Puia sits within the Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley and is home to the Pōhutu Geyser, the largest active geyser in the southern hemisphere. Experience this extraordinary landscape at night on a guided tour – you can listen to stories of the land under starry skies and enjoy a traditional dessert by Ngāraratuatara, a boiling hot spring used as a cooking pool. Te Puia is also home to the New Zealand Māori Art and Crafts Institute where you can see many different art forms, including incredibly intricate carvings.

For another excellent multisensory immersion into the region’s Māori culture, visit Te Pā Tū just outside Rotorua. Its new four-hour evening experience includes storytelling and seasonal kai (food), all set within an enchanting forest pā (sanctuary).

Celebrate Matariki (Māori New Year)

The mid-winter reappearance of a constellation signifies the beginning of the Māori New Year or Matariki. An abbreviation of Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimātea, meaning “the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea”, the Matariki is a large cluster of stars known elsewhere as the Pleiades. This year Matariki is being celebrated on 14 July and is a national public holiday.

Traditionally a time of reflection, Matariki sees whānau (family) and communities coming together to remember and celebrate the dead, while looking forward to the coming year. Different iwi celebrate in different ways and there are many opportunities for visitors to mark the occasion too.

Celebrate with kai (food) at one of Feast Matariki’s nationwide events or head to a Dark Sky Sanctuary to see the magic of the Matariki.  The best time to see the star cluster is just before sunrise. It’s visible low on the horizon in the northeast.

The world’s southern-most Dark Sky Sanctuary can be found in Stewart Island/Rakiura with Twinkle Dark Sky Tours running astro tours to see Matariki rise pre-dawn. With virtually no light pollution, the remote island’s inky skies are an incredible place for stargazing at any time of year – it’s also one of the best places to see the glow of the Aurora australis (Southern Lights). 

Great Barrier Island/ Aotea, 90km off Auckland, is another International Dark Sky Sanctuary where Good Heavens leads stargazing tours by guides who share ancient stories of the skies by the moonlit waves.

Admire the sacred peak Mount Taranaki

Looming over Egmont National Park on the North Island’s western coast is Mount Taranaki or Mounga Taranaki, a dormant volcano that is sacred to the Māori of the area. The venerated volcano is a mauri (life force) and a spiritual tupuna (ancestor) for the Taranaki iwi. It’s so important that it was legally recognised as a living person in 2017.

Various trails lead hikers through the park’s waterfalls, rainforests and mossy swamps, offering awe-inspiring views of the mesmerising peak. This year, the new 25km Taranaki Crossing will offer a multi-day trek around the mountain after a major project to connect and upgrade existing trails in the park is complete.

For an easy yet enchanting hike on Taranaki’s lower eastern slope, follow the Kamahi Track into its otherworldly “goblin forest”. The twisted trunks of kamahi trees are made eerier by trailing mosses and ferns.

For a more extreme hike, you can scale the 2,518m-high perfectly formed peak on the Taranaki Summit Track. Following its northern ridge, the 6.3km one-way track is only suitable for fit, experienced and well-equipped hikers and only from January to April, when the peak isn’t wearing its icy cloak. Bearing in mind the mountain’s exceptional cultural significance, climbers should not stand directly on the summit stone, nor camp, cook or litter in the summit area in any form.

Uncover Wellington’s Māori culture on waka and walking tours

New Zealand’s capital hums with Māori history and culture. Long before European settlers arrived, its large natural harbour was home to thriving Māori settlements.

For incredible views of the harbourside city, head across to Queens Wharf on the City to Sea Walk Bridge, looking out for large Māori carvings on the way. Get a sense of its indigenous history on a tour with Te Wharewaka o Pōneke, set on the site where the Te Aro Pā lived, one of Wellington’s largest Māori communities up until the 1880s. The three-hour waka (traditional canoe) and walking tour sees guides from local iwi Te Atiawa share fascinating stories of the city’s past. You’ll learn about waka traditions, including basic commands and chants, and attempt to master the ancient style of paddling before you set out on the water.

Back on dry land, a walking tour reveals more hidden history, including archaeological remains of a whareponga (house).

The vast and excellent Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa next door should be next on your hit-list. It’s packed with Māori art and artefacts, with immersive exhibitions, including one on waka voyaging and celestial navigation techniques. The Dowse Art Museum has displays of raranga (weaving) and whakairo (carving), including a stunning 19th-century pātaka whakairo (carved storehouse).

After unearthing the region’s urban treasures, head north to take a boat to Kāpiti Island. It’s rich in Māori history, too, and one of New Zealand’s oldest and most important nature reserves.

Have a hangi and visit the Northland’s sacred and historic sites

The Northland region is steeped in Māori culture, with many wāhi tapu (sacred sites). Known as the ‘birthplace’ of New Zealand, this is where Kupe the great Polynesian navigator landed on Aotearoa on his waka hourua (voyaging canoe).

Hokianga on the west coast is said to be where he landed and settled. The harbour, Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe, or ‘the place of Kupe’s great return’ is home to some of the country’s oldest settlements. Also in the Hokianga region is the country’s largest remaining kauri forest, Waipoua Forest and Tāne Mahuta, its largest kauri tree. Named after the Māori forest god, the giant tree is a highly sacred site.

Waitangi in the Bay of Islands is one of the country’s most important historic sites, where the Treaty of Waitangi or Te Tiriti o Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and local Māori chiefs. Visit the treaty grounds to see a replica of the treaty and visit the Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi.

This is the place to experience a Māori hāngī (earth oven) too. You’ll watch as beautifully tender meat and vegetables are uncovered from the oven before tucking into it along with salads, breads and a typical Māori pudding. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds’ hāngī experience, which includes a lively cultural performance too, re-opens in November 2023.

The headlands and hilltops of the Northland’s coast are scattered with the remnants of pā (fortifications). Ruapekapeka near Whangarei, scene of the last battle with British forces in the Northern War, is one of the largest.

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