World Systems @ KSU

    Maori Legend – the creation of New ZealandA long time after the creation of the world – after Tane mahuta had created a woman out of red earth, breathed life into her nostrils, mated with her and had a daughter, who also became his wife and bore him other daughters, and after many other things had happened – the demigod Maui, who lived in Hawaiki, went out fishing with his brothers. They went further and further out to sea. When they were a long way out, Maui took out his magic fish-hook (the jaw of his sorcerer grandmother), tied it to a strong rope, then dropped it over the side of the canoe. Soon he caught an immense fish and, struggling mightily, pulled it up. This fish became the North Island of NZ, called by the ancient Maori Te ika a Maui (the fish of Maui) or sometimes Te ikaroa a Maui (the big fish of Maui). The Mahia Peninsula, at the north end of Hawke Bay on the east coast of the North Island, was known as Te matau a Maui (the fish-hook of Maui), since it was the hook with which he caught the giant fish. The South Island was known as Te waka a Maui, or the canoe of Maui, in which he was sitting when he caught the fish. Kaikoura Peninsula, on the north-east coast of the South Island, was the seat of the canoe. Another name for the South Island was Te wai Pounamu (the water greenstone), since much greenstone (jade, or pounamu) was found in the rivers there. Stewart Island, south of the South Island, was known as Te punga a Maui (the anchor of Maui). It was the anchor that held the canoe as Maui hauled in the giant fish.      

Although Māori culture was a totally stone-age culture until the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of metal, it was highly evolved. The various working materials used before the Māori had access to metal were mainly bird bones, whale bones, ivory teeth, both dog and human bones, and also stone, from the large stone resources which had been discovered further inland within New Zealand.

› Māori : The name "Māori" originally meant "the local people", or "the original people". Māori was a word which signified "local" or "original" - as opposed to the new arrivals - white European settlers - the "pakeha". With the arrival of European settlers, the word Māori gradually became an adjective for the "Māori people". This change took place before 1815.

not been shown to be related to any languages outside Australia. In the late 18th century, there were anywhere between 350 and 750 distinct groupings and a similar number of languages and dialects

At the time of first European contact, it is estimated that a minimum of 315,000 and as many as 1 million people lived in Australia. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the land could have sustained a population of 750,000[11].

the regions of heaviest Indigenous population were the same temperate coastal regions that are currently the most heavily populated

a sad comment off the state of our world

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makes possible analytically sound comparisons between different parts of the world.

feudalism

switch from feudal obligations to money rents