Everything about Iwi totally explained
In
New Zealand society,
iwi form the largest everyday social units in
Māori populations. The word
iwi means "people" or "folk"; in many contexts it might translate as "
tribe" or as "
clan", with the distinction that it may sometimes refer to a larger grouping of tribes.
Anthropological research however, tends to indicate that most Māori in pre-European times gave their primary allegiance to relatively small groups such as
whānau (extended families) or
hapū (sub-tribes).
Bones or roots
In the
Māori language,
iwi also means "
bones". The Māori author,
Keri Hulme, named her best known (1985
Booker Prize) novel
The Bone People, a title linked directly to the dual meaning of bone and "tribal people". Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones" — literally to the burial-areas of the
ancestors. Many societies might use the analogous concept of "roots".
Hierarchies of structures
Iwi groups trace their ancestry to the original Māori
settlers who, according to
tradition, arrived from
Hawaiki. In turn, one can conceptualise some
iwi as clustering into even larger groupings based on
genealogical tradition, known as
waka (literally: "
canoes", with reference to the original migration voyages), but these super-groupings generally serve symbolic rather than practical functions. Each
iwi sub-divides into a number of
hapū ("sub-tribes"). For example, the
Ngāti Whātua iwi consists of four hapū: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te Taou, and Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei.
Perceived problems with identification
In modern-day New Zealand, iwi groups may exercise significant political power in the recovery and management of land and of other assets. (Note for example the 1997
settlement between the New Zealand Government and
Ngāi Tahu, compensating that iwi for various losses of the rights guaranteed under the
Treaty of Waitangi of 1840.) Iwi affairs can have a very real impact on
New Zealand politics and
society. A
current claim by some iwi that they
own the seabed and foreshore in their areas has polarised
public opinion (see
New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy).
However, increasing urbanisation of Māori has led to a situation where a significant percentage don't identify with an iwi. The following extract from a recent
High Court of New Zealand judgment (discussing the process of settling fishing-rights) illustrates some of the issues:
» "... 81 percent of Māori now live in urban areas, at least one-third live outside their tribal influence, more than one-quarter don't know their iwi or for some reason don't choose to affiliate with it, at least 70 percent live outside the traditional tribal territory and these will have difficulties, which in many cases will be severe, in both relating to their tribal heritage and in accessing benefits from the settlement. It is also said that many Māori reject tribal affiliation because of a working class unemployed attitude, defiance and frustration. Related but less important factors, are that a hapu may belong to more than one iwi, a particular hapu may have belonged to different iwi at different times, the tension caused by the social and economic power moving from the iwi down rather than from the hapu up, and the fact that many iwi don't recognise spouses and adoptees who don't have kinship links."
In the
2001 census
, 32.6 percent of the 604,110 people who claimed Māori ancestry didn't state their
iwi, or only stated a general geographical region or merely gave a canoe-name. It seems that the number who "don’t know" has remained relatively constant over the last three censuses, despite measures such as the "
Iwi Helpline".
Challenge from urban Māori
In
recent years, "urban Māori" have challenged the established tribal (
iwi-based) power-base. Urban Māori form groups of people that, while unashamedly Māori, either choose not to identify with any particular
iwi, or are unable to (possibly because they don't know their ancestral
iwi). Individual Māori persons or groups may decide to support non-tribal structures because (for example) they believe the existing
iwi don't give significant value to them, or that they believe that
iwi can't understand their point-of-view.
Urban Māori, typically urban bred, may identify with European culture to a much larger degree than rural Māori, and often feel that a non-
iwi group best represents their needs. It remains unclear how the traditional
iwi groups will respond to this phenomenon. (As yet, some appear dismissive of these notions.) Notably, one such group established itself in the belief that urban Māori don't get their fair share of "
Treaty settlements" between the Māori people and the New Zealand government.
Well-known iwi groups
Prominent
iwi include:
Note that each
iwi has a generally recognised territory (
rohe), but many of these overlap, sometimes completely.
This has added a layer of complication to the long-running discussions and court cases about how to resolve historical
Treaty-claims. The length of coastline emerged as one factor in the final (2004) legislation to allocate fishing-rights in settlement of commercial fisheries claims.
See also
List of Māori iwi
External links
Further Information
Get more info on 'Iwi'.
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