Moriori

Moriori

Moriori family, c. 1910
Total population
approx. 1,000 (2018 census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Chatham Islands	36 (2013 census)[2]
North Island	354 (2013 census)[2]
South Island	348 (2013 census)[2]
Languages
English, Māori, formerly Moriori
Religion
Christianity including Rātana[2]
Related ethnic groups
Māori people, other Polynesian peoples, Austronesian peoples

Landing of the Chatham

Kōpinga Marae

Māori landing from the Rodney

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Map of the Chatham Islands. Chatham Island is the largest, Pitt Island is the second largest, and South East Island is the small island to the right of Pitt.

The Moriori are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (Rēkohu in Moriori; Wharekauri in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE.^[3] This was near the time of the shift from Archaic to Classic Māori culture on the main islands of New Zealand.^[4][5] Oral tradition records multiple waves of migration to the Chatham Islands, starting in the 16th century.^[6][7] Over several centuries these settlers' culture diverged from mainland Māori, developing a distinctive language (which started as a dialect but gradually became only partially mutually intelligible with Māori), mythology, artistic expression and way of life.^[8] Currently there are around 700 people who identify as Moriori, most of whom no longer live on the Chatham Islands.^[9] During the late 19th century some prominent anthropologists mistakenly proposed that Moriori were pre-Māori settlers of mainland New Zealand, and possibly Melanesian in origin.^[10][11] In the 20th century, these pseudohistorical claims were later pushed aggressively by a handful of influential Pākehā historians to deny Māori indigeneity,^[12] and are today commonly regarded as negationism.^[13][14]

Early Moriori formed tribal groups based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Later, a prominent pacifist culture emerged; this was known as the law of nunuku, based on the teachings of the 16th century Moriori leader Nunuku-whenua.^[15] This culture made it easier for Taranaki Māori invaders to nearly exterminate them in the 1830s during the Musket Wars. This was the Moriori genocide, in which the Moriori were either murdered or enslaved by members of the Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama iwi,^[16] killing or displacing nearly 95% of the Moriori population.

The Moriori, however, were not extinct, and gained aroha and recognition as New Zealand's second indigenous people during the next century. Their culture and language underwent a revival, and Moriori names for their islands were prioritised. In February 2020, the New Zealand government signed a treaty with tribal leaders, giving them rights enshrined in law and the Moriori people at large an apology, returning stolen remains of those killed in the genocide, and gifting NZD$18 million in reparations.^[17][18] On 23 November 2021, the New Zealand government enshrined in law the treaty between Moriori and the Crown.^[19] The law is called the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill. It includes an agreed summary history that begins with the words "Moriori karāpuna (ancestors) were the waina-pono (original inhabitants) of Rēkohu, Rangihaute, Hokorereoro (South East Island), and other nearby islands (making up the Chatham Islands). They arrived sometime between 1000 and 1400 CE."^[20]