In New Zealand, we’ve drawn a clear line when it comes to our natural world. There are two categories of animals - those that are introduced and those that are native. A dog, for example, is an introduced species. The kiwi, on the other hand, is native. That classification matters in conservation, in law, and in how we see the world around us.
Here’s a thought no one dares to say out loud - humans are animals too.
If we apply the same logic, then Māori are not native to New Zealand. They are not indigenous. They are not “of the land” in some mystical or eternal sense. They’re just another wave of human migrants who arrived here, by chance, a few centuries before Europeans. There is no hard proof that they were even the first.
We are told again and again that Māori are tangata whenua – the people of the land – and that this grants them special rights, powers, and privileges. There’s no scientific basis for this claim of indigeneity. It’s political, not biological. It’s myth-making dressed up as identity. I’ve said it before, if you were born in New Zealand, you are tangata whenua.
The reality is simple. Māori came from somewhere else. Just like the British. Just like the Dutch. Just like the Chinese, Indian, Croatian, Samoan and every other group who made their way here. There is nothing biologically or historically that makes them more “native” than anyone else. They just got here earlier - allegedly. That’s it.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve stopped using science, reason, and evidence to define “indigenous” and started using ideology, guilt, and historical revisionism instead. We’ve built entire legal, cultural and political frameworks on top of it.
It’s time we stop pretending that Māori were born from the soil of this land. They sailed here. They settled here. That makes them early immigrants – not indigenous.
It's time to stop tiptoeing around Māori mythology and pretending it’s untouchable truth. The idea that they sprang from the soil is a lie, and it’s time we called it what it is – a self-serving fantasy used to demand power, money, and control.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
We are told again and again that Māori are tangata whenua – the people of the land – and that this grants them special rights, powers, and privileges. There’s no scientific basis for this claim of indigeneity. It’s political, not biological. It’s myth-making dressed up as identity. I’ve said it before, if you were born in New Zealand, you are tangata whenua.
The reality is simple. Māori came from somewhere else. Just like the British. Just like the Dutch. Just like the Chinese, Indian, Croatian, Samoan and every other group who made their way here. There is nothing biologically or historically that makes them more “native” than anyone else. They just got here earlier - allegedly. That’s it.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve stopped using science, reason, and evidence to define “indigenous” and started using ideology, guilt, and historical revisionism instead. We’ve built entire legal, cultural and political frameworks on top of it.
It’s time we stop pretending that Māori were born from the soil of this land. They sailed here. They settled here. That makes them early immigrants – not indigenous.
It's time to stop tiptoeing around Māori mythology and pretending it’s untouchable truth. The idea that they sprang from the soil is a lie, and it’s time we called it what it is – a self-serving fantasy used to demand power, money, and control.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
13 comments:
What is galling is that history has taught us Māori sailed here in great waka, and yet if one challenges one’s right to claim to be Tangata Whenua, one is told you are no more than Tangata Tiriti-a visitor in your own country! The arrogance of the Māori elite is sickening, as is the proliferation of facial ta moko by all and sundry, thus trivialising Māori persons of importance.
All true; it's well-established biology and anthropology, and I've been saying it for years, but the media and others for whom the truth is anathema don't want to know, and are ignorant, lazy thinkers, although 'thinker' is perhaps too generous a term for that neo-marxist, deconstructionist rabble.
New Zealand had no rats pre maori arrival.
The polynesian rat or kiore was brought to New Zealand by them.
The kiore is not considered by any measure to be indigenous.
So if the rat is not considered indigenous and it arrived with humans how can those humans be considered indigenous?
Indigenous: from the Latin indigena meaning "sprung from the land". Therefore only those born here could be in any way be described as indigenous. Although, as you say Matua, we all have ancestors who have actually arrived from elsewhere. When I argued this point five years ago, the only counter argument was that the United Nations definition had changed. Maori were now "indigenous." End of story. So we can see that everything changes to suit the narrative. The Treaty of Waitangi is another case in point. A simple document making us "all one people with equal rights". Now we are a partnership, or even worse, we have two status of citizenship. How can part-Maori be indigenous when their ancestors also came from elsewhere? At best they could be very early settlers. That would negate the extra privileges requirement.
Well Ngai Tahu are certainly people of the land. They loved it so much they burnt all the trees down so they could touch it all.
So right. And what does the sacred Te Tiriti describe the existing people in 1840 as? "Tangata maori." Not tangata wenua/ whenua, because they all knew they were not the 'people of the land', or those first to live here. It's just more revisionism to assist the claim for special treatment. And what makes it all the more galling is that the vast majority of them that now identify as 'Maori' have more 'other' genealogy present. What frauds!
“If you were born in New Zealand, you are tangata whenua”.
NO. You are a New Zealander, period.
" truer words were never spoken"! Steve Ellis
Well said Matua.Yes the word indigenous should be removed from our vocab completely.
There is enough evidence to prove there was another civilization pre maori.We need strong government input to prove this.
This will never happen as we all know at least with our current government.
It`s also about time maori were classified as maori by their blood count i.e less than 50% maori blood and you are NOT maori.
Therefore no special priveliges or handouts etc.
I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here. An indigenous people is one that has been in a place long enough to have evolved a distinctive culture and language. Maori traditional culture and language are unique to them, therefore they are indigenous.
The same can be said for other peoples, of course. We Dutch are 'indigenous' by my above definition to the Netherlands and a part of Belgium.
The trouble with the "but they came from elsewhere" argument is that you end up with an infinite regression - A came from B which came from C which came from D - way back to the emergence of Homo sapiens and there is then no such thing as 'indigenous' at all.
Yes Barend, the whole concept of "indigenous" as applied to humans is too vague to be of any use. Why use it then? If a group, say Amazon Indian tribes who are living way out in the wop wops, need protection from loggers, tourists, and "development", then why not just say these people have been living in this environment for a long time, are vulnerable because of their small numbers and primitive culture, AND we (the dominant culture) put a value on protecting them. No need at all to get into a vague concept like "indigenous" (which btw already assumes the indigenous people need protection from being swallowed up by the dominant culture.
Maybe Luxon believed that myth when he was taught at school ?
Yes, that bit about where these Polynesians arrived in big waka, landed at their well recorded beaches, who the great chiefs were that guided them here , steering by the stars - and that makes them indigenous ????
Really, Luxon and every member of parliament, every public servant, every Maori, stop the bull.... - we know that you are either lying or gullible.
Maori are NOT indigenous by your own admission !!!
Anon 10:10, we are stuck with the term 'indigenous' so it would be useful if there were a standard definition of it. However, as with so many words, we see different groups applying different meanings to it. The term has come to be weighed down by various connotations, some pejorative (e.g. the assumption you mention here that 'indigenous' implies being in need of protection from the dominant culture). I wish we could dump it but it's too well entrenched in the language now.
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