New Zealand Christianity, past and present
That Christianity remains the majority religion is no surprise: historically, it's consistent, since Christian missionaries figured prominently among the territory's first European occupants. In the early days of New Zealand's settlement, they sought to rectify the questionable mores of Kororāreka ("the Hellhole of the Pacific"), and to "civilize" the Māori whom, for once, they perceived as a "barbaric" people. Their message was not always poorly received, however, and it's not uncommon even today to hear that they had a good influence on the Māori populations. Indeed, some missionaries played an important role in de-escalating some of the conflicts of the musket war, the message of forgiveness carried by the Christian religion enabling the rangatira (chiefs) to stop the escalation of conflicts without losing prestige and authority. Missionaries were therefore well integrated into the iwi , and their neutral status made them good emissaries for negotiating peace treaties.
Christianity was therefore not resisted by the local populations. The Māori didn't necessarily convert to it, but accepted a few concepts that modified certain aspects of their culture, sometimes positively - such as the message of forgiveness preventing the escalation of revenge - and sometimes less so, such as the puritanical message leading to the stigmatization of homosexual or transsexual individuals who had previously been perfectly accepted and integrated.
Some Māori, despite having adapted the practice of their faith to their culture, were very fervent, and there was a time in New Zealand's history when there were more Māori than Britons attending services!
Subsequently, the Christian model inspired a few prophets and opinion leaders and, as mistrust of the pākehā grew due to the incessant conflicts of the New Zealand wars, new minority religious movements emerged. Independent Christian māori movements of a sort, such as Pai Mārire ("Goodness and Peace") in 1863, Ringatū ("The Raised Hand") in 1868, or the Rātana Church in 1925.
From an ideological point of view, these movements are all combinations of Christianity and Māori traditions and still have a few thousand followers today.
The other religions mentioned in the preamble arrived on the territory as immigration policies enabled a diversification of ethnicities and cultures.
Mythology rather than religion
If the Māori have not systematically rejected Christian ideologies, as has been the case in other countries where Christianity has tried to impose itself, this is undoubtedly because Māori spirituality has absolutely nothing to do with religious doctrine, so there has been no religious "clash" to speak of.
Māori culture has its legends, beliefs, traditions and rituals, but it does not follow dogma. What is sacred and must be treated according to certain rules is referred to as tapu. For example, a lake of particular cultural significance may be tapu, in which case bathing is forbidden. Apart from these few rules, there are no prophets, no messiahs, no heaven, no hell, just beings and things, all holders of mauri (vital force linking things in the physical world), mana (essence, aura, power), and linked by whakapapa (genealogy).
For the Māori, there is no separation between the natural and spiritual worlds; we are all part of a greater whole, and humans are direct descendants of the gods.
Origins story - Whakapapa pūrākau
It all begins with Te Kore (emptiness, nothingness). In this long night (Te Pō), two beings emerge: lovers Ranginui, Father Sky, and Papatūānuku, Mother Earth. Rangi and Papa were alone in the void, clutching each other tightly in an eternal embrace. The children born of this union lived between these two heavenly and earthly bodies, without space, without light. They talked for a long time about how to get out of this confined darkness. Should they kill their parents? Resolve to live in this narrow space? The idea was floated of separating them. After unsuccessful attempts by his brothers, Tāne lay on his back and pushed with all his leg strength. As Rangi and Papa drifted ineluctably and painfully apart, light struck the world for the first time. Their grief was immense, and their tears formed rivers, oceans and lakes.
Rangi and Papa's children then populated the Earth, each becoming ruler of their own kingdoms, populating them with their own children (animals, plants, humans).
Tāne became god of forests and birds (he is personified by a giant Kauri in the Waipoa forest in Northland, sitting there, unperturbed and still holding heaven and earth apart).
Tāngaroa became god of the seas, lakes and rivers and all the creatures living in them.
Tāwhirimātea, furious at the separation imposed on his parents, went to live with his father and became god of the winds and elements, blowing his wrath and indignation on his brothers below.
Rongomātāne and Haumia-tiketike, frightened by Tāwhirimātea's angry manifestations, took refuge underground. Rongomātāne became god of agricultural harvests (he is closely associated with kūmara - sweet potatoes - an essential food source for the Māori) and Haumia-tiketike god of wild harvests (fruits, berries, roots, ferns...)
The youngest child, Rūaumoko, was still in his mother's womb at the time of the separation. He's still there, and it's his disgruntled movements that cause earthquakes and geothermal manifestations.
Later, Tāne sculpted from the sacred earth of Papatūānuku the first woman, Hine-ahu-one ("the woman formed from earth"), and married her. They had a daughter, Hinetītama, whom Tāne also married. When she learned that her husband was also her father, she fled in shame and disgust into the underworld and became Hine-nui-te-pō, "the great woman of the night", goddess personifying darkness and death. It is said that it was from this event that humans became mortal.
Whakapapa is the central element of Māori philosophy, and an equally central element of culture, even today.
It has a much deeper and stronger meaning than the word "genealogy" used to translate it, since it concerns not only our human lineage, but also our connection to other creatures and natural forces. There's an attempt here to understand the universe and the forces that drive it, and a certain humility about being part of this great whole.
