Māori Indians (or Indo-Māori) are an ethnic group in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

of people with mixed

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

ancestry.

History

The earliest record of a mixed Indo-Māori union is said to have occurred in 1810, when an Indian man from

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

abandoned a shipping vessel to marry a Māori woman. There is also record of an Indian man living with his Māori wife in the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...

in 1815; another took up residence on

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

after 1814. Possibly the earliest non-Māori settlers of the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

were three Indian

lascars A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the 2 ...

who deserted ship to live among the Māori in 1813. There, they assisted the

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

by passing on new skills and technologies, including how to attack colonial European vessels in the rain when their guns could not be fired. They integrated into Māori culture completely, participating in

Tā moko ' is the permanent marking or "tattoo" as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles (the other four are Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian). (tattoois ...

and taking on Māori names. The late 1800s and early 1900s saw the first wave of migration of Indian men and later women arriving to the country. A number of them came directly to New Zealand but some came via Fiji and others via other British colonies such as Burma. In the earliest group of Indian pioneer men were those who came to New Zealand as teenagers. These young men from

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

were generally looked after by the Māori community, and tended to have unions with Māori women. Children of these unions were often cast out by the wider Indian community. However, such children continued to be welcomed into the Māori community. Of the 3,151 Indians recorded on the 1951 census of New Zealand - 253 were of Māori Indian origin. In 10 years, by the 1961 census, there were just slightly more Indians in New Zealand, while the number of Māori Indians had risen dramatically to 454. In

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').whānau Whānau () is Māori for extended family. It is also used in everyday New Zealand English, as well as in official publications. In Māori society, the whānau is also a political unit, below the levels of hapū (subtribe) and iwi (tribe or natio ...

of Indo-Māori descent are the Bhana whānau from

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. Ngāti Whakaue tra ...

. Another notable family are the children of Bruce Stewart, who are half Indo-Fijian through their mother and grew up at Tapu Te Ranga Marae.

21st century

Responses to the 2001 New Zealand census indicated that 1.5% of Indian women and 2% of Indian men in New Zealand were in inter-ethnic unions with a Māori partner. About 18% of children of these unions can converse in the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

, while less than 10% could speak an Indian language. The first

hui (Māori assembly) A hui is a New Zealand term for an assembly, gathering or meeting. Originally from the Māori language, the word was used by Europeans as early as 1846 to refer to Māori gatherings, but is now increasingly used in New Zealand English New is an ...

for people of mixed Māori and Indian descent was held in 2012 in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

. A second assembly was held in 2014, with over 200 mixed Māori Indians in attendance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Māori Indians Demographics of New Zealand Māori Indian diaspora in New Zealand Ethnic groups in New Zealand New Zealand people of Indian descent