Whānau () is the
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 Co ...
word for the basic
extended family
An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem ...
group. Within
Māori society
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 ...
the ''whānau'' encompasses three or four generations and forms the political unit below the levels of
hapū
In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...
(subtribe),
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
...
(tribe or nation) and
waka (migration canoe). These steps are emphasised in Māori genealogy as a person's
whakapapa
Genealogy is a fundamental principle in Māori culture, termed specifically in this context as ''whakapapa'' (, , lit. 'layering'). Reciting one's '' whakapapa'' proclaims one's identity among the Māori, places oneself in a wider context, and ...
.
Early Māori society
In pre-contact
Māori tribal organisation the ''whānau'' historically comprised a family spanning three to four generations, and would number around 20 to 30 people. It formed the smallest partition of the Māori society.
The
kaumātua
A kaumātua is a respected tribal elder in a Māori community who has been involved with their whānau for a number of years. They are appointed by their people who believe the chosen elders have the capacity to teach and guide both current a ...
(tribal elders), senior adults () such as parents, uncles and aunts, and the sons and daughters together with their partners and children. Large whānau lived in their own compound in the
pā
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
. Whānau also had their own gardening plots and their own fishing and hunting spots. The whānau was economically
self-sufficient. In warfare, it supported and was necessarily supported by the
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
...
(tribe) or
hapū
In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...
(sub-tribe).
The whānau would look after children and grandchildren collectively, so the loss of a parent was less likely to be devastating to a child's upbringing. In the case of orphaned children, the child would be taken in by the process of
whāngai adoption
Whāngai adoption, often referred to simply as whāngai (literally, "to nourish"), is a traditional method of open adoption among the Māori people of New Zealand.
Whāngai is a community process rather than a legal process, and usually involves ...
. This form of adoption is still practised and has some legal codification in New Zealand.
Contemporary conceptions
Contemporary conceptions offer whānau in one of two ways:
# An "object or construction based on descent, cause or a mix of the two"; or
# "A collection of ideas".
As a descent construct, has been variably described as 'extended family',
'extended family or community',
or simply 'family'.
See also
*
Ohana
is a Hawaiian language, Hawaiian term meaning "family" (in an extended family, extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional).
The term is cognate with Māori language, Māori , meaning "nest".
The root word ref ...
(''
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
an equivalent'')
References
Iwi and hapū
Māori words and phrases
Māori society
Family in New Zealand
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