TraditionA tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyers' wigs or military officers' spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms and behaviors such as greetings.
HawaikiHawaiki (also rendered as ʻAvaiki in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, Savaiʻi in Samoan, Havaiʻi in Tahitian, Hawaiʻi in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories. Anne Salmond states Havaiʻi is the old name for Raiatea, the homeland of the Māori.
WhakapapaGenealogy is a fundamental principle in Māori culture, termed specifically in this context as whakapapa (Māori pronunciation:, , lit. 'layering'). Reciting one's proclaims one's identity among the Māori, places oneself in a wider context, and links oneself to land and tribal groupings and their mana. Experts in whakapapa can trace and recite a lineage not only through the many generations in a linear sense, but also between such generations in a lateral sense.
PolynesiaPolynesia (UK: , US: ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in common, including linguistic relations, cultural practices, and traditional beliefs. The term Polynésie was first used in 1756 by the French writer Charles de Brosses, who originally applied it to all the islands of the Pacific.
LegendA legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants, may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time to keep them fresh and vital.
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It comprises two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.
Oral literatureProse genres Poetry genres Dramatic genresComedyLibrettoMusicalOperaPlayhistoricalmoralSatireScriptTragedyTragicomedyHistoryAncientMedievalEarly medievalEarly modernRenaissance18th19th20thContemporary21st MediaVoiceaudiobookspeechWritingbookdigital electronicsebookmanuscript Lists and outlinesOutlineGlossaryBooksEpicfolk-epicsPoetsWritersMovementspoetry groupsCyclesLiterary awardspoetryShort story collection / CycleLost literary worklacunaTheory and criticismSociologyMagazinesCompositionLanguageNarrativeComparativeCircleSocietyPost-literate SocietyPeerFeudEstateWorkshopCircleOral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed.
MythMyth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is different from the ordinary sense of the term myth, meaning a belief that is not true, as the veracity of a piece of folklore is entirely irrelevant to determining whether it constitutes a myth. Myths are often endorsed by religious and secular authorities, and may be natural or supernatural in character.TohungaIn the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teachers and advisors. A tohunga may have also been the head of a whānau (family) but quite often was also a rangatira (chief) and an ariki (noble). The equivalent and cognate in Hawaiian culture is kahuna, tahu'a in Tahitian.
Māori peopleIndigenous Polynesian people of New ZealandEthnic groupMāori are the indigenousPolynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori are descended from East Polynesian settlers who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed a distinct culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures.
Polynesian mythologyPolynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers. Polynesians speak languages that descend from a language reconstructed as Proto-Polynesian – probably spoken in the Tonga and Samoa area around 1000 BC.
RitualActivities performed according to a set sequenceA Javanese ritual dance dedicated to the goddess of rice and fertility, Dewi SriA ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.