Iwi (Māori pronunciation:[ˈiwi]) are the largest social units in New ZealandMāori society. InMāori,iwi roughly means'people' or'nation',[1][2] and is often translated as "tribe".[3] The word is both singular andplural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
Iwi groups trace their ancestry to the originalPolynesian migrants who, according to tradition, arrived fromHawaiki. Someiwi cluster into larger groupings that are based onwhakapapa (genealogical tradition) and known aswaka (literally'canoes', with reference to theoriginal migration voyages). These super-groupings are generally symbolic rather than logistical. In pre-European times, most Māori were allied to relatively small groups in the form ofhapū ('sub-tribes')[4] andwhānau ('family').[5] Eachiwi contains a number ofhapū; among thehapū of theNgāti Whātua iwi, for example, areTe Uri-o-Hau,Te Roroa,Te Taoū, andNgāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei. Māori use the wordrohe for the territory or boundaries of iwi.[6]
In modern-day New Zealand,iwi can exercise significantpolitical power in the management of land and other assets. For example, the 1997Treaty of Waitangi settlement between the New Zealand Government andNgāi Tahu compensatediwi for various losses of the rights guaranteed under theTreaty of Waitangi of 1840. As of 2019[update] the tribe has collectiveassets under management of $1.85 billion.[7]Iwi affairs can have a real impact onNew Zealand politics and society. A 2004 attempt by someiwi to test in court their ownership of the seabed and foreshore areas polarised public opinion (seeNew Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy).
In Māori and many otherPolynesian languages,iwi literally means'bone',[8] derived fromProto-Oceanic *suRi₁, meaning'thorn, splinter, fish bone'.[9] Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones" — literally to the burial areas ofancestors. Māori authorKeri Hulme's novelThe Bone People (1985) has a title linked directly to this dual meaning of bone and "tribal people".
Manyiwi names begin withNgāti or withNgāi (fromngā āti andngā ai respectively, both meaning roughly'the offspring of').Ngāti has become a productive morpheme inNew Zealand English to refer to groups of people: examples are Ngāti Pākehā (Pākehā as a group),Ngāti Pōneke (Māori who have migrated to theWellington region), andNgāti Rānana (Māori living in London). Ngāti Tūmatauenga ("Tribe ofTūmatauenga", the god of war) is the official Māori-language name of theNew Zealand Army.Hawaiian navigatorNainoa Thompson and his crew upon theHōkūleʻa canoe were inducted among theTe Tai Tokerau Māori byJames Henare as the iwi ofNgāti Ruawāhia (“Tribe of theArcturus”) after their successful voyage fromRarotonga to Waitangi in 1985, the admission of Ngāti Ruawāhia was formalised in 2018.[10]
In thesouthern dialect of Māori, Ngāti and Ngāi becomeKāti andKāi, terms found in such iwi names asKāti Māmoe andKāi Tahu (also known as Ngāi Tahu).
Eachiwi has a generally recognised territory (rohe), but many of these overlap, sometimes completely.[11] This has added a layer of complication to the long-running discussions and court cases about how to resolve historical Treaty claims. The length of coastline emerged as one factor in the final (2004) legislation to allocate fishing-rights in settlement of claims relating to commercial fisheries.
Iwi can become a prospective vehicle for ideas and ideals ofself-determination and/ortino rangatiratanga. Thus doesTe Pāti Māori mention in the preamble of its constitution "the dreams and aspirations oftangata whenua to achieve self-determination forwhānau,hapū andiwi within their own land".[12] SomeTūhoe envisage self-determination in specificallyiwi-oriented terms.[13]
Increasing urbanisation of Māori has led to a situation where a significant percentage do not identify with any particulariwi. The following extract from a 2000High Court of New Zealand judgment discussing the process of settling fishing rights illustrates some of the issues:
... 81 per cent of Maori now live in urban areas, at least one-third live outside their tribal influence, more than one-quarter do not know their iwi or for some reason do not choose to affiliate with it, at least 70 per cent live outside the traditional tribal territory and these will have difficulties, which in many cases will be severe, in both relating to their tribal heritage and in accessing benefits from the settlement. It is also said that many Maori reject tribal affiliation because of a working-class unemployed attitude, defiance and frustration. Related but less important factors, are that a hapu may belong to more than one iwi, a particular hapu may have belonged to different iwi at different times, the tension caused by the social and economic power moving from the iwi down rather than from the hapu up, and the fact that many iwi do not recognise spouses and adoptees who do not have kinship links.[14]
In the 2006 census, 16 per cent of the 643,977 people who claimed Māori ancestry did not know theiriwi. Another 11 per cent did not state theiriwi, or stated only a general geographic region, or merely gave awaka name.[15] Initiatives like the Iwi Helpline are trying to make it easier for people to identify theiriwi,[16] and the proportion who "don't know" dropped relative to previous censuses.[15]
Some established pan-tribal organisations may[according to whom?] exert influence acrossiwi divisions.[citation needed] TheRātana Church, for example, operates acrossiwi divisions, and theMāori King Movement, though principally congregated aroundWaikato/Tainui, aims to transcend someiwi functions in a wider grouping.[citation needed]
Manyiwi operate or are affiliated with media organisations. Most of these belong toTe Whakaruruhau o Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori (the National Māori Radio Network), a group of radio stations which receive contestable Government funding fromTe Māngai Pāho (the Māori Broadcast Funding Agency) to operate on behalf ofiwi andhapū. Under their funding agreement, the stations must produce programmes in the local Māori language and actively promote local Māori culture.[18]
A two-yearMassey University survey of 30,000 people published in 2003 indicated 50 per cent of Māori in National Māori Radio Network broadcast areas listened to aniwi station.[19] AnAuckland University of Technology study in 2009 suggested the audience ofiwi radio stations would increase as the growing New Zealand Māori population tried to keep a connection to their culture, family history, spirituality, community, language andiwi.[20]
TheVictoria University of Wellington Te Reo Māori Society campaigned for Māori radio, helping to set up Te Reo o Poneke, the first Māori-owned radio operation, using airtime on Wellingtonstudent-radio stationRadio Active in 1983.[21] Twenty-oneiwi radio stations were set up between 1989 and 1994, receiving Government funding in accordance with a Treaty of Waitangi claim.[22] This group of radio stations formed various networks, becomingTe Whakaruruhau o Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori.[23]
The Maori Party is born of the dreams and aspirations of tangata whenua to achieve self-determination for whānau, hapū and iwi within their own land; to speak with a strong, independent and united voice; and to live according to kaupapa handed down by our ancestors. The vision for the Maori Party will be based on these aspirations [...]
Calls from Maori activist Tame Iti for self-government arrangements for the Tuhoe tribe similar to those Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have in the UK have been backed by a leader likely to negotiate the tribe's Treaty settlement. ... While other iwi have focused on economic transfer of assets as a way of achieving tino rangatiratanga or self-determination, Tuhoe have spelled out their intention to negotiate constitutional issues.