The Māori Warrior Ethos (1280 – 1872 AD)
An indigenous New Zealand culture, the Māori evolved in near isolation until visited by Europeans during the mid-seventeenth century. Their lives were thus a bit less differentiated than continental societies, with a greater emphasis placed on fighting than diversified labor. Tribal warfare was virtually compulsory, with most boys expected to fight for their chief before manhood. Initially, however, small groups of these early Polynesian settlers coexisted with one another in relative peace. They first arrived at their present-day home around 1280 AD, when there was little competition over plentiful land and resources.
Over the next few centuries, dramatic climate change and a string of natural disasters placed an ecological strain on local resources. These challenges spurred mass tribal migrations that inevitably led to conflict amongst competing Māori factions. Decades of violent infighting gave rise to one of the most savage and feared warrior cultures the world has ever seen. To this day, the largest domestic engagement in New Zealand history is the Battle of Hingakaka, which occurred c. 1780 AD. The encounter was fought between about 16,000 warriors who brutally slaughtered 7,000 of their tribal neighbors in vicious hand-to-hand combat.
The unique spiritual and cultural beliefs of the Māori, along with their taste for combat, gave rise to a brutal warrior ethos. Men initially armed themselves with heavy wooden or stone clubs that were designed to crush an opponent’s skull. Māori wars, in addition to being fought over scarce resources, were a means of restoring tribal mana (power). Europeans introduced some of the Māori gunpowder weapons, during the early 1800s, which precipitated a string of conflicts collectively known as the Musket Wars. For nearly 40 years, various Māori factions fought over 3,000 intertribal battles that resulted in an estimated 40,000 deaths.
Initiation rites took place during early boyhood. The training was ritualistic and very much a part of daily life. They were taught, for example, to extract vengeance by consuming fallen opponents through ceremonial cannibalism. Warriors who excelled in Māori society displayed their accomplishments with tā mokos, body markings placed on the face, buttocks, or thighs. Unlike the ink tattoos that many of us are familiar with today, the tā moko was literally carved into the skin of the recipient, resulting in a series of artistic grooves and patterns. Violence perpetuated violence in Māori culture, from the cradle to the grave.