Aotearoa had a different climate and environment. This large and cold land had thick forests and huge trees reaching down to the coast. Volcanic activity created the central mountain ranges, covered in ice and snow, and a landscape with thermal springs, geysers and hot mud pools. Millions of years ago, New Zealand was part of the supercontinent Gondwana, which included Australia and Antarctica. As Gondwana broke apart, the lands drifted away and were separated by seas. The seas around New Zealand are rough and swept by strong ocean currents.
Skillbuilder discussion Communicating Humans have learnt to exploit the environment to their own advantage. Discuss as a class how true this statement is with regard to Aotearoa.
SOURCE3 An aerial shot of Whakaari, or White Island, and its active volcano. The island, uninhabited today, was a favourite hunting ground for M̄aori clans. In 2019, an unexpected eruption caught tourists on the island by surprise and led to 22 deaths.
11.6.3 TheM̄aori The first people of New Zealand are called the M̄aori, meaning ‘original people’. By the time Captain Cook arrived in 1769, about 150 000 M̄aori lived in Aotearoa. The M̄aori named their land Aotearoa ,meaning ‘the land of the long white cloud’. According to legend, the first explorer to reach Aotearoa was the navigator Kupe and his wife. She saw a long white cloud and called it Aotearoa; the cloud helped them find the land. In M̄aori culture, a person’s status was very important. Anthropologists say Polynesian societies had a hierarchy, which means some people had higher ranks than others. A man’s rank determined how much power he had in the iwi (tribe). M̄aori development in Aotearoa From the Polynesian arrival in Aotearoa to the modern day, historians divide the history of the M̄aori into four periods: 11.6.4 Carving out a history Traditional M̄aori carving, known as whakairo , is famous for its detail and beauty, and took great skill to create. For this reason, the M̄aori held the talent of the wood carver in very high regard. The earliest carving tools were made from seashells and stone, such as obsidian, that were sharpened over many months in preparation for carving. The thick forests of Aotearoa provided a plentiful supply of high-quality timber for the M̄aori craftsmen.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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