View source for Moriori

{{Short description|Indigenous Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands}}
{{Distinguish|Māori people|Maouri people|Mauri}}
{{about|the Moriori people|the language|Moriori language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2024}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Moriori
| image            = Chatham Islands photo, 1910, Canterbury Museum, 2016-01-27.jpg
| caption          = Moriori family, {{Circa|1910}}
| population       = approx. 1,000 (2018 census)<ref name=2018population />
| region1          = [[Chatham Islands]]
| pop1             = 36 (2013 census)
| ref1             = <ref name="nzpopulation">{{cite web|title=Moriori Population and Geography|url=http://m.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/iwi-profiles-individual.aspx?request_value=24628&tabname=Populationandgeography|website=stats.govt.nz|publisher=[[Statistics New Zealand]]|access-date=5 March 2016|archive-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307124403/http://m.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/iwi-profiles-individual.aspx?request_value=24628&tabname=Populationandgeography|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region2          = [[North Island]]
| pop2             = 354 (2013 census)
| ref2             = <ref name="nzpopulation" />
| region3          = [[South Island]]
| pop3             = 348 (2013 census)
| ref3             = <ref name="nzpopulation" />
| region4          = 
| pop4             = 
| ref4             = 
| languages        = [[English language|English]], [[Māori language|Māori]], formerly [[Moriori language|Moriori]]
| religions        = [[Christianity]] including [[Rātana]]<ref name="nzpopulation" />
| related-c        = [[Māori people]], other [[Polynesians|Polynesian peoples]],<br/>[[Austronesian people]]s
}}

{{Location map many | Chatham Islands 
   | width = 
   |caption = Map of the Chatham Islands. [[Chatham Island]] is the largest, [[Pitt Island]] the second largest, and [[South East Island]] the small island to the right of Pitt.
  | float = right
  |alt = 
    | label1 = Landing of the ''Chatham''
  | pos1 = top 
  | bg1 = lightyellow
  | marksize1 = 8
  | lat1_deg     = -43.740471 
  | lon1_deg     = -176.237403
      | label2 = Kōpinga Marae
  | pos2 = right 
  | bg2 = lightyellow
  | marksize2 = 8
  | lat2_deg     = -43.967764 
  | lon2_deg     = -176.514201   
        | label3 = Māori landing from the ''Rodney''
  | pos3 = left 
  | bg3 = lightyellow
  | marksize3 = 8
  | lat3_deg     = -43.808518
  | lon3_deg     = -176.689224 
      }}

The '''Moriori''' are the first settlers of the [[Chatham Islands]] ({{lang|rrm|Rēkohu}} in [[Moriori language|Moriori]]; {{lang|mi|Wharekauri}} in [[Māori language|Māori]]).<ref name=Guardian2020>{{Cite news |first=Eleanor |last=Ainge Roy |date=14 February 2020 |title=After more than 150 years, New Zealand recognises 'extinct' Moriori people |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/14/after-more-than-150-years-new-zealand-recognises-extinct-moriori-people |access-date=15 January 2025 |location=[[Dunedin]] |website=[[The Guardian]] |publication-place=London }}</ref> Moriori are [[Polynesians]] who came from the [[New Zealand]] mainland around 1500&nbsp;AD,{{sfn|King|2000|p=5}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Davis |first1=Denise |last2=Solomon |first2=Māui |title=Moriori – Origins of the Moriori people |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-1 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=8 February 2005 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=10 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410055819/https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was close to the time of the shift from the archaic to the classic period of Polynesian Māori culture on the mainland.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Atholl|author1-link=Atholl Anderson|date=2016|title=The making of the Maori middle ages |url=http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=570353694439099;res=IELIND |journal=Journal of New Zealand Studies |issue=23|pages=2|access-date=17 December 2018|archive-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324191315/https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=570353694439099;res=IELIND|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barber |first1=Ian |title=Constructions Of Change: A History Of Early Maori Culture Sequences |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=104 |issue=4 |pages=357–396 |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_104_1995/Volume_104,_No._4/Constructions_of_change:_A_history_of_early_Maori_culture_sequences,_by_Ian_Barber,_p_357-396/p1 |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-date=8 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208115928/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_104_1995/Volume_104,_No._4/Constructions_of_change:_A_history_of_early_Maori_culture_sequences,_by_Ian_Barber,_p_357-396/p1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Oral tradition records migration to the Chathams in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Davis |first1=Denise |last2=Solomon |first2=Māui |title=Moriori – The migrations from Hawaiki |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-2 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=8 February 2005 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403175334/https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-2 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Richards|2018|p=|pp=73–76}} The settlers' culture diverged from mainland Māori, and they developed a distinct [[Moriori language]], mythology, artistic expression and way of life.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Seymour|first=Maud Ella|date=1924|title=A history of the Chatham Islands |url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/1628 |type=M.A.|publisher=University of Canterbury|access-date=15 December 2018|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090430/https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/1628|url-status=live}}</ref> Currently there are around 700 people who identify as Moriori, most of whom no longer live on the Chatham Islands.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Moriori – Facts and figures|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-6|access-date=5 October 2020|date=8 February 2005 |last2=Solomon |first2=Māui|last1=Davis|first1=Denise|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410055455/https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-6|url-status=live}}</ref>  During the late 19th century some prominent anthropologists proposed that Moriori were [[Pre-Māori settlement of New Zealand theories|pre-Māori settlers]] of mainland New Zealand, and possibly [[Melanesians|Melanesian]] in origin;<ref name="Blank" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shapiro |first=HL |date=1940|title=The physical anthropology of the Maori-Moriori|journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=49|issue=1(193) |pages=1–15|jstor=20702788}}</ref> this hypothesis has been discredited by archaeologists since the early 20th century,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Howe|first=K. R. |date=2008 |orig-date=1st ed. 2003 |title=The Quest for Origins: Who First Discovered and Settled New Zealand and the Pacific Islands? |edition=Rev. |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=9780143008453 |pages=172–176}}</ref> but continued to be referred to by critics of the [[Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements|Treaty of Waitangi settlement process]] into the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doyle |first=Jacob |date=2020-06-17 |title=The Moriori myth has enabled racism against Māori in Aotearoa for generations |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/121809536/the-moriori-myth-has-enabled-racism-against-maori-in-aotearoa-for-generations |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] }}</ref>

Early Moriori formed tribal groups based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Later, a prominent [[Pacifism|pacifist]] culture emerged; this was known as the law of ''nunuku'', based on the teachings of the 16th century Moriori leader [[Nunuku-whenua]].{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=26, 177}} This culture made it easier for [[Taranaki]] Māori invaders to massacre them in the 1830s during the [[Musket Wars]]. This was the [[Moriori genocide]], in which the Moriori were either murdered or enslaved by members of the [[Ngāti Mutunga]] and [[Ngāti Tama]] iwi,<ref>{{Cite book |last= Waitangi Tribunal |date=2016 |orig-date=2001 |title=Rekohu: A Report on Moriori and Ngati Mutunga Claims in the Chatham Islands |url= https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68595363/Rekohu%20Report%202016%20Reprint.pdf |series=Wai 64, Waitangi Tribunal Report |page= |isbn=978-1-86956-260-1 |via= Ministry of Justice |access-date=14 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065841/https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68595363/Rekohu%20Report%202016%20Reprint.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> killing or displacing nearly 95% of the Moriori population.

The Moriori, however, were not extinct, and gained recognition as New Zealand's second [[indigenous peoples|indigenous people]] during the next century. Their culture and language underwent a revival, and Moriori names for their islands were prioritised. In February 2020, the New Zealand government signed a treaty with tribal leaders, giving them rights enshrined in law and the Moriori people at large an apology for the past actions of Māori and European settlers. The Crown returned stolen remains of those killed in the genocide, and gifted NZ$18 million in reparations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Moriori Culture |url= https://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/culture/moriori/ |access-date=28 February 2021|website=www.virtualoceania.net|archive-date=7 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807213714/https://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/culture/moriori/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Guardian2020/> On 23 November 2021, the New Zealand government passed in law the treaty between Moriori and the Crown.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Corlett|first=Eva|date=26 November 2021|title=Long fight for justice ends as New Zealand treaty recognises Moriori people|work=[[The Guardian]] |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/26/long-fight-for-justice-ends-as-new-zealand-treaty-recognises-moriori-people |access-date=26 November 2021}}</ref> The law is called the Moriori Claims Settlement Act. It includes an agreed summary history that begins with the words "Moriori {{lang|rrm|karāpuna}} (ancestors) were the {{lang|rrm|waina-pono}} (original inhabitants) of {{lang|rrm|Rēkohu}}, {{lang|rrm|Rangihaute}}, {{lang|rrm|Hokorereoro}} (South East Island), and other nearby islands (making up the Chatham Islands). They arrived sometime between 1000 and 1400 AD."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Government of New Zealand|date=23 November 2021 |title=Moriori Claims Settlement Bill |url=https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2020/0238/latest/whole.html#LMS238062 |access-date=26 November 2021|website=New Zealand legislation}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Origin ===

The Moriori were [[hunter-gatherer]]s<ref>{{cite journal|last=McFadgen|first=B. G.|date=March 1994|title=Archaeology and Holocene sand dune stratigraphy on Chatham Island|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand|volume=24|issue=1|pages=17–44 |doi=10.1080/03014223.1994.9517454 |doi-access=free|bibcode=1994JRSNZ..24...17M }}</ref> who lived on the Chatham Islands in isolation from the outside world until the arrival of {{HMS|Chatham|1788|6}} in 1791. They came to the Chathams from mainland New Zealand,{{Cn|date=March 2025}} and were descendants of the same Polynesians who settled New Zealand and from whom [[Māori people|Māori]] descended.{{Cn|date=March 2025}} Uncertainty surrounds the time of the Moriori arrival. Some artefacts from Pitt Island date from the Māori archaic period, estimated to be before AD 1500, but all [[carbon dating]] of evidence elsewhere on the islands gives dates after AD 1500. Linguistic similarity and genealogical comparisons with Māori on the South Island indicate the Moriori settlers were from south of [[Cook Strait]].{{Cn|date=March 2025}} We know Moriori lack genetic diversity, which points to there being only one arrival, possibly with just one canoe.{{Cn|date=March 2025}} Further educated guesswork points to that arrival being a trading (not war) canoe or canoes (women must have been on board) from the far south that was blown off course while travelling northwards: it could have been taken eastward along the existing ocean current to the Chathams,<ref name="Clark" /> with archaeological discoveries implying they settled first on Pitt Island before later moving to Chatham Island.<ref name=King_ch1>{{cite book |last=King |first=Michael |title=Moriori: A People Rediscovered |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin Random House New Zealand |location=Google Books |isbn=9780143771289 |chapter=1 - "Tchatat Moriori"}}</ref><ref name="Clark">{{cite book |last = Clark |first = Ross |chapter=Moriori and Maori: The Linguistic Evidence |editor=Sutton, Douglas G |title=The Origins of the First New Zealanders |publisher = Auckland University Press |year = 1994 |location = Auckland |pages = 123–135}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last = Solomon |first = Māui |author2 = Denise Davis |title = Moriori |encyclopedia =[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date = 2 September 2011 |url = http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/moriori |access-date = 4 May 2012 |archive-date = 9 February 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063252/https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori |url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Howe">{{cite encyclopedia |last = Howe |first = Kerry R. |title = Ideas about Māori origins |encyclopedia =[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date = 8 February 2005 |url = https://teara.govt.nz/en/ideas-about-maori-origins |access-date = 4 May 2012 |archive-date = 8 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210208040843/https://teara.govt.nz/en/ideas-about-maori-origins |url-status = live}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=August 2024}} The Chathams were the last islands in the Pacific to be settled by Polynesians.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=20–21}}

Most of what else is known about the Moriori, their culture and their language, is a matter of speculation. This is because so much evidence has been lost. After the 1835 Māori invasion, all Moriori were either killed, died of newly introduced diseases, or were enslaved. The language and culture of the survivors became intermingled with the [[Māori language]] and society before records were made by Europeans. This makes most of what is now known of the pre-contact Moriori the subject of conjecture.<ref name=King_ch1 />{{Page needed|date=January 2025}}

=== Adapting to local conditions ===
[[File:Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand (1901) (14577912959).jpg|thumb|Moriori designs carved into trees and rock]]
The Chathams are colder and less hospitable than the land the original settlers left behind, and although abundant in resources, these were different from those available where they had come from. The Chathams proved unsuitable for the cultivation of most crops known to Polynesians, and the Moriori adopted a [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle. Food was almost entirely marine-sourced — protein and fat from fish, [[fur seal]]s, and the fatty young of sea birds.{{cn|date=July 2024}} The islands supported about 2,000 people.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/graph/1691/moriori-population-of-the-chatham-islands-1800-1920|title=Moriori population of the Chatham Islands, 1800–1920|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |first1=Denise|last1=Davis|first2=Māui|last2=Solomon|name-list-style=amp|date=3 March 2017|access-date=30 March 2017|archive-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331114847/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/graph/1691/moriori-population-of-the-chatham-islands-1800-1920|url-status=live}}</ref> This lifestyle is confirmed by early European accounts, with one recording that: 

{{blockquote|"They were idle in the extreme, only seeking food when pressed by hunger, and depending mostly on what was cast ashore by the sea, a stranded whale, grampus, or porpoise being an especial delicacy, as was also a seal or mass of whale blubber, which being often cast ashore was looked upon as the gift of a good spirit who supplied their wants."<ref>{{cite journal |author1=E.A. Welch |author2=J. Barnard Davis |title=An Account of the Chatham Islands, Their Discovery, Inhabitants, Conquest by the Maories, and the Fate of the Aborigines |journal=Journal of the Anthropological Society of London |date=1871 |volume=8 |page=98 |url=https://ia800708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/22/items/crossref-pre-1909-scholarly-works/10.2307%252F30069857.zip&file=10.2307%252F3025175.pdf |publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland}}</ref>}}

[[File:Chatham Island Tree Carving.JPG|thumb|220x220px|Moriori tree carving or ''[[dendroglyph]]''|alt=]]
Lacking resources of cultural significance such as [[Pounamu|greenstone]] and plentiful timber, they found outlets for their ritual needs in the carving of [[dendroglyph]]s (incisions into tree trunks, called ''rakau momori''). Typically, most Moriori dendroglyphs depict a human form, but there are also other patterns depicting fish and birds.<ref name="DOC">{{cite web |title=Hāpūpū/J.M. Barker Historic Reserve |url= https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/chatham-islands/places/hapupu-jm-barker-historic-reserve/ |publisher=[[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)]] |access-date=15 October 2023 |language=en-nz}}</ref> Some of these carvings are protected by the [[Hāpūpū / J M Barker Historic Reserve]].<ref name="DOC"/>

As a small and precarious population, Moriori embraced a [[pacifism|pacifist]] [[culture]] that rigidly avoided warfare, replacing it with dispute resolution in the form of [[ritual]] fighting and [[conciliation]].{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=26}} The ban on warfare and cannibalism is attributed to their ancestor [[Nunuku-whenua]].

{{blockquote|...because men get angry and during such anger feel the will to strike, that so they may, but only with a rod the thickness of a thumb, and one stretch of the arms length, and thrash away, but that on an abrasion of the hide, or first sign of blood, all should consider honour satisfied.|Oral tradition{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=26}}
|source=}}

This enabled the Moriori to preserve what limited resources they had in their harsh climate, avoiding waste through warfare. However, this lack of training in warfare also led to their later near-destruction at the hands of invading North Island Māori.

Moriori castrated some male infants in order to control population growth.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Davis |first1=Denise |last2=Solomon |first2=Māui |title=Moriori – Moriori life |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-3 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=8 February 2005 |access-date=5 October 2020 |language=en-NZ |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403174135/https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===European contact (1791–1835)===

The first Europeans to make contact with the Moriori were the crew of {{HMS|Chatham|1788|6}} on 29 November 1791, while on its voyage to the northern Pacific from England, via [[Dusky Sound]]. The ''Chatham's'' captain, [[William R. Broughton]], named the island after [[John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham]] and claimed it for [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]. The landing party came to shore in Kaingaroa Harbour on the far Northeast coast of Chatham Island.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=39–40}}{{sfn|Richards|2018|p=|pp=157}} The Moriori at first retreated into the forest once the Europeans landed. Seventy years later the Europeans would be recalled in Moriori oral tradition as containing the god of fire, given the pipes they were smoking and likely female from the clothes they were wearing. It was this interpretation that led to the men returning from the forest to meet the landing party. A brief period of hostility was quickly calmed by the crew putting gifts on the end of Moriori spears, though attempts at trade were unsuccessful. After exploring the area for water the crew again became fearful of Moriori aggression.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=42}} Some misunderstanding led to an escalation of violence and one Moriori was shot and killed.{{sfn|Richards|2018|p=|pp=157}}{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=44–45}} HMS ''Chatham'' then left the island with all its crew. Both the diary of Broughton and local oral tradition record that both sides regretted the incident and to some extent blamed themselves for overreacting.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=44–45}}

It was this regret in part that led to good relations when the next ships arrived in the islands sometime between 1804 and 1807. They were [[Seal hunting|sealers]] from Sydney and word of their welcome soon gave the Moriori a reputation of being friendly. During this time at least one Moriori visited the New Zealand mainland and returned home with knowledge of the [[Māori people|Māori]]. As more ships came, sealing gangs were also left behind on the islands for months at a time. Sealers and [[whaling|whalers]] soon made the islands a centre of their activities, competing for resources with the native population. Pigs and potatoes were introduced to the islands. However, the seals that had religious significance and provided food and clothing to the Moriori were all but wiped out.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=48–49}} European men intermarried with Moriori. Māori arrivals created their own village at Wharekauri which became the Māori name for the Chatham Islands.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=39–52}}

The local population was estimated at 1,600 in the mid-1830s with about 10% and 20% of the population having died from infectious diseases such as influenza.

===Invasion by Taranaki Māori (1835–1868)===
{{Main|Moriori genocide}}
[[File:Moriori people.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Moriori people in the late 19th century: these three men (standing) are wearing a mix of traditional and European clothing. They carry defensive staffs and wear [[flax in New Zealand|flax]] mats around the waist and shoulders, feathers on the front of the head, and albatross tufts in their beards.]]

In 1835 some [[Ngāti Mutunga]] and [[Ngāti Tama]], originally from [[Taranaki]], but living in [[Wellington]] for about a decade, invaded the Chathams. On 19 November 1835, the brig ''Lord Rodney'', a hijacked<ref name=Silence /> European ship, arrived carrying 500 Māori (men, women and children) with guns, clubs and axes, and loaded with 78 tonnes of potatoes for planting, followed by another load, by the same ship, of 400 more Taranaki Māori on 5 December 1835. With the arrival of the second group "parties of warriors armed with muskets, clubs and tomahawks, led by their chiefs, walked through Moriori tribal territories and settlements without warning, permission or greeting. If the districts were wanted by the invaders, they curtly informed the inhabitants that their land had been taken and the Moriori living there were now vassals."{{sfn|King|2000|p=67}}

A ''[[hui (Māori assembly)|hui]]'' or council of all Moriori men was convened at the settlement called Te Awapatiki. Despite knowing that the Māori did not share their pacifism, and despite the argument by younger men that the principle of Nunuku was not appropriate now, two chiefs — Tapata and Torea — declared that "the law of Nunuku was not a strategy for survival, to be varied as conditions changed; it was a moral imperative."{{sfn|King|2000|p=67}} Although this council decided in favour of peace, the invading Māori inferred it was a prelude to war, as was common practice during the [[Musket Wars]]. This precipitated a massacre, most complete in the [[Waitangi, Chatham Islands|Waitangi]] area, followed by an enslavement of the Moriori survivors.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=McddswEACAAJ&q=musket+wars |title=The Musket Wars: A History of Inter-iwi Conflict, 1806–45 |last=Crosby|first=R. D.|date=2012|publisher=Libro International|isbn=9781877514449|pages=296–298 |access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=10 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310142810/https://books.google.com/books?id=McddswEACAAJ&q=musket+wars|url-status=live}}</ref>

A Moriori survivor recalled: "[The Taranaki invaders] commenced to kill us like sheep.... [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed – men, women and children indiscriminately." A Taranaki Māori conqueror explained, "We took possession... in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. Not one escaped....."<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Diamond
  | first = Jared
  | author-link = Jared Diamond
  | title = Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
  | publisher = W. W. Norton
  | year = 1997
  | location = New York
  | page = 53
  | title-link = Guns, Germs, and Steel
  }}</ref> The invaders ritually killed some 10% of the population.<ref name=Silence /> Stakes were driven into some of the women, who were left to die in pain.<ref name=Shand_II>{{cite journal |last=Shand |first=Alexander |date=1892 |title=The occupation of the Chatham Islands by the Maoris in 1835. Part II.—The migration of Ngatiawa to Chatham Island |journal= The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=159 }}</ref>

During the following enslavement the Taranaki Māori invaders forbade the speaking of the Moriori language. They forced Moriori to desecrate their sacred sites by urinating and defecating on them.<ref name=Silence>[[Michael King (historian)|King, Michael]] (2011). ''The Silence Beyond''. Penguin. {{ISBN|9780143565567}}. p. 190.</ref> Moriori were forbidden to marry Moriori or the Taranaki Māori, or to have children with each other. This was different from the customary form of [[slavery]] practised on mainland New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xJzCgAAQBAJ|title=Outcasts of the Gods? The Struggle over Slavery in Maori New Zealand|last=Petrie|first=Hazel|date=21 September 2015 |publisher=Auckland University Press |isbn=9781775587859|pages=36|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=31 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731090336/https://books.google.com/books?id=1xJzCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> However, many Moriori women had children by their Māori masters. A small number of Moriori women eventually married either Māori or European men. Some were taken from the Chathams and never returned. In 1842 a small party of Māori and their Moriori slaves migrated to the subantarctic [[Auckland Islands]], surviving for some 20 years on sealing and flax growing.<ref name="Murihiku">[http://www.murihiku.com/TimeLine.htm Murihiku timeline] (Abandoned website). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120210004503/http://www.murihiku.com/TimeLine.htm Backup copy] at the [[Wayback Machine]].</ref><ref>Peat, Neville (2003). ''Subantarctic New Zealand: A Rare Heritage''. Invercargill: Department of Conservation, {{ISBN|0-478-14088-6}}, p. 75</ref> Only 101 Moriori out of a population of about 2,000 were left alive by 1862, making the Moriori genocide one of the [[List of genocides by death toll|deadliest in history]] by percentage of the victim group.<ref>{{cite journal | first1 = Dave | last1 = Kopel | first2 = Paul | last2 = Gallant | first3 = Joanne D. | last3 = Eisen | url = http://www.nationalreview.com/article/206572/moriori-lesson-paul-gallant | title = A Moriori Lesson: a brief history of pacifism | journal = National Review | date = 11 April 2003 | access-date = 19 March 2016 | archive-date = 26 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160326230406/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/206572/moriori-lesson-paul-gallant | url-status = live }}</ref>

=== Dispersal and assimilation ===
[[File:Tommy Solomon (Tame Horomona Rehe).jpg|thumb|[[Tommy Solomon]], acknowledged as the last Moriori of unmixed ancestry]]
The Moriori were free from slavery by the end of the 1860s which gave them opportunities for self determination, but their small population led to a gradual dilution of their culture. Only a handful of men still understood the [[Moriori language]] and culture from before the invasion. The younger generation spoke Māori, while still identifying themselves as Moriori. While attempts were made to record the Moriori culture for posterity, it was generally believed that it would never again be a living way of life. By 1900 there would only be twelve people in the Chatham Islands who identified themselves as Moriori.{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=135}} Although the last Moriori of unmixed ancestry, [[Tommy Solomon]], died in 1933,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.education-resources.co.nz/t-solomon.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123025254/http://www.education-resources.co.nz/t-solomon.htm|url-status=dead|title=Tommy Solomon|archivedate=23 January 2016}}</ref> there are several thousand mixed ancestry Moriori alive today.

In the [[2001 New Zealand census]], 585 people identified as Moriori. The population increased to 942 in the [[2006 New Zealand census|2006 census]] and declined to 738 in the [[2013 New Zealand census|2013 census]].<ref name=2013population>{{cite web |url= http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Census/2013%20Census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-maori/qs-maori-tables.xls |title= 2013 Census QuickStats about Māori – tables |publisher= Statistics New Zealand |access-date= 9 July 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140713105000/http://stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Census/2013%20Census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-maori/qs-maori-tables.xls |archive-date= 13 July 2014 |url-status= dead }}</ref> The [[2018 New Zealand census|2018 census]] estimated the Moriori population as 996.<ref name=2018population>{{cite web |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/iwi-affiliation-estimated-counts-2018 |title=Iwi affiliation (estimated count), 2018 |publisher=[[Statistics New Zealand]] |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=14 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214082015/https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/iwi-affiliation-estimated-counts-2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Waitangi Tribunal claim ===
In the late 1980s some Moriori descendants made claims against the New Zealand government through the [[Waitangi Tribunal]].{{sfn|King|2000|p=|pp=192}}{{sfn|Belgrave|2005|p=|pp=284–286}} The Tribunal is charged with making recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to actions or omissions of [[the Crown]] in the period since 1840 that breach the promises made in the [[Treaty of Waitangi]]. These claims were the first time the Tribunal had to choose between competing claims of two indigenous groups. The main focus of the claim was the British annexation of the islands in 1842, the inaction of the Government to reports of Moriori being kept in slavery and the awarding of 97% of the islands to [[Ngāti Mutunga]] in 1870 by the [[Māori Land Court|Native Land Court]].{{sfn|Belgrave|2005|p=|pp=284–286}}

In 1992, while the Moriori claim was active, the [[Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements|Sealords fisheries deal]] ceded a third of New Zealand's fisheries to Māori, but prevented any further treaty fishery claims. This occurred against the backdrop of Māori, Moriori and [[Pākehā]] Chatham Islanders all competing for fishing rights, while working together to exclude international and mainland interests. Therefore, it was believed that the result of the Tribunal's verdict on the ownership of the Chatham Islands may improve the Moriori ability to acquire some of the allotted fishing rights from the Sealords deal. The Moriori claims were heard between May 1994 and March 1996 and the verdict was strongly in favour of the Moriori case.{{sfn|Belgrave|2005|p=|pp=303–310}}

This led to an NZ$18 million deal between the Crown and Moriori in 2017. The two parties signed a Deed of Settlement on 13 August 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Moriori: The Crown and Moriori signed an Agreement in Principle on 16 August 2017 |url=https://www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/moriori/ |publisher=New Zealand Government|date=17 November 2020|access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211123092621/https://www.govt.nz/browse/history-culture-and-heritage/treaty-settlements/find-a-treaty-settlement/moriori/ |archive-date=23 November 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Coster |first=Deena |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/95978716/negotiations-result-in-agreement-between-crown-and-moriori-over-treaty-claim|title=Negotiations result in agreement between Crown and Moriori over treaty claim|work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]]|date=21 August 2017 |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210308133104/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/95978716/negotiations-result-in-agreement-between-crown-and-moriori-over-treaty-claim |archive-date=8 March 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2021, the New Zealand Parliament passed the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill, which completed the Treaty of Waitangi process of the Moriori. Under the terms of the legislation, the settlement package includes a formal Crown apology, the transfer of culturally and spiritually significant lands to Moriori as cultural redress, financial compensation of NZ$18 million, and shared redress such as the vesting of 50 percent of [[Te Whanga Lagoon]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Treaty of Waitangi settlement for Moriori completed as bill passes final reading |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/456427/treaty-of-waitangi-settlement-for-moriori-completed-as-bill-passes-final-reading |access-date=12 December 2021 |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124102303/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/456427/treaty-of-waitangi-settlement-for-moriori-completed-as-bill-passes-final-reading |archive-date=24 November 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=Matai |title=Moriori praised for dedication, patience as $18m and apology settlement with Crown becomes law |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/moriori-praised-for-dedication-patience-as-18m-and-apology-settlement-with-crown-becomes-law/VR32NHE6MDBEHZE6ZL5Z2X5NDU/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=24 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203094724/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/moriori-praised-for-dedication-patience-as-18m-and-apology-settlement-with-crown-becomes-law/VR32NHE6MDBEHZE6ZL5Z2X5NDU/ |archive-date=3 December 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Culture and marae==
[[File:Te Papa Repatriation ceremony, 13 July 2018 (29564387188).jpg|thumb|A repatriation ceremony at [[Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa|Te Papa]], bringing home Māori and Moriori skeletal remains that were removed from New Zealand in the 19th century (2018)]]
Today, despite the difficulties that the Moriori have faced, their culture is enjoying a renaissance, both in the Chatham Islands and New Zealand's mainland. This has been symbolised with the renewal of the Covenant of Peace at the new Kōpinga [[marae]] in January 2005 on Chatham Island.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10007572">{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10007572|title=Chathams embrace peace ethic|author=Berry, Ruth|date=22 January 2005|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=26 October 2011|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403162507/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10007572|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2016, the marae has registered almost 800 Moriori descendants, with more than 3000 associated children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://brendan.mcbryde.nz/2016/08/reaching-a-rare-island-getaway/|title=Reaching a rare island getaway|last=McBryde|first=Brendan|date=18 August 2016|website=brendan.mcbryde.nz|publisher=Fiordland Advocate|access-date=27 November 2016}}</ref> The Kopinga meeting place and Hokomenetai meeting house are based in the town of [[Waitangi, Chatham Islands|Waitangi]], also on Chatham Island.<ref name="tkmentry">{{cite web|title=Rohe|url=http://www.tkm.govt.nz/iwi/moriori/|website=tkm.govt.nz|publisher=[[Te Puni Kōkiri]], [[New Zealand Government]]|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>

In 2001, work began on preserving the vocabulary and songs of the Moriori people.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10476687|title=Moriori renaissance|last=Shepheard|first=Nicola|newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=17 November 2007|access-date=3 February 2019|language=en-NZ|issn=1170-0777|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403145920/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10476687|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Davis |first1=Denise |last2=Solomon |first2=Māui |title=Moriori – The second dawn |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-5 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=8 February 2005 |access-date=5 October 2020 |language=en-NZ |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310142819/https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-5 |url-status=live }}</ref> They also received a $6 million grant from the Government to preserve their culture and language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/mainlander/497758/Moriori-revival|title=Moriori revival|website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=31 January 2009|language=en|access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref> The albatross remains important in Moriori culture: it is seen in the design of the Kōpinga marae and its feathers are worn in the hair of some Moriori as a sign of peace.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The relationship between the Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga is improving, and non-violence remains a cornerstone of the Moriori self image.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moriori.co.nz/about-us/|title=ABOUT US – Hokotehi Moriori Trust|language=en-US|access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref>

In 2002, land on the east coast of Chatham Island was purchased by the Crown (the Taia property). It is now a reserve and jointly managed by Moriori and the Crown. The Moriori are also actively involved with preserving the ''rakau momori'' (tree carvings) on the islands.<ref name=":1" />

== Language ==
{{Main|Moriori language}}
The now extinct [[Moriori language]] was [[Polynesian languages|Eastern Polynesian]] and closely related to [[Māori language|Māori]] and [[Cook Islands Māori|Cook Island Māori]] with which it was mutually intelligible. It shared about 70% of its vocabulary with Māori; however, there were significant differences in grammar and pronunciation.{{sfn|Richards|2018|p=|pp=215–219}}{{sfn|King|2000|p=175}} There are modern attempts at creating learning materials to ensure the survival of what remains of the language.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2016/08/moriori-fight-to-save-language.html|title=Moriori fight to save language|date=28 August 2016|work=[[Newshub]] |format=video|access-date=4 February 2019|language=en|archive-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324191305/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2016/08/moriori-fight-to-save-language.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Political organisation ==
In 2001, the two main political groups of Moriori united to form the Hokotehi Moriori Trust;<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=196693|title=Vitriol in face of historic Moriori victory|newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=24 June 2001|access-date=11 February 2019|language=en-NZ|issn=1170-0777}}</ref> however, some internal disputes remain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2019/01/divided-tribe/|title=Divided Tribe|first1=Tony|last1=Wall|first2=Chris|last2=McKeen|website=interactives.stuff.co.nz|language=en|access-date=3 February 2019|archive-date=4 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204065924/https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2019/01/divided-tribe/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[New Zealand Government]] recognises the Hokotehi Moriori Trust as having the mandate to represent Moriori in [[Treaty of Waitangi]] settlement negotiations. It is also a mandated [[iwi]] organisation under the Māori Fisheries Act 2004 and a recognised iwi aquaculture organisation in the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004. The trust represents Moriori as an "iwi authority" for resource consents under the [[Resource Management Act 1991]], and is a [[Tūhono]] organisation. The charitable trust is managed by ten trustees, with representation from both the [[Chatham Islands]], and the [[North Island]] and [[South Island]]. It is based at [[Owenga]] on Chatham Island.<ref name="tkmentry" />

==In popular culture==
Based on the writing of [[Percy Smith (ethnologist)|Percy Smith]] and [[Elsdon Best]] from the late 19th century, theories grew up that the [[Pre-Māori settlement of New Zealand theories|Māori had displaced a more primitive pre-Māori population]] of Moriori (sometimes described as a small-statured, dark-skinned race of possible [[Melanesia]]n origin) in mainland New Zealand – and that the [[Chatham Island]] Moriori were the last remnant of this earlier race. These theories also favoured the supposedly more recent and more technically able Māori. This was used to justify [[racism|racist]] [[stereotype|stereotyping]], [[colonialism|colonisation]], and conquest by cultural "superiors".<ref name=":3">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Howe |first1=K. R. |title=Ideas about Māori origins – 1880s–1970s: Moriori origins; the Great Fleet |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/ideas-about-maori-origins/page-4 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=5 October 2020 |language=en-NZ |date=8 February 2005 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023060022/https://teara.govt.nz/en/ideas-about-maori-origins/page-4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Ranginui |title=Ka whawhai tonu matou = Struggle without end |date=2004 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-301945-7 |edition=Revised |location=Auckland |oclc=57552730 |quote=According to the myth, the Maori, as a superior and more warlike people, expropriated the land from the Moriori. Therefore Pakeha expropriation of the same land on the basis of their superior civilisation was in accordance with the principle of the survival of the fittest. For this reason the false myth of the Moriori has been one of New Zealand's most enduring myths}}</ref> From the view of European settlers this served the purpose of undermining the notion of the Māori as the indigenous people of New Zealand, making them just one in a progression of waves of migration and conquest by increasingly more civilised people.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

The hypothesis of a racially distinct pre-Māori Moriori people was criticised in the 20th century by a number of historians, anthropologists and ethnologists; among them anthropologist [[H. D. Skinner]] in 1923,<ref>Skinner, H.D. (1923). "The Morioris of the Chatham Islands". Honolulu.</ref> ethnologist [[Roger Duff]] in the 1940s,<ref name="Ideas of Māori origins">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Howe |first1=K. R. |title=Ideas about Māori origins – 1920s–2000: new understandings |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/ideas-about-maori-origins/page-5 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=5 October 2020 |language=en-NZ |date=8 February 2005}}</ref> historian and ethnographer Arthur Thomson in 1959,<ref>Thomson, Arthur, ''The Story of New Zealand, Past and Present, Savage and Civilized'', 2 vols, London, 1859, i, 61</ref> as well as [[Michael King (historian)|Michael King]] in ''Moriori: A People Rediscovered'' in 2000, [[James Belich (historian)|James Belich]] in 2002,<ref>Belich, James (2002). ''Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders, from Polynesian Settlement to the End of the Nineteenth Century''. University of Hawaii Press. pp.26, 65–6</ref> and K. R. Howe in ''[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]''.<ref name="Ideas of Māori origins" />

The idea of Moriori arriving earlier and being vastly distinct from Māori was widely published in the early 20th century.<ref name="Cyclopedia">See for example: {{citation |title=Arrival of The Maoris in New Zealand |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc02Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d18-d1.html |via=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz |publisher=[[The Cyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=5 October 2020 |date=1902 |archive-date=11 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011220525/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc02Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d18-d1.html |url-status=live }}.</ref> Crucially, this story was also promoted in a series of three articles in the ''[[New Zealand School Journal]]'' of 1916,<ref name="Blank">{{cite thesis |last=Blank |first=Jacinta |date=2007 |title=Imagining Moriori: A history of ideas of a people in the twentieth century |degree=Master of Arts in History |publisher=University of Canterbury |place=Christchurch, New Zealand |url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/960/thesis_fulltext.pdf;jsessionid=5F51D83A5240FB3124010A6AF854681B?sequence=1 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240802154736/https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/960/thesis_fulltext.pdf;jsessionid=5F51D83A5240FB3124010A6AF854681B?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the 1934 [[Alexander Wyclif Reed|A. W. Reed]] schoolbook ''The Coming of the Maori to Ao-tea-roa''<ref name="Blank"/>—and therefore became familiar to generations of schoolchildren. This in turn has been repeated by the media and politicians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018623927/don-brash-ragging-on-te-reo|title=Don Brash – Ragging on Te Reo|date=2 December 2017|website=[[Radio New Zealand]] |language=en-nz|access-date=15 December 2018|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402120327/https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018623927/don-brash-ragging-on-te-reo|url-status=live}}</ref> However, at no point has this idea completely dominated the discussion, with the academic consensus slowly gaining more public awareness over the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Wheeler|first=Read|title=Portrayals of the Moriori people : historical, ethnographical, anthropological and popular sources, c.1791–1989|date=2016|degree=Master of Arts in History|publisher=Massey University|location=Palmerston North, New Zealand|url=https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/11028|access-date=5 October 2020|language=en-NZ|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309010936/https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/11028|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2004 [[David Mitchell (author)|David Mitchell]] novel ''[[Cloud Atlas (novel)|Cloud Atlas]]'' and its [[Cloud Atlas (film)|2012 film adaption]] both featured the enslavement of Moriori by the Māori on the Chatham Islands in the mid-19th century. The film adaption stars David Gyasi as "Autua", a Moriori slave, in spite of the fact Gyasi is [[Ghanaians in the United Kingdom|British of Ghanaian descent]] and bears no physical resemblance to Moriori people. Scholar Gabriel S. Estrada criticised the depiction of Māori slave culture as being incorrectly depicted in a similar manner to [[slavery in the United States]], featuring enslaved Moriori working on [[plantation]]s similar to those in the [[Southern United States|American South]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1223&context=jrf |title=Cloud Atlas' Queer Tiki Kitsch: Polynesians, Settler Colonialism, and Sci-Fi Film |author=Gabriel S. Estrada |journal=Journal of Religion & Film |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=1 October 2014 |accessdate=23 February 2021 |quote=Cloud Atlas problematically fuses Māori, Moriori, and African American enslavement histories... The US plantation-style slavery featured in Cloud Atlas was simply not the hegemonic form of colonial Polynesian oppression in 1848. |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928184216/https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1223&context=jrf |url-status=live }}</ref>  The interchangeability of these two practices has been noted by historians as being a common misconception in popular culture.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xJzCgAAQBAJ&q=outcast+of+the+gods&pg=PP50|title=Outcasts of the Gods? The Struggle over Slavery in Maori New Zealand|last=Petrie|first=Hazel|date=21 September 2015|publisher=Auckland University Press|isbn=9781775587859|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=26 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526061150/https://books.google.com/books?id=1xJzCgAAQBAJ&q=outcast%20of%20the%20gods&pg=PP50|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notable Moriori people==
{{Main category|Moriori people}}
*[[Joey Matenga Ashton]]
*[[Christine Harvey]]
*[[Nunuku-whenua]]
*[[Kiti Karaka Rīwai]] 
*[[Tommy Solomon]]
* [[Hirawanu Tapu]]
* [[Brendon Tuuta]]
* [[Torotoro (Moriori)|Torotoro]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nd1aAwAAQBAJ&q=historical+frictions|title=Historical Frictions: Maori Claims and Reinvented Histories|last=Belgrave|first=Michael|date=2005|publisher=Auckland University Press|isbn=9781869405953|pages=284–316|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=23 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523174322/https://books.google.com/books?id=nd1aAwAAQBAJ&q=historical+frictions|url-status=live}}
*{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2AxDwAAQBAJ&q=moriori|title=Moriori: A People Rediscovered|last=King|first=Michael|date=2000|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9780143771289|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=10 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310142812/https://books.google.com/books?id=V2AxDwAAQBAJ&q=moriori|url-status=live}}
*{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2TCugEACAAJ&q=moriori+richards|title=Moriori: Origins, Lifestyles and Language|last=Richards|first=Rhys|date=2018|publisher=Paremata Press|isbn=9780473442026|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=27 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527154406/https://books.google.com/books?id=F2TCugEACAAJ&q=moriori+richards|url-status=live}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite thesis |last= Clayworth |first= Peter |date= 2001 |title= "An indolent and chilly folk" : the development of the idea of the "Moriori myth" |type= Doctor of Philosophy |publisher= University of Otago |url= https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/349/ClayworthPeterN2001PhD.pdf |access-date= 4 October 2020}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2021/0049/latest/LMS238062.html Agreed account of Moriori history] in Moriori Claims Settlement Act (noting Moriori to have arrived between 1000 and 1400 CE)
*[https://www.moriori.co.nz/ Hokotehi Moriori Trust]
*[https://www.sfu.ca/ipinch/project-components/community-based-initiatives/moriori-cultural-database/ Moriori cultural database], Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage

{{New Zealand topics}}
{{Indigenous peoples by continent}}
{{Culture of Oceania}}
{{Māori}}

[[Category:Moriori| ]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Hunter-gatherers of Oceania]]
[[Category:New Zealand pacifists]]
[[Category:Society of New Zealand]]