Maori is an adjective habitually misused in New Zealand as a collective noun.

pronounced either maari or moeri if you want a job in TV,
academia, or public service.
Pronounced mow-ri by everyone else.

The literal meaning is "ordinary". That is how
the first group of people who arrived in NZ chose to describe themselves relative to the (slightly) later arrivals who they chose to call pakeha (outsider, alien, foreigner). New Zealand is an homogenised monocultural society (with terrible suppressed racial ethno-political tension). Some New Zealanders have some maori ancestry. None have only maori ancestry. Maori means maori person, a person with some maori ancestry.

In media and political usage "maori" is a collective noun used when attempting to sensationalise a news story or when promoting an outrageous political agenda for one's own personal benefit.

* A person who originates from Polynesia, and settled in New Zealand before the Medieval ages.

* A New Zealander

I believe this definition has been hit by the national front, or some bored helpless cases. I have some sense.

Indigenous people of New Zealand

The Indigenous ethnicity of New Zealand. Colonised by the British from the 1760s onward, they have been politically, economically and socially marginalised. This is marginilisation is perpetuated by institutionalised racist views such as the first five entries of the term 'Maori' in UrbanDictionary, (those people should get a life - we are all human beings here,stop being so God Damn racist, if you hate us so much than leave NZ) Maori have a very distinct culture, and their values on law and living are almost contradictory to that of the colonisers. Maori have communal and collective way of life as opposed to the western ideology of every man for himself. The Treaty of Waitangi (ceding of sovereignty) in 1840 was signed in two different versions, between Maori and the Crown. The different versions are the basis for Maori and Pakeha conlict in the present day - they each imply something different. Ancient Maori were exceptional seafarers, navigators and astrologers, originating in south east asia, and travelling by canoe (waka) through the Pacific Islands (Tahiti and the Cook Islands) through to New Zealand 1700 years ago. Colonisation and loss of land bought along a substantial economic loss.

People of New Zealand that are not "Once Were Warriors" stereotypes, one of the many cultures within New Zealand.

the indigenous folk of this proud country NEW ZEALAND.

Maori are the native people of New Zealand. The the people who posted the first few definitions have really shown are un-intelligent and racist they are. For example, the Mori Ori were not here before the Maori. They were a group of mainland Maori who migrated to the chatham islands. The first definition is exceedingly stupid. If someone was 1/800th Maori, that would make them way more Pakeha (Non-Maori) than Maori. So, infact, it would not be a Maori trying to get conpensation from the government, it would be some white trash Pakeha trying to rip off the system by claiming they were 1/800th Maori. I believed I have summed up the sheer idiocy of the first few definitions. And no, I am not a Maori I am not one bit Maori. I am a Pakeha that actually has a functioning brain.

People that no matter what a mojority will try and do, or try to make others beleive - maori people will be who they are - An original member of NZ. -

Originating in China over 15000 years ago and travelling through Indonesia, the Phillipines, Egypt and Tahiti, and finally settling in New Zealand (Aotearoa), modern scholars and new technology shows that the Maori people, and in general the Polynesian geneolgy, are a mix of these races. Maori believe that the journey was made from a mythical land called 'Hawaiki' (which is most probably land in the South Pacific). Today, maori people are native to New Zealand and enjoy equal rights, however, many of the people can be found in Australia and other bordering countries.

A proud race of warrior people, with a great amount of knowledge about the cultivation of land and extensive in the Art of War. A very handsome race, and has been described by European settlers as the most civilized 'tribal' people encountered on their journeys across the world. Settlers were impressed with the Maori take on Christianity and religious sects.

In contrast, fierce battles took place for the ownership of land, however; the Maori could not be defeated so Settlers employed dirty tricks to rob the people of their land. Today, Maori people have found employment difficult to sustain and tend to 'live in the moment' spending government funds on alcohol and tobacco. The last full maori died in the 1960's