Maori mythology

When they settled in New Zealand, the Māori brought from the different islands from which they came, a number of stories which they adapted to their new environment and developed. There Mythology Maori describes their religion.

The Maori arrived in successive waves from the islands cooking and the Society Islands in New Zealand, IX^e to XIV^e century. Originally, the term literally means "ordinary", but this etymology is sometimes disputed. In Tahitian, māori also means "in confidence", "as welcome". Haere māori mai! “Come, welcome! "(Dictionary of fare vana'a)

With the arrival of the first Europeans (the "Pākehā" or "Papa'a") in XVIII^e century, the indigenous populations began to refer to themselves in this way, first of all in the form of tangata māori (ordinary person, native), to finally keep only "Maori".