A documentary series that gives history to New Zealand’s past via the retelling of the country’s geological construction, the eventual Māori settlement circa 1250 AD and the European ‘discovery’, and later usurpation, of Aotearoa from the late 18th century. Using voiceover, dramatic reconstruction, footage and stills from the country’s archives and a mixture of Māori myth and European history the series constructs a narrative that binds together the multiplicity of New Zealand’s stories.
EP-2.
1300 AD - 1642 AD
“In this episode of Frontier of Dreams we tell the story of the first human settlers of New Zealand, the Polynesians who, in adapting to and changing these "treasure islands," created the vibrant world of the Maori.
We look at how modern DNA research has dramatically expanded our knowledge of the first immigrants. Scientists, like David Penny, now know that some 200 people, men and women, arrived. The evidence from the rats that came with them indicates a landing date of around 1250AD. And this all fits with Māori oral tradition.
The settlers quickly explored and named their new land. They would have found a variety of landscapes and a wealth of resources, especially food and precious stones. Modern Māori carvers demonstrate the old ways to turn hard rocks into tools and greenstone or pounamu into beautiful objects of prestige and power.
We see how the early settlers ate their way through the country's tame and teeming wildlife. Seals and sea lions disappeared from the North Island. And one of our most distinctive birds, the moa, was soon extinct. We see a recreated moa-hunter village, like the one in Marlborough where 12,000 moa were butchered.
When the easy prey had gone, Māori turned to catching and eating smaller birds and rats. Riki Bennett shows how this was done, while Janet Davidson explores the ancient kūmara gardens at one of our oldest archeological sites, Palliser Bay near Wellington.
As population expanded and fishing and farming increased, Māori social organisation developed. Families combined into tribes and fortified pa were built to protect people and resources. The Māori settlement of Maungakiekie, One Tree Hill in Auckland, is recreated and explored, as is the coastal village of Kohika in the Bay of Plenty.
We see how Māori built their houses and the key role of flax in Māori society. Patricia Wallace shows how weavers made cloaks and how the body and hair were adorned.
Māori were warriors, but fighting was influenced by spiritual beliefs, in particular, mana and utu. We see that cannibalism was actually a way of consuming someone's mana. Hone Kaa explains the profound influence that these beliefs and others had on the Māori way of life and death.
Over 500 years of isolation Māori developed a distinctive, complex, sophisticated culture, fully adapted to living in their "treasure islands."” TVNZ; TVNZ.CO.NZ; 13/10/2005
Interviews: Matt McGlone, David Penny, Winston Waititi, Janet Wilmshurst, Trevor Worthy, Riki Bennett, Janet Davison, Geoffery Irwin, Doug Sutton, Leighton Hale, Maika Mason, Patrica Wallace, Reverend Hone Kaa, Pita Sharples.