Kāinga

A kāinga (Southern Māori kaika or kaik) is the traditional form of village habitation of pre-European Māori in New Zealand. It was unfortified or only lightly fortified, and over time became less important to the well-defended pā.

Description[edit]

Kāinga were generally unfortified or only lightly fortified, as opposed to the well-defended pā. They were generally coastal, and often found near to a river mouth.^[1] The settlement was generally occupied by members of one hapū (sub-tribe), which would identify itself with the nearest mountain and river (even in modern Māori, when meeting someone new, "what is your mountain?" is not an unusual question, and naming a mountain and river is a standard part of a traditional introduction or pepeha).

Kāinga were often regarded as only semi-permanent settlements, and they were often abandoned. Reasons for abandonment included invasion by other iwi or resource shortages. Traditionally, Māori were often semi-nomadic, with entire communities moving at harvest or to hunt, using the kāinga as a stable home base. An entire settlement could be declared tapu on the death of a tribal elder, with its inhabitants moving to a new location nearby.^[2] Takapūneke near present-day Akaroa, for example, was subject to a massacre in 1830. Survivors mostly lived in nearby Ōnuku and Takapūneke having been declared a sacred site, it was avoided by the local hapu for over 100 years.^[3]

When European whalers arrived in New Zealand and established bases, kāinga would often shift to near the newcomers so that trading would be easier.^[2]

Modern use of the word[edit]

In modern Māori, kāinga is the word for "home".^[4]

See also[edit]

• Marae
• Pā

References[edit]