Maori Religion

Maori religion is the traditional Polynesian religious belief system of the Maori people of New Zealand, centered on a pantheon of atua (gods and ancestral beings) including Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother, on genealogical descent (whakapapa) linking people to these beings, and on concepts such as mana, tapu and noa that governed ritual conduct and the treatment of people, places and objects. It was the primary religious belief among Maori before the introduction of Christianity to New Zealand; by 1845 more than half of the Maori population attended church, and Christianity remains the largest religion among Maori today, with very few Maori still following the traditional religion exclusively, although many of its elements, including elements of whakapapa, tapu and ceremonial practice, are still observed. Several later Maori religious movements, such as the Ratana movement, emerged out of a synthesis with Christianity rather than as a continuation of the pre-Christian religion alone. This entity represents the traditional pre-Christian Maori religious tradition itself, distinct from the separately live Maori culture and Maori language entities in this atlas.