World Whaling

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Aotearoa \ New Zealand

New Zealand Maori represent one of the most southern whaling cultures in the world. The relationship of Maori with cetaceans dates back to Hawaiki, the ancient homeland of central Polynesia, from where Maori trace their descent.
From the moment of the arrival of Maori in Aotearoa (New Zealand) whales were utilized. Some of the earliest traditional stories about the great Polynesian migration from Hawaiki to Aotearoa (New Zealand) speak of the utilization of whales as food when arriving in Aotearoa. Archaeological evidence has revealed numerous small harpoon points, suggesting opportunistic hunting of at least dolphins and other smaller cetaceans, while strandings were the primary source of large cetaceans.

Elders giving evidence before the Waitangi Tribunal in the Muriwhenua Fisheries Settlement process spoke of their ancestors pursuing whales further than 25 miles from shore and how small cetaceans were captured by set nets. There are many places around the coast of Aotearoa traditionally known by Maori as being predisposed to whale strandings. There are many place names, stories and traditions associated with these locations.
Whales were regarded as a chiefly fish, and when stranded are seen as a gift from Tangaroa (the God of the Oceans). Whales were thought of as somewhat supernatural, they were seen as guardians during the long ocean voyages and were deemed to be tapu, or sacred. This tapu had to be ceremonially lifted by tribal priests prior to their use as food.

Because there were no land mammals in pre-European New Zealand, Maori regarded whales as a bounteous source of protein, as well as providing meat, oil, bone and ivory. Whale meat was cooked in umu (an earth oven). The importance of whales as food and as a sign of abundance is recorded in carvings on many of the pataka (food store houses) and whare tupuna (ancestral houses) around Aotearoa.

The aboriginal rights of Maori were secured and guaranteed in the Treaty of Waitangi (1840), which was signed between representatives of the British Crown and the chiefs of the Maori tribes. Whale species were considered a taonga (treasured possession) under the Treaty and Maori were afforded the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of them. Besides the meat and oil being of importance, the teeth and bone were also highly valued. Like other Polynesian cultures, whale bone and teeth to Maori were and continue to be a symbol of high rank and a sign of abundance.
At the Hui a Iwi, or meeting of the tribes, convened by the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission (Te Ohu Kai Moana) in June 1997, several people spoke of the excitement which swept through their communities when news arrived that there had been a whale stranding on their coast. The people would get in their cars and trucks and rush to where the animals lay. Rituals were performed to lift the tapu from the animals so that the people could begin to flense the carcass to recover its bounty. The ancient Maori practice of utilizing stranded whales endured throughout the colonial period but was made illegal in 1978 with the introduction of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act was designed to make provision for the protection, conservation and management of marine mammals within New Zealand and its waters. The Act outlawed the "take" of marine mammals which included catching, killing, injuring, attracting, poisoning, tranquillizing, herding, harassing, or disturbing whales. It also prohibited the branding, tagging or marking of the carcass as well as the flensing, rendering down or separating any part from the carcass. While seeking to protect marine mammals, including stranded whales, the Act is seen by Maori as another attempt to extinguish their customary and Treaty rights to whales, by making it illegal to utilize them. Not only is access to meat, oil, bone and teeth lost, but the customary practices, or the primary vehicle for the transmission of traditional knowledge from generation to generation, is severed. While Maori are denied the right to exercise their customary rights to whales, they have recently been able to get access to a supply of whale bone, for their carvers, through the Department of Conservation. Some Iwi (tribes) have developed a limited set of protocols with the Department of Conservation so their people can get access to beached whales to utilize the bone and teeth. There are approximately 600 whales strandings annually around New Zealand's coastline. Despite Maori utilizing stranded animals, they remain prohibited from trading internationally in the products (carved bone and teeth) of stranded whales by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This is despite the fact that the animals strand naturally and would otherwise be wasted.

New Zealand is known as an anti-whaling nation at the International Whaling Commission. Maori do not support this view. Maori have on numerous occasions supported the sustainable utilization of whales by other indigenous peoples and coastal communities. In November 2000, Maori invited and hosted the General Assembly of the World Council of Whalers that met in Nelson, New Zealand.