A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Moriori are the Indigenous people of Rēkohu, Rangihaute and surrounding islands, with members also living elsewhere. Their community language resource identifies them as a distinct Polynesian people whose language, customs and identity developed through island life. Hokopapa connects individuals with ancestors, families, land and responsibilities; its historical record includes nineteenth-century Moriori elders such as Hirawanu Tapu. The same community account explains Nunukutanga through the ancestor Nunuku-whenua’s restrictions on lethal conflict. These are traditions of belonging and ethical responsibility. They are not an ethnic biological classification, and Moriori identity is distinct from the citizenship of Aotearoa New Zealand or residence on the islands.
The Moriori Imi Settlement Trust sets out a history of invasion, enslavement and sustained appeals for recognition. Its chronology identifies the Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama invasion of 1835–1836, nineteenth-century petitions to the Crown, and the loss of almost all ancestral land through the 1870 Native Land Court allocation. It also documents damaging schoolbook claims that misrepresented Moriori as an inferior earlier mainland population and taught children that they were extinct. Present Moriori institutions directly contradict that portrayal. The trust records member ratification and signing of the settlement deed in 2020, legislation in 2021 and the final settlement date of 16 February 2022. These stages remain distinct from the much longer history of community survival.
Contemporary language work is visible through Hokotehi Moriori Trust’s public resources. The trust offers a dictionary web app with audio pronunciation and lessons, everyday-language webinars led by Kiwa Hammond, and printable learning activities. Its account of Rongo: A Collection of Moriori Songs credits compilation to Deborah Goomes with assistance from Hammond and support from Te Mātāwai. Resources for newborn children connect language learning with family life from an early age. Language-week activities bring lessons, song and storytelling into events on the islands, elsewhere in Aotearoa and online. This is documentation of organised revitalisation, rather than a count of fluent speakers or proof that every member participates.
Institutional roles extend beyond language. Hokotehi describes cultural, social and educational services, together with work in fishing, farming and tourism. Its current site records cooperation with Te Papa in conserving rākau momori held at Kōpinga, a University of Otago partnership for a multisensory exhibition, and community planting. The settlement trust’s history identifies Kōpinga Marae, opened in 2005, as a cultural hub, and distinguishes its own role receiving and managing settlement assets from Hokotehi’s earlier negotiation role. These activities connect historical redress, environmental care, economic work and cultural presentation. They document a living community shaping its institutions and future, rather than a culture confined to historical descriptions.
Te Papa’s 2023/24 report adds detail to the conservation partnership. It identifies Nirmala Balram’s visits since 2010, treatment and training, and work improving storage for vulnerable rākau momori. A biodiversity officer reports tree conditions to Hokotehi, while the trust develops a longer-term conservation plan and training for young people. Former chairman Tom Lanauze frames the fungus as part of the forest’s natural cycle rather than something simply to eliminate. This institutional account shows community participation, specialist care and ecological judgment working together; its reporting period remains distinct from present-day conservation status.
History & identity
This overview does not assign a single founding date to Moriori identity. Community history distinguishes traditions, genealogy and nineteenth-century Moriori records from later documentary evidence. Its island-based account identifies a distinct Polynesian people; it does not support the old racial story of an extinct population displaced from mainland New Zealand.
Sources & representation
Current Moriori trusts and the trust-linked language resource provide community self-description. The settlement chronology supports specific legal and organisational milestones; the resource page supports named present language projects. These are situated publications, not substitutes for every member’s experience. No songs, ritual texts or restricted protocols have been reproduced.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The History of the Moriori People
Introduction, Hokopapa and Nunuku sections read: identity, named elder records and peace tradition. No genealogy-to-calendar dating or full-documentary-history verification claimed.
- 02
Claim History
Complete chronology read: invasion/enslavement, petitions, land court, false schoolbook account,2005 marae and 2020–2022 settlement stages with MIST/Hokotehi roles distinguished.
- 03
Ta Rē Moriori Resources
Complete public resource page read: dictionary/audio, named webinars/song compilers, family learning and language-week activities. Actual songs/formulas not reproduced; undated this-year event not turned into permanent calendar claim.
- 04
Kohi Mai Rā: our mahi
Complete institutional landing page read: community representation, cultural/social/education services, economic sectors, conservation/exhibition/planting notices. Individual linked full project reports not claimed.
- 05
Te Papa Annual Report 2023/24
Complete focal account: printed 40–41, PDF22.
- 06
Repatriation of Koimi Tchakat
Hokotehi Moriori Trust,26September2024; native Article metadata last modified28January2026
Language & cultural connections
These connections link languages or specific cultural works and institutions; they do not establish biological ancestry or ethnic identity.
Hokotehi Moriori Trust and Te Papa
Te Papa records collaboration with Hokotehi Moriori Trust since 2003 to return ancestral remains. This describes institutional work with the community, not a population genealogy.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Repatriation of Koimi Tchakat
Hokotehi Moriori Trust,26September2024; native Article metadata last modified28January2026
- The Trust presents return of ancestral remains as an ongoing community priority after their removal into museum collections. It describes years of research and negotiations and identifies a2022 return from London’s Natural History Museum. This is a community project account; its collection and return figures have a specific reporting context and must not be treated as a timeless total.
No uninspected project reports or ongoing current totals inferred; no biological-race claim.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Community self-descriptionThe History of the Moriori PeopleResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Community self-descriptionClaim HistoryResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Community self-descriptionTa Rē Moriori ResourcesResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Community self-descriptionKohi Mai Rā: our mahiResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Institutional conservation accountTe Papa Annual Report 2023/24Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
