Editing Culture of New Zealand (section)

==Cultural history==
[[File:Tamatekapua.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55|left|A Māori ancestor ({{lang|mi|[[tekoteko]]}}) depicted in a wood carving at the Tamatekapua Meeting House in [[Ohinemutu]] ({{circa|1880}})]]
[[Polynesians|Polynesian]] explorers reached the islands between 1250 and 1300. Over the ensuing centuries of Polynesian expansion and settlement, [[Māori culture]] developed from its Polynesian roots. Māori established separate tribes, built fortified villages ({{lang|mi|[[pā]]}}), hunted and fished, traded commodities, developed agriculture, arts and weaponry, and kept a detailed oral history. At some point, a group of Māori migrated to {{lang|mi|Rēkohu}}, now known as the [[Chatham Islands]], where they developed their distinct [[Moriori]] culture.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Ross |chapter=Moriori and Māori: The Linguistic Evidence |date=1994 |editor-last=Sutton |editor-first=Douglas |title=The Origins of the First New Zealanders |location=Auckland |publisher=[[Auckland University Press]] |pages=123–135}}</ref> Regular European contact began from 1800, and [[British diaspora|British immigration]] proceeded rapidly, especially from 1855. European colonists had a dramatic effect on the Māori, bringing [[Christianity in New Zealand|Christianity]], advanced technology, the [[New Zealand English|English language]], numeracy and literacy. In 1840 Māori chiefs signed the [[Treaty of Waitangi]], intended to enable the tribes to live peacefully with the colonists. However, after several incidents, the [[New Zealand Wars]] broke out from 1845, with Māori suffering a loss of land, partly through confiscation, but mainly through widespread and extensive land sales. Māori retained their identity, mostly choosing to live separately from settlers and continuing to speak and write {{lang|mi|[[Māori language|Māori]]}}. With mass migration from Europe, a high Māori death rate and low life expectancy for Māori women, the indigenous population figure dropped between 1850 and 1930, becoming a minority.
[[File:1863 Meeting of Settlers and Maoris at Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A meeting of European and Māori inhabitants of [[Hawke's Bay Province]]. Engraving, 1863.|alt=Black and white engraving depicting a crowd of people]]

[[European New Zealanders]] ([[Pākehā]]), despite their location far from Europe, retained strong cultural ties to "Mother England".<ref name="PASTTENSE">{{cite news|url=http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3609/features/13619/past_tense.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808093214/http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3609/features/13619/past_tense.html |archive-date=8 August 2009 |title=Past tense |last=Laugesen |first=Ruth |date=11–17 July 2009 |work=[[New Zealand Listener]] |volume=219 |issue=3609|access-date=7 April 2013}}</ref> These ties were weakened by the demise of the British Empire and loss of special access to British meat and dairy markets. Pākehā began to forge a separate identity influenced by their pioneering history, a rural lifestyle and New Zealand's unique environment. Pākehā culture became prevalent after the wars, but after sustained political efforts, biculturalism and the [[Treaty of Waitangi]] became part of the school curriculum in the late 20th century, to promote understanding between Māori and Pākehā.

More recently, New Zealand culture has been broadened by globalisation and immigration from the [[Pacific Islands]], [[East Asia]] and [[South Asia]]. Non-Māori Polynesian cultures are apparent, with [[Pasifika Festival|Pasifika]], the world's largest Polynesian festival, now an annual event in [[Auckland]].

The development of a New Zealand [[national identity|identity]] and national character, separate from the British colonial identity, is most often linked with the period surrounding World War I, which gave rise to the concept of the [[Anzac spirit]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Spirit of ANZAC|url=https://anzacday.org.au/spirit-of-anzac|publisher=ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee|access-date=28 June 2017|date=26 November 2015}}</ref> Many citizens prefer to minimise ethnic divisions,{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} simply calling themselves [[New Zealanders]] or, informally, "[[Kiwi (nickname)|Kiwis]]". 
New Zealand marks two national days of remembrance, [[Waitangi Day]] and [[Anzac Day]], and also celebrates holidays during or close to the anniversaries of the founding dates of each province.<ref name="TEARADAY">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/government-and-nation/9|title=Government and nation – National holidays |date=3 March 2009|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]|access-date=16 February 2010}}</ref>