If you look at definitions above/below, a lot of people hold negative views towards Māori. I'll set the record straight. Not all Māori gave their land away for guns/booze. The majority of Māori land was originally taken due to English colonisers needing more land for farming and for the construction of towns etc. The NZ government introduced a policy called 'pepper potting' when Māori first arrived to the cities after WW2. They were placed in houses next to White neighbours. The GVT did this to help assimilate Maori into White culture which has worked due to the loss of culture but are now rebuilding that culture. Māori have always at the bottom of the economy since we moved to the cities and it got worse when the 1980s came about. When 'Rogernomics' came about it was a economic shift in NZ which impacted the manual labour industries the most. Ganja and alcohol was a way to relieve tension for Maori. This has led to the stereotypes you see that people have today such as when looking at other 'definitions' of Māori above/below. Every race has intelligent people, but some are just not intelligent to a White people standard. Māori tend to be minimalists, in saying that we have produced outstanding citizens to NZ society who are intelligent to a White standard (let that sink in), such as Sir Mason Durie, Sir Apirana Ngata, Dame Whina Cooper, Sir Peter Buck, Sir Maui Pomare. Māori are and always will be the indigenous people of New Zealand.
White Store Owner: "You okay mate?"

*in suspicious and confrontational manner

Maori (Māori) Teenager: "Yeah, why? Do you think I'm gonna steal something because I'm Maori?"

*in aggressive manner*
by Superman206 June 4, 2017
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