Iwi groups trace their ancestry to the original Polynesian migrants who, according to tradition, arrived from Hawaiki.
Some iwi cluster into larger groupings that are based on whakapapa (genealogical tradition) and known as waka (literally 'canoes', with reference to the original migration voyages).
[9] Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones" – literally to the burial areas of the ancestors.
[10] This has added a layer of complication to the long-running discussions and court cases about how to resolve historical Treaty claims.
The length of coastline emerged as one factor in the final (2004) legislation to allocate fishing-rights in settlement of claims relating to commercial fisheries.
Thus does Te Pāti Māori mention in the preamble of its constitution "the dreams and aspirations of tangata whenua to achieve self-determination for whānau, hapū and iwi within their own land".
The following extract from a 2000 High Court of New Zealand judgment discussing the process of settling fishing rights illustrates some of the issues: ... 81 per cent of Maori now live in urban areas, at least one-third live outside their tribal influence, more than one-quarter do not know their iwi or for some reason do not choose to affiliate with it, at least 70 per cent live outside the traditional tribal territory and these will have difficulties, which in many cases will be severe, in both relating to their tribal heritage and in accessing benefits from the settlement.
[20] Twenty-one iwi radio stations were set up between 1989 and 1994, receiving Government funding in accordance with a Treaty of Waitangi claim.
[21] This group of radio stations formed various networks, becoming Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori.