Who were the moriori, When did they arrive, and what happened to them?
The Moriori people are thought to have arrived in the Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand either just before or at the same time as the first Māori were busy settling on the mainland. It is sometimes claimed that the Moriori were a race that settled in New Zealand previous to the arrival of ancestors of the Māori; however it appears that there is no evidence to support this belief.
These first settlers were said to be descended from Te Aomarama and Rongomaiwhenua (which is Moriori for Sky Father and Earth Mother). The names of the three canoes bearing the first Moriori settlers were : Rangi Houa, Rangi Mata and Oropuke.
From 1793, whaling and sealing ships from Europe and North America began invading New Zealand and the Chathams, making the Chathams the centre of this industry. They largely ignored the Moriori "tapus" which were directed against killing on breeding grounds, and this European activity killed off one of the main sources of the Moriori diet.
In 1835 Māori tribes from the Wellington area arrived in the Chathams, driven south in search of new land, and claiming ownership of the Chathams. A number of Morioris were killed and others captured.
Moriori population.
