Moriori Genocide

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New Zealand’s Crime Against Humanity
Imagine living on an island with no conflict, no violence, and no fighting. That would be the island of the Moriori people; Rehoku, just southeast of New Zealand. Now imagine a group of violent people invading the island. That would be the Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama tribes. Eventually, genocide occurs. The Moriori people are almost completely extinct, but the Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama carry on. The Moriori genocide was the clash of two groups on one island that still has effects on New Zealand’s society today.
Island History
The Moriori people were the first to settle on New Zealand’s South Island, but later moved to a group of islands southeast of New Zealand. These islands were known as the Rehoku, …show more content…

The Maori made an immediate attack on the Moriori settlements (O’Connor). They went after everyone and everything that did not fight back. They brutally murdered about ten percent of the Moriori population and enslaved the rest (Annikal). That might not seem extremely violent, but the killings progressed and they got worse. Most of the Moriori people either died from disease, captors, or massacres between 1835 and 1863 (Annikal). A whole group of people, almost completely wiped out in 28 years. The Moriori population went from the estimated two thousand to a little over one hundred (O’Connor). They became almost …show more content…

For example, there’s been a debate about whether the Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama tribes should donate money to the Moriori settlements (“Pulling at the threads…”). Even after all this time, the Moriori people still want some compensation for the damages. It is not actually Moriori people that wish for compensation, it is the descendants of the Moriori people. As of 2006, there were 945 people of Moriori descent (Davis and Solomon). That is an impressive number for a group that was a victim of genocide. In fact the descendants are reviving the Moriori culture and identity today (Annikal). It is impressive that they made an effort to restore the culture after such a horrendous event; the horrendous event known as

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