Maori - Settlements

Today the Maori are overwhelmingly an urban population, located primarily in towns and cities of the northern sections of North Island. In the past there were two types of Maori settlements: fortified ( pa ) and unfortified ( kainga). Pa, in which people took refuge in wartime, were usually located on a hill and were protected by ditches, palisades, fighting platforms, and earthworks. Houses in the pa were closely crowded, often on artificial terraces. Kainga were unfortified hamlets consisting of five or six scattered houses ( whare ), a cooking shelter ( kauta ) with an earth oven ( hangi ), and one or two roofed storage pits ( rua). Most farmsteads were enclosed in a courtyard with a pole fence. Most buildings were made of pole and thatch, but some better-made ones were constructed of posts and worked timber.