Māori and māori
Māori is a term used primarily as a cultural/ethnic identifier. That is to say, it is used to label a group of people, the descendents of the aboirginal inhabitants of New Zealand at the time of European arrival. It's meaning is constructed and expressed in the context of other ethnic/cultural signifiers particularly Pākehā (European New Zealanders) and, later, Pasifika, Asian and more. There is another way, however, of thinking about 'Māori'. Originally the word 'māori' meant 'natural'. This referred to something that lacked impurities, something that naturally and organically appeared in the world. An example is 'waimāori' or pure water. Historically when children were considered for entry into the whare wānanga (institution of higher learning), the elders would sit and study each child to understand the qualities that were naturally appearing in each child, prior to any teaching. The elders were concerned to understand what energies and qualities