What are some beliefs of the Maori?

Maori believe that ancestors and supernatural beings are always present and able to help their tribes in times of need.

The supernature beings they believe in are....

• Rangi - Sky father
• Papa - Earth Mother
• Haumia, the god of uncultivated food
• Rongo, the god of peace and agriculture
• Ruaumoko, the god of earthquakes;
• Tawhirimatea, the god of weather
• Tane, the father of humans and god of forests
• Tangaroa, the god of the sea
• Tu-matauenga, the war god 
• Whiro, the god of darkness and evil

Another belief is that everything and everyone are connected and therefore part of their whakapapa (family).

Maori believe that the head is the most sacred part of the body and should not be touched.

Sacred places For Māori, many locations have strong spiritual significance and tapu ( sacred).

Māori believe that Cape Reinga - at the northern tip of the North Island - is the point from where spirits of the departed leave for the journey back to the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki.

Though the cape is a popular tourist location, respect for tapu should be shown at all times and many Māori feel that taking photographs or filming at these locations is a breach of tapu.