Someone here wrote: "It is interesting to note that not one full blooded Māori is alive today." That's patently incorrect. There are hundreds of thousands of Maori living today (over half a million), many of whom are "pure blood" (or close enough). You're thinking of the Moriori. Although there are still Moriori alive today, the last "pure blood" died in the 1930s. But the Moriori are not the Maori. Most importantly of all, the "blood quantum" issue is a non-issue when it comes to defining Maori identity - which is officially defined in cultural, not genetic, terms. 83.114.182.167 18:26, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
Removed background
I removed the following note that has nothing to do with Star Trek. The external link to Wikipedia covers this real-world information:
The Māori were a Pacific island culture native to Hawaiki, the mythical homeland from which all Pacific island cultures originated. The Māori supposedly sailed to Aotearoa (New Zealand) in canoes called Waka. Some of these were named Matatua, Aotea, Tainui, and Te Arawa. Before European settlers arrived the Māori were in essence a stone-age people, technology wise, due to the fact of scarcity of metal deposits in New Zealand. Despite this set back they were excellent farmers and skilled warriors.